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Spooks – I Spy Apocalypse (2003)

This installment starts with the Spooks team locked down while undergoing a drill about a potential terror incident, supervised by two Home Office agents. As things progress, it appears that there really has been an attack and a chemical agent deployed. The tension ratchets up as messages indicate a catastrophe taking place outside, and gets worse when the leader seems contaminated, with the two officials trying to exit, compelling the character played by Matthew Macfadyen to choose between firing at them or permitting their exit and endangering the sterile MI5 environment. Given it’s Spooks, his decision is predictable.

Threads (1984)

Threads was low budget yet among the scariest shows I have viewed due to its harsh realism and grim official statistics. Viewed it recently following the initial broadcast; I used to visit the pub in Sheffield shown in the series which emphasised the reality and the casual, straightforward government details that aired. Remaining completely frightening decades on.

The 2022 Severance episode The We We Are

The season one finale of Severance deserves a top spot in terms of gripping installments. I was throughout the episode quite literally on the edge of my seat, pushing alongside Dylan to maintain his grip on the controls that allowed the Innies to remain active, while yelling at the Innies to get their truths out there. The ultimate peak – “she survives!” – was like an eruption.

The 2024 Industry episode White Mischief

The fifth episode of Industry’s third season had my heart racing. I was compelled to halt and rise and exit the space repeatedly owing to the vast degree of the reckless self-harm I saw. Rishi Ramdani is in major difficulty at work and home – up to his eyeballs in debt from unscrupulous lenders because of his compulsive gambling, engaging in dangerous ventures with a bet on sterling which could lose his company millions. Inevitably, he starts a gaming binge, uses copious drugs and alcohol and experiences wins and losses, is severely assaulted. Whenever you assume it can’t get any worse, it deteriorates. Redemption seems possible as the installment closes but he misses the opening, resulting in dreadful effects in the season finale. Absolutely had to relax following that!

The 2007 Peep Show episode Holiday

The series Peep Show isn’t typically anxiety-inducing. Yet the installment Holiday contains such levels of cringe that it’ll have you standing up the whole episode, riddled with anxiety. It all ramps up when Jeremy and Mark realize being compelled to falsify about the canine they unintentionally hit and subsequent attempts to dispose of it. You then occupy the remainder of the episode wondering if it might be more awful than cremation, and it turns out to be!

The West Wing – The Two Cathedrals (2001)

No other viewing has been as gripping than the first time I watched the concluding episode of The West Wing’s second season. The episode starts with the aftermath of the passing (in a road incident) of the president’s private assistant and escalates to a高潮 involving a Haitian emergency, and the repercussions of the secrecy of the president’s MS diagnosis, along with affirmation of his plan to run for another term. Excellent TV. Unsurpassed.

Bodyguard – episode one from 2018

The beginning of the UK show Bodyguard, with the hero aboard a train with his young son, is for me one of the most intense episodes ever. He spots a Muslim woman heading to the toilet and senses something is wrong. The explosive disposal specialists are summoned, enter the train, and try to persuade the woman to discard her bomb jacket. Anxiety builds to an almost unbearable degree, until yes, the vest is diffused.

The 2001 Buffy episode The Body

Buffy enters her house to realize her mom has deceased due to natural factors, which is the rarest form of demise in this supernatural show. The installment lacks any soundtrack, a gloomy atmosphere, and we see the episode through the experience of Buffy’s shock of discovering her mother.

The Sopranos – Made in America from 2007

The final scene of the final episode of the show was pants-wettingly tense. And if you viewed it when it first premiered, you – initially – were uncertain of the reason. Tony’s enemies, real and imagined, were all overcome. Surely this has the feel of the season one ending? “Recall the minor details.” Yet the atmosphere is strangely foreboding. Nearly Twin Peaks-like fear. The clan sits in an eatery. Meadow finds a parking spot. Tony gloomily informs Carmela there’s trouble afoot with yet another of his crew cooperating with the officials. Meadow parks. Odd persons arrive at the eatery. Stare at Tony(?) Meadow continues to park. Tony selects a song on the jukebox. Meadow parks. The door chimes, a person comes in. Can’t be Meadow, she’s still parking. Tony looks up. Continue. It stops. My spirit fell around 20 minutes subsequently.

The 2016 The Walking Dead episode The Last Day on Earth

I kept late hours to see this show in the early morning. It was incredibly tense following the introduction of villain Negan discovering the characters, cruelly taunting his victims then not knowing who he killed (concluded with a suspenseful moment). The victim’s POV shot and the muffled sounds – argh! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season