🔗 Share this article

Spooks – I Spy Apocalypse from 2003

The episode begins with the MI5 agents locked down as part of a simulation about a potential terror incident, overseen by two Home Office officials. As things progress, it seems an actual attack has occurred and a chemical agent deployed. The anxiety increases as messages indicate a disaster happening externally, and gets worse as the superior shows signs of exposure, 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. This being Spooks, his decision is predictable.

The 1984 production Threads

Threads had minimal funding but one of the most frightening programmes I have viewed because of the stark reality and bleak government data. Viewed it recently following the initial broadcast; I frequently went to the Sheffield pub shown in the series which emphasised the reality and the casual, straightforward government details which was broadcast. Remaining completely frightening after three and a half decades.

The 2022 Severance episode The We We Are

The first season finale of Severance ranks highly as a tense chapter. I remained for the whole show literally perched nervously, exerting with Dylan to keep his hands on the levers that kept the Innies on overtime, while screaming at the Innies to reveal their realities. The concluding高潮 – “she’s alive!” – was like an eruption.

Industry – White Mischief (2024)

The fifth episode of Industry’s third season had my heart racing. I was compelled to halt and rise and exit the space repeatedly due to the immense extent of the wanton self-destruction I saw. Rishi Ramdani is in deep shit professionally and personally – up to his eyeballs in debt to loan sharks owing to his uncontrollable gaming, assuming hazardous chances with a bet on sterling which may result in huge losses for his employer. Naturally, he embarks on a betting frenzy, does tons of drugs and drink and wins, loses, wins, is severely assaulted. Whenever you assume things cannot decline more, it does. There’s hope of redemption at the end of the episode but he misses the opening, with horrifying consequences in the season finale. Certainly required a rest afterward!

Peep Show – Holiday from 2007

Peep Show is not inherently a tense series. Yet the installment Holiday features such degrees of awkwardness that it’ll have you standing up the whole episode, permeated with worry. It all ramps up as Jeremy and Mark discover being compelled to falsify about the canine they unintentionally hit and subsequent attempts to dispose of it. You subsequently use the rest of the installment 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 than the first time I watched the concluding episode of The West Wing’s second season. The installment begins with the consequences of the passing (in a road incident) of the president’s private assistant and builds to a peak with a situation 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.

The 2018 Bodyguard premiere episode

The start of the British program Bodyguard, with the protagonist on a train with his young son, is for me one of the most intense episodes ever. He spots a Muslim woman entering the restroom and senses something is wrong. The explosive disposal specialists are summoned, enter the train, and attempt to convince 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 discover her mother has died due to natural factors, which is the most unusual type of death in this paranormal series. The episode has no background music, a sullen tone, and we view the installment through the lens 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 if you watched it when it originally aired, you – at first – weren’t sure why. Tony’s foes, genuine and fictional, were all vanquished. Surely this has the feel of the season one ending? “Recall the minor details.” However, the vibe is oddly threatening. Approaching Twin Peaks-esque horror. The family sit in a restaurant. Meadow stops the car. Tony gloomily informs Carmela there’s trouble afoot with yet another of his crew working with the government. Meadow secures a parking space. Odd persons arrive at the eatery. Look at Tony(?) Meadow is parking. Tony puts a record on the jukebox. Meadow parks her car. The door chimes, a person comes in. It isn’t Meadow, she remains parking. Tony glances upward. Continue. It halts. My heart dropped from my mouth about 20 minutes later.

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

I kept late hours to see this show at 2am. It was extremely gripping after the buildup of bad guy Negan discovering the characters, savagely teasing his prey and then keeping the death a mystery (finished with an unresolved situation). The victim’s POV shot and the muffled sounds – ugh! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season