‘I truly required a break after that!’ Your most nerve-wracking television episodes ever
Spooks – I Spy Apocalypse (2003)
This installment starts with the intelligence unit restricted while undergoing a drill about a potential terror incident, overseen by two Home Office officials. As things progress, it seems an actual attack has occurred with a chemical weapon released. The tension ratchets up as reports reveal a disaster happening externally, and escalates as the superior shows signs of exposure, with the two officials trying to exit, pushing the protagonist portrayed by Matthew Macfadyen to choose between firing at them or letting them go and endangering the sterile MI5 environment. As this is Spooks, the outcome is expected.
Threads (1984)
The production was inexpensive but arguably the most terrifying series I have viewed owing to its grim authenticity and bleak government data. Saw it not long ago after seeing the first airing; I used to visit the pub in Sheffield from the programme which emphasised the reality and the casual, straightforward government details that aired. Still absolutely terrifying after three and a half decades.
Severance – The We We Are (2022)
The concluding episode of Severance’s debut season ranks highly as a tense chapter. I spent the entire episode actually sitting tensely, exerting with Dylan to keep his hands on the levers that kept the Innies on overtime, while screaming at the Innies to disclose their facts. The ultimate peak – “she survives!” – felt like an explosion.
Industry – White Mischief (2024)
Installment five in Industry’s third series caused my heart to pound. I needed to stop and stand and depart the area multiple times owing to the vast degree of the deliberate ruin I observed. Rishi Ramdani is in deep shit professionally and personally – up to his eyeballs in debt to loan sharks because of his compulsive gambling, engaging in dangerous ventures with a gamble on the pound which may result in huge losses for his employer. So of course, he goes on a gambling spree, consumes excessive substances and alcohol and alternates between success and failure, is severely assaulted. Every time you think the situation cannot deteriorate further, it deteriorates. There is a chance for salvation at the end of the episode but he squanders the opportunity, leading to terrible outcomes in the season finale. Absolutely had to relax following that!
Peep Show – Holiday from 2007
Peep Show itself isn’t necessarily a stressful show. However, the Holiday episode includes such amounts of embarrassment that it will make you rise the whole episode, riddled with anxiety. The tension escalates once Jeremy and Mark find themselves having to lie about the dog they unintentionally hit and subsequent attempts to dispose of it. You then spend the rest of the episode questioning whether it truly can be worse than incineration, and it turns out to be!
The West Wing – The Two Cathedrals (2001)
No other viewing has been as gripping compared to my initial viewing the concluding episode of The West Wing’s second season. The show opens with the fallout of the passing (in a road incident) of the president’s personal secretary and builds to a peak with a situation in Haiti, and the effects of the withheld information regarding the president’s multiple sclerosis diagnosis, along with affirmation of his plan to seek re-election. Superb programming. Unsurpassed.
The 2018 Bodyguard premiere episode
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 notices a Muslim female entering the restroom and knows something is off. The bomb squad is alerted, enter the train, and endeavor to coax the woman to remove her explosive vest. Tension escalates to a nearly intolerable level, until yes, the vest is diffused.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer – The Body (2001)
Buffy comes into her home to realize her mom has deceased due to natural factors, which is the least common kind of passing in this paranormal series. The show features no musical score, a somber mood, and we see the episode through the experience of Buffy’s dismay upon uncovering her mother.
The 2007 The Sopranos finale Made in America
The final scene of the final episode of the program was incredibly anxious. And if you watched it when it originally aired, you – at the start – didn’t understand the cause. Tony’s adversaries, actual and perceived, had all been defeated. Surely this has the feel of the season one ending? “Recall the minor details.” Yet the atmosphere is strangely foreboding. Approaching Twin Peaks-esque horror. The family sit in a restaurant. Meadow parks. Tony sadly tells Carmela there’s trouble afoot with an additional associate cooperating with the officials. Meadow parks the vehicle. Unfamiliar individuals come into the diner. Look at Tony(?) Meadow is parking. Tony plays a track on the music machine. Meadow parks her car. The bell rings, someone enters the restaurant. It cannot be Meadow, she is still parking. Tony looks up. Keep going. It ceases. My heart sank about 20 minutes later.
The 2016 The Walking Dead episode The Last Day on Earth
I remained awake to view this installment during the night. It was extremely gripping following the introduction of villain Negan locating the survivors, savagely teasing his prey then not knowing who he killed (concluded with a suspenseful moment). The victim’s POV shot and the subdued noises – argh! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season