‘I absolutely had to rest after that!’ The most gripping TV episodes of all time
Spooks – I Spy Apocalypse from 2003
The episode begins with the intelligence unit confined during a training exercise about a potential terror incident, overseen by two Home Office officials. As things progress, it becomes clear a real incident has taken place and a chemical agent deployed. The tension ratchets up as incoming communications show a disaster happening externally, and escalates as the boss appears to be infected, and the two Home Office officials attempt to leave, compelling the character played by Matthew Macfadyen to choose between firing at them or allowing them to leave and risking contaminating the sealed MI5 offices. As this is Spooks, it is unsurprising which one he chooses.
The 1984 production Threads
The production was inexpensive but arguably the most terrifying series I’ve ever seen because of the stark reality and grim official statistics. Watched it about a month ago after seeing the first airing; I frequently went to the Sheffield pub shown in the series which underscored the actuality and the casual, straightforward government details which was broadcast. Still absolutely terrifying 35 years later.
Severance – The We We Are (2022)
The concluding episode of Severance’s debut season has to be right up there as a tense chapter. I spent the entire episode actually sitting tensely, pushing alongside Dylan to maintain his grip on the controls that kept the Innies on overtime, while yelling at the Innies to disclose their facts. The ultimate peak – “she survives!” – resembled a outburst.
Industry – White Mischief (2024)
Installment five in Industry’s third series had my heart racing. I needed to stop and stand and leave the room several times because of the sheer scale of the wanton self-destruction I observed. Rishi Ramdani faces serious trouble at work and home – buried in financial obligations to loan sharks due to his addictive betting, taking such risks on a wager involving sterling that might cost his firm millions. Inevitably, he starts a gaming binge, consumes excessive substances and alcohol and alternates between success and failure, is severely assaulted. Whenever you assume it can’t get any worse, it does. There is a chance for salvation as the installment closes but he squanders the opportunity, leading to terrible outcomes during the season’s final episode. Definitely needed a lie-down after that!
Peep Show – Holiday from 2007
Peep Show is not inherently a tense series. Yet the installment Holiday contains such levels of cringe that it can cause you to stand for the full show, filled with nervousness. 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 questioning whether it truly can be worse than incineration, and it can be!
The 2001 The West Wing episode The Two Cathedrals
Nothing I’ve watched has been more intense than the first time I watched the season two finale to The West Wing. The episode starts with the aftermath of the passing (in a road incident) of the president’s private assistant and builds to a peak with a crisis in Haiti, and the effects of the withheld information regarding the president’s multiple sclerosis diagnosis, coupled with verification of his aim to pursue 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, is personally a top tense installment. He spots a Muslim woman entering the restroom and knows something is off. The bomb diffuser experts are called, get on the train, and endeavor to coax the woman to remove her explosive vest. Anxiety builds to an almost unbearable degree, until, finally, the vest is neutralized.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer – The Body (2001)
Buffy arrives at her residence to discover her mother has died of natural causes, which is the least common kind of passing in this paranormal series. The installment lacks any soundtrack, a gloomy atmosphere, and we witness the episode via the perspective of Buffy’s astonishment upon finding her mother.
The 2007 The Sopranos finale Made in America
The concluding moment of the last installment of the program was incredibly anxious. And for those who saw it during its initial broadcast, you – at the start – didn’t understand the cause. Tony’s enemies, real and imagined, had all been defeated. Doesn’t this resemble the season one conclusion? “Recall the minor details.” Yet the atmosphere is strangely foreboding. Almost Twin Peaks levels of terror. The family gathers in a diner. Meadow finds a parking spot. Tony gloomily informs Carmela there’s trouble afoot with another member of his team cooperating with the officials. Meadow secures a parking space. Unfamiliar individuals come into the diner. Gaze at Tony(?) Meadow continues to park. Tony plays a track on the music machine. Meadow parks. The bell rings, someone enters the restaurant. It isn’t Meadow, she remains parking. Tony glances upward. Continue. It ceases. My heart sank roughly 20 minutes after.
The 2016 The Walking Dead episode The Last Day on Earth
I remained awake to view this installment at 2am. It was incredibly tense after the buildup of bad guy Negan finding the group, savagely teasing his prey and then keeping the death a mystery (ended on a cliffhanger). The point-of-view shot from the victim and the muffled sounds – ugh! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season
