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Spooks – I Spy Apocalypse (2003)

The show kicks off with the intelligence unit restricted during a training exercise about a potential terror incident, supervised by two Home Office agents. As the situation develops, it appears that there really has been an attack and a chemical agent deployed. The anxiety increases as reports reveal a disaster happening externally, and intensifies as the boss appears to be infected, and the two Home Office officials attempt to leave, forcing Matthew Macfadyen’s character to decide between shooting them or allowing them to leave and risking contaminating the sealed MI5 offices. Given it’s Spooks, his decision is predictable.

Threads (1984)

Threads had minimal funding but arguably the most terrifying series I have ever watched due to its harsh realism and dismal official figures. Viewed it recently following the initial broadcast; I used to visit the pub in Sheffield from the programme which emphasised the reality and the glib matter-of-fact official information which was broadcast. Continuing to be utterly horrifying after three and a half decades.

Severance – The We We Are from 2022

The first season finale of Severance ranks highly among intense episodes. I spent the entire episode literally perched nervously, straining every sinew with Dylan to maintain his grip on the controls that sustained the Innies’ extended time, while shouting to the Innies to get their truths out there. The concluding高潮 – “she is living!” – was like an eruption.

Industry – White Mischief (2024)

The fifth episode of Industry’s third season caused my heart to pound. I had to pause and get up and depart the area multiple times owing to the vast degree of the reckless self-harm I saw. Rishi Ramdani is in deep shit professionally and personally – overwhelmed by debt from unscrupulous lenders due to his addictive betting, engaging in dangerous ventures on a wager involving sterling which may result in huge losses for his employer. Inevitably, he starts a gaming binge, does tons of drugs and drink and wins, loses, wins, is brutally attacked. Whenever you assume it can’t get any worse, it deteriorates. There’s hope of redemption by the episode’s conclusion but he squanders the opportunity, leading to terrible outcomes in the season finale. Absolutely had to relax following that!

The 2007 Peep Show episode Holiday

Peep Show itself isn’t necessarily a stressful show. But the episode Holiday includes such amounts of embarrassment that it will make you rise throughout the entire episode, permeated with worry. The situation intensifies when Jeremy and Mark realize being compelled to falsify about the canine they accidentally run over and later efforts to get rid of it. You subsequently use the rest of the installment questioning whether it truly can be worse than incineration, and it can be!

The West Wing – The Two Cathedrals (2001)

No other viewing has been as gripping than the first time I watched the season two finale to The West Wing. The show opens with the fallout of the death (in a traffic accident) 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, with confirmation of his intention to seek re-election. Superb programming. Never bettered.

Bodyguard – episode one from 2018

The opening of the British series Bodyguard, featuring the main character on a train alongside his juvenile boy, is for me one of the most intense episodes ever. He spots a Muslim woman heading to the toilet and realizes something is amiss. The explosive disposal specialists are summoned, board the train, and try to persuade the woman to remove her explosive vest. Suspense rises 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 discover her mother has died from natural reasons, which is the least common kind of passing in this paranormal series. The installment lacks any soundtrack, a sullen tone, and we see the episode through the experience of Buffy’s dismay upon uncovering her mother.

The Sopranos – Made in America from 2007

The final scene of the final episode of the show was pants-wettingly tense. And for those who saw it during its initial broadcast, you – initially – were uncertain of the reason. Tony’s adversaries, actual and perceived, had all been defeated. Surely this has the feel of the season one ending? “Think about the small elements.” Yet the atmosphere is strangely foreboding. Almost Twin Peaks levels of terror. The clan sits in an eatery. Meadow parks. Tony sorrowfully notifies Carmela there’s trouble afoot with another member of his team collaborating with the authorities. Meadow parks the vehicle. Strange people enter the restaurant. Look at Tony(?) Meadow continues to park. Tony plays a track on the music machine. Meadow parks. The bell sounds, an individual enters. It isn’t Meadow, she remains parking. Tony looks up. Continue. It stops. My heart sank around 20 minutes subsequently.

The 2016 The Walking Dead episode The Last Day on Earth

I remained awake to view this installment in the early morning. It was extremely gripping after the establishment of antagonist Negan locating the survivors, cruelly taunting his victims then not knowing who he killed (concluded with a suspenseful moment). The point-of-view shot from the victim and the subdued noises – oh no! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season