‘I absolutely had to rest after that!’ The most intense episodes of TV of all time

Spooks – I Spy Apocalypse from 2003

This installment starts with the intelligence unit locked down during a training exercise relating to a hypothetical terrorist attack, overseen by two Home Office officials. As things progress, it becomes clear a real incident has taken place with a chemical weapon released. The suspense builds as reports reveal a crisis unfolding beyond their walls, and intensifies when the leader seems contaminated, with the two officials trying to exit, forcing Matthew Macfadyen’s character to opt for either shooting them or permitting their exit and endangering the sterile MI5 environment. This being Spooks, his decision is predictable.

Threads from 1984

Threads was low budget yet among the scariest shows I have ever watched owing to its grim authenticity and bleak government data. Viewed it recently after seeing the first airing; I used to visit the pub in Sheffield shown in the series which underscored the actuality and the offhand factual official statements that were transmitted. Still absolutely terrifying after three and a half decades.

Severance – The We We Are from 2022

The first season finale of Severance deserves a top spot as a tense chapter. I was throughout the episode actually sitting tensely, exerting with Dylan to maintain his grip on the controls that allowed the Innies to remain active, while shouting to the Innies to get their truths out there. The concluding高潮 – “she survives!” – felt like an explosion.

The 2024 Industry episode White Mischief

Episode five of the third series of Industry caused my heart to pound. I needed to stop and stand and leave the room several times due to the immense extent of the wanton self-destruction I was witnessing. Rishi Ramdani is in major difficulty at work and home – up to his eyeballs in debt to illegal creditors because of his compulsive gambling, assuming hazardous chances with a gamble on the pound which could lose his company millions. Naturally, he embarks on a betting frenzy, uses copious drugs and alcohol and wins, loses, wins, is severely assaulted. Whenever you assume the situation cannot deteriorate further, it deteriorates. There is a chance for salvation by the episode’s conclusion yet he wastes the chance, resulting in dreadful effects during the season’s final episode. Absolutely had to relax following that!

The 2007 Peep Show episode Holiday

Peep Show is not inherently a tense series. However, the Holiday episode includes such amounts of embarrassment that it will make you rise throughout the entire episode, riddled with anxiety. The tension escalates when Jeremy and Mark realize having to lie about the dog they accidentally run over and following tries to eliminate it. You then spend the rest of the episode doubting if it can actually be more terrible than burning, and it can be!

The West Wing – The Two Cathedrals from 2001

Nothing I’ve watched has been more intense compared to my initial viewing the concluding episode of The West Wing’s second season. The installment begins with the consequences of the death (in a traffic accident) of the president’s confidential aide and reaches a crescendo with a crisis in Haiti, and the repercussions of the secrecy regarding the president’s multiple sclerosis diagnosis, coupled with verification of his aim to seek re-election. Excellent TV. Unequaled.

Bodyguard – episode one (2018)

The start of the British program Bodyguard, with the hero aboard a train alongside his juvenile boy, ranks among the most gripping episodes I’ve seen. He observes a woman in Islamic attire going into the loo and senses something is wrong. The bomb squad is alerted, enter the train, and endeavor to coax the woman to take off her suicide vest. Suspense rises to a nearly intolerable level, until, finally, the vest is neutralized.

The 2001 Buffy episode The Body

Buffy arrives at her residence to realize her mom has deceased due to natural factors, which is the rarest form of demise in this paranormal series. The installment lacks any soundtrack, a gloomy atmosphere, and we see the episode through the experience of Buffy’s dismay upon uncovering her mother.

The Sopranos – Made in America (2007)

The concluding moment of the last installment of the series was extremely nerve-wracking. And if you viewed it when it first premiered, you – at first – weren’t sure why. Tony’s enemies, real and imagined, were all overcome. Surely this has the feel of the season one ending? “Recall the minor details.” But the mood is bizarrely ominous. Almost Twin Peaks levels of terror. The family sit in a restaurant. Meadow stops the car. Tony sadly tells Carmela there’s trouble afoot with an additional associate collaborating with the authorities. Meadow secures a parking space. Strange people enter the restaurant. Gaze at Tony(?) Meadow continues to park. Tony puts a record on the jukebox. Meadow finds a spot. The door chimes, a person comes in. It cannot be Meadow, she is still parking. Tony looks up. Keep going. It halts. My heart dropped from my mouth roughly 20 minutes after.

The Walking Dead – The Last Day on Earth from 2016

I kept late hours to see this show at 2am. It was extremely gripping following the introduction of villain Negan discovering the characters, savagely teasing his prey and then keeping the death a mystery (finished with an unresolved situation). The first-person perspective of the victim and the muffled sounds – argh! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season