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Spooks – I Spy Apocalypse (2003)

This installment starts with the Spooks team restricted while undergoing a drill about a potential terror incident, supervised by two Home Office agents. As events unfold, it appears that there really has been an attack and a chemical agent deployed. The tension ratchets up as reports reveal a crisis unfolding beyond their walls, and intensifies when the leader seems contaminated, and the government agents endeavor to depart, compelling the character played by Matthew Macfadyen to decide between shooting them or allowing them to leave and potentially infecting the secure MI5 headquarters. Given it’s Spooks, his decision is predictable.

Threads (1984)

The production was inexpensive but one of the most frightening programmes I’ve ever seen due to its harsh realism and dismal official figures. Saw it not long ago following the initial broadcast; I frequently went to the Sheffield pub 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 (2022)

The first season finale of Severance has to be right up there in terms of gripping installments. I spent the entire episode literally perched nervously, straining every sinew with Dylan to hold the switches that sustained the Innies’ extended time, while screaming at the Innies to reveal their realities. The ultimate peak – “she survives!” – felt like an explosion.

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 due to the immense extent of the deliberate ruin I observed. Rishi Ramdani is in major difficulty professionally and personally – buried in financial obligations to loan sharks owing to his uncontrollable gaming, taking such risks with a bet on sterling which may result in huge losses for his employer. So of course, he goes on a gambling spree, consumes excessive substances and alcohol and experiences wins and losses, is brutally attacked. Every time you think it can’t get any worse, it worsens. There’s hope of redemption by the episode’s conclusion but he misses the opening, with horrifying consequences in the season finale. Absolutely had to relax following that!

The 2007 Peep Show episode Holiday

The series Peep Show isn’t typically anxiety-inducing. But the episode Holiday contains such levels of cringe that it can cause you to stand for the full show, permeated with worry. The situation intensifies as Jeremy and Mark discover having to lie about the dog they accidentally run over and later efforts to get rid of it. You then occupy the remainder of the episode wondering if it might be more awful than cremation, and it is possible!

The West Wing – The Two Cathedrals from 2001

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 death (in a traffic accident) of the president’s personal secretary and escalates to a高潮 involving a Haitian emergency, and the repercussions of the secrecy of the president’s MS diagnosis, coupled with verification of his aim to run for another term. Excellent TV. Unequaled.

The 2018 Bodyguard premiere episode

The start of the British program Bodyguard, with the hero aboard a train alongside his juvenile boy, is personally a top tense installment. He notices a Muslim female going into the loo and realizes something is amiss. The bomb squad is alerted, enter 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 find her mum has passed away of natural causes, which is the rarest form of demise in this mystical program. The episode has no background music, a sullen tone, and we witness the episode via the perspective of Buffy’s shock of discovering her mother.

The 2007 The Sopranos finale Made in America

The ultimate sequence of the series finale of the series was extremely nerve-wracking. 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? “Recall the minor details.” But the mood is bizarrely ominous. Almost Twin Peaks levels of terror. The family gathers in a diner. Meadow stops the car. Tony sorrowfully notifies Carmela problems are brewing with another member of his team working with the government. Meadow secures a parking space. Odd persons arrive at the eatery. Look at Tony(?) Meadow is parking. 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 raises his gaze. Keep going. It ceases. My heart dropped from my mouth about 20 minutes later.

The Walking Dead – The Last Day on Earth (2016)

I stayed up to watch this episode during the night. It was extremely gripping following the introduction of villain Negan discovering the characters, cruelly taunting his victims 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