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Spooks – I Spy Apocalypse (2003)

The episode begins with the Spooks team confined as part of a simulation concerning a fictional terrorist event, supervised by two Home Office agents. As things progress, it becomes clear a real incident has taken place with a chemical weapon released. The anxiety increases as messages indicate a crisis unfolding beyond their walls, and intensifies as the boss appears to be infected, and the government agents endeavor to depart, pushing the protagonist portrayed by Matthew Macfadyen to decide between shooting them or allowing them to leave and risking contaminating the sealed MI5 offices. This being Spooks, his decision is predictable.

Threads (1984)

The production was inexpensive but one of the most frightening programmes I have ever watched because of the stark reality and grim official statistics. Watched it about a month ago having watched the original; I frequently went to the Sheffield pub shown in the series which underscored the actuality and the glib matter-of-fact official information that aired. Still absolutely terrifying 35 years later.

Severance – The We We Are (2022)

The concluding episode of Severance’s debut season deserves a top spot in terms of gripping installments. I spent the entire episode literally perched nervously, pushing alongside Dylan to keep his hands on the levers that kept the Innies on overtime, while shouting to the Innies to reveal their realities. The ultimate peak – “she’s alive!” – resembled a outburst.

Industry – White Mischief (2024)

Installment five in Industry’s third series caused my heart to pound. I needed to stop and stand and exit the space repeatedly because of the sheer scale of the wanton self-destruction I saw. Rishi Ramdani faces serious trouble professionally and personally – buried in financial obligations to illegal creditors because of his compulsive gambling, taking such risks with a bet on sterling that might cost his firm millions. Naturally, he embarks on a betting frenzy, uses copious drugs and alcohol and wins, loses, wins, gets beaten to a pulp. Whenever you assume the situation cannot deteriorate further, it worsens. There is a chance for salvation at the end of the episode yet he wastes the chance, resulting in dreadful effects during the season’s final episode. Absolutely had to relax following that!

Peep Show – Holiday (2007)

Peep Show itself isn’t necessarily a stressful show. Yet the installment Holiday includes such amounts of embarrassment that it’ll have you standing up the whole episode, riddled with anxiety. The tension escalates as Jeremy and Mark discover being compelled to falsify about the canine they by chance collide with and following tries to eliminate it. You then occupy the remainder of the episode doubting if it can actually be more terrible than burning, and it can be!

The 2001 The West Wing episode The Two Cathedrals

Nothing I’ve watched has been more intense as when I first saw the second season finale of The West Wing. The installment begins with the consequences of the demise (in a car crash) of the president’s private assistant and reaches a crescendo involving a Haitian emergency, and the fallout from the non-disclosure regarding the president’s multiple sclerosis diagnosis, along with affirmation of his plan to pursue re-election. Wonderful television. Never bettered.

The 2018 Bodyguard premiere episode

The opening of the British series Bodyguard, featuring the main character on a train with his young son, is for me one of the most intense episodes ever. He spots a Muslim woman going into the loo and knows something is off. The explosive disposal specialists are summoned, enter the train, and endeavor to coax the woman to discard her bomb jacket. Anxiety builds to a nearly intolerable level, until, finally, the vest is neutralized.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer – The Body from 2001

Buffy comes into her home to discover her mother has died due to natural factors, which is the least common kind of passing in this supernatural show. The installment lacks any soundtrack, a gloomy atmosphere, and we see the episode through the experience of Buffy’s astonishment upon finding her mother.

The 2007 The Sopranos finale Made in America

The final scene of the final episode of the series was extremely nerve-wracking. And if you watched it when it originally aired, you – at first – weren’t sure why. Tony’s enemies, real and imagined, had all been defeated. Doesn’t this resemble the season one conclusion? “Think about the small elements.” But the mood is bizarrely ominous. Almost Twin Peaks levels of terror. The family sit in a restaurant. Meadow stops the car. Tony gloomily informs Carmela there’s trouble afoot with another member of his team working with the government. Meadow secures a parking space. Odd persons arrive at the eatery. Gaze at Tony(?) Meadow is parking. Tony puts a record on the jukebox. Meadow parks. The door chimes, a person comes in. Can’t be Meadow, she’s still parking. Tony glances upward. Keep going. It ceases. My heart sank roughly 20 minutes after.

The Walking Dead – The Last Day on Earth from 2016

I stayed up to watch this episode during the night. It was so intense after the buildup of bad guy Negan discovering the characters, mercilessly mocking his targets and then keeping the death a mystery (concluded with a suspenseful moment). The victim’s POV shot and the muffled sounds – ugh! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season