‘I absolutely had to rest after that!’ Your most gripping episodes of TV of all time
The 2003 Spooks episode I Spy Apocalypse
The show kicks off with the Spooks team restricted as part of a simulation concerning a fictional terrorist event, monitored by two government representatives. As things progress, it appears that there really has been an attack with a chemical weapon released. The suspense builds as messages indicate a catastrophe taking place outside, and intensifies as the boss appears to be infected, with the two officials trying to exit, forcing Matthew Macfadyen’s character to decide between shooting them or letting them go and risking contaminating the sealed MI5 offices. As this is Spooks, his decision is predictable.
The 1984 production Threads
Threads had minimal funding but arguably the most terrifying series I have ever watched owing to its grim authenticity and grim official statistics. Viewed it recently following the initial broadcast; I used to visit the pub in Sheffield shown in the series which underscored the actuality and the glib matter-of-fact official information that aired. Continuing to be utterly horrifying after three and a half decades.
The 2022 Severance episode The We We Are
The season one finale of Severance has to be right up there as a tense chapter. I was throughout the episode quite literally on the edge of my seat, straining every sinew with Dylan to hold the switches that allowed the Innies to remain active, while yelling at the Innies to disclose their facts. The final climactic moment – “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 leave the room several times owing to the vast degree of the reckless self-harm I observed. Rishi Ramdani faces serious trouble at work and home – buried in financial obligations to illegal creditors due to his addictive betting, taking such risks on a wager involving sterling which may result in huge losses for his employer. Naturally, he embarks on a betting frenzy, consumes excessive substances and alcohol and experiences wins and losses, gets beaten to a pulp. Each instance you believe the situation cannot deteriorate further, it does. Redemption seems possible as the installment closes yet he wastes the chance, with horrifying consequences in the season finale. Definitely needed a lie-down after that!
Peep Show – Holiday (2007)
The series Peep Show isn’t typically anxiety-inducing. Yet the installment Holiday features such degrees of awkwardness that it will make you rise the whole episode, permeated with worry. It all ramps up once Jeremy and Mark find themselves being compelled to falsify about the canine they accidentally run over and later efforts to get rid of it. You then spend the rest of the episode wondering if it might be more awful than cremation, and it turns out to be!
The West Wing – The Two Cathedrals from 2001
Nothing I have seen has been as tense as when I first saw the second season finale of The West Wing. The show opens with the fallout of the demise (in a car crash) of the president’s personal secretary and escalates to a高潮 involving a Haitian emergency, and the effects of the withheld information regarding the president’s multiple sclerosis diagnosis, with confirmation of his intention to seek re-election. Excellent TV. Unequaled.
Bodyguard – episode one (2018)
The opening of the British series Bodyguard, with the protagonist on a train accompanied by his small son, is personally a top tense installment. He notices a Muslim female entering the restroom and realizes something is amiss. The bomb diffuser experts are called, enter the train, and endeavor to coax the woman to remove her explosive vest. Anxiety builds to a practically unendurable point, until, indeed, the vest is disarmed.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer – The Body from 2001
Buffy comes into her home to find her mum has passed away of natural causes, which is the most unusual type of death in this supernatural show. The installment lacks any soundtrack, a gloomy atmosphere, and we witness the episode via the perspective of Buffy’s shock of discovering her mother.
The Sopranos – Made in America from 2007
The concluding moment of the last installment of the show was pants-wettingly tense. And if you watched it when it originally aired, you – initially – were uncertain of the reason. Tony’s adversaries, actual and perceived, had all been defeated. Doesn’t this resemble the season one conclusion? “Think about the small elements.” Yet the atmosphere is strangely foreboding. Almost Twin Peaks levels of terror. The family gathers in a diner. Meadow parks. Tony sadly tells Carmela difficulties are arising with another member of his team cooperating with the officials. Meadow secures a parking space. Strange people enter the restaurant. Stare at Tony(?) Meadow parks. Tony selects a song on the jukebox. Meadow parks her car. The door chimes, a person comes in. It isn’t Meadow, she remains parking. Tony raises his gaze. Continue. It ceases. My heart dropped from my mouth around 20 minutes subsequently.
The 2016 The Walking Dead episode The Last Day on Earth
I kept late hours to see this show during the night. It was so intense after the buildup of bad guy Negan locating the survivors, cruelly taunting his victims and then leaving the victim unknown (concluded with a suspenseful moment). The first-person perspective of the victim and the muted audio – ugh! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season
