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The 2003 Spooks episode I Spy Apocalypse

This installment starts with the MI5 agents restricted during a training exercise relating to a hypothetical terrorist attack, supervised by two Home Office agents. As events unfold, it becomes clear a real incident has taken place and a chemical agent deployed. The tension ratchets up as messages indicate a catastrophe taking place outside, and escalates as the superior shows signs of exposure, and the government agents endeavor to depart, forcing Matthew Macfadyen’s character to decide between shooting them or letting them go and endangering the sterile MI5 environment. Given it’s Spooks, the outcome is expected.

Threads (1984)

Threads had minimal funding yet among the scariest shows I’ve ever seen due to its harsh realism and bleak government data. Saw it not long ago following the initial broadcast; I often attended the bar in Sheffield from the programme which underscored the actuality and the glib matter-of-fact official information that aired. Continuing to be utterly horrifying after three and a half decades.

Severance – The We We Are from 2022

The concluding episode of Severance’s debut season has to be right up there among intense episodes. I was throughout the episode literally perched nervously, straining every sinew with Dylan to maintain his grip on the controls that allowed the Innies to remain active, while yelling at the Innies to reveal their realities. The ultimate peak – “she’s alive!” – was like an eruption.

Industry – White Mischief from 2024

The fifth episode of Industry’s third season made my pulse quicken. I had to pause and get up and exit the space repeatedly owing to the vast degree of the deliberate ruin I was witnessing. Rishi Ramdani is in major difficulty at work and home – overwhelmed by debt to loan sharks due to his addictive betting, assuming hazardous chances 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 wins, loses, wins, is severely assaulted. Every time you think it can’t get any worse, it does. There is a chance for salvation at the end of the episode yet he wastes the chance, leading to terrible outcomes in the concluding part of the season. Certainly required a rest afterward!

Peep Show – Holiday from 2007

The series Peep Show isn’t typically anxiety-inducing. But the episode Holiday contains such levels of cringe that it will make you rise throughout the entire episode, permeated with worry. The situation intensifies once Jeremy and Mark find themselves having to lie about the dog they accidentally run over and subsequent attempts to dispose 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)

Nothing I have seen has been as tense as when I first saw the season two finale to The West Wing. The installment begins with the consequences of the passing (in a road incident) of the president’s private assistant and reaches a crescendo with a situation in Haiti, and the fallout from the non-disclosure regarding the president’s multiple sclerosis diagnosis, along with affirmation of his plan to run for another term. Excellent TV. Unequaled.

Bodyguard – episode one (2018)

The opening of the British series Bodyguard, featuring the main character on a train with his young son, is for me one of the most intense episodes ever. He notices a Muslim female heading to the toilet and realizes something is amiss. The bomb diffuser experts are called, get on the train, and endeavor to coax the woman to discard her bomb jacket. Anxiety builds to a nearly intolerable level, until yes, the vest is diffused.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer – The Body from 2001

Buffy arrives at her residence to find her mum has passed away due to natural factors, which is the least common kind of passing in this paranormal series. The episode has no background music, a somber mood, and we see the episode through the experience of Buffy’s dismay upon uncovering her mother.

The Sopranos – Made in America from 2007

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 first – weren’t sure why. Tony’s adversaries, actual and perceived, had all been defeated. This seems similar to the first season’s finale, right? “Recall the minor details.” Yet the atmosphere is strangely foreboding. Nearly Twin Peaks-like fear. The family gathers in a diner. Meadow parks. Tony sorrowfully notifies Carmela problems are brewing with yet another of his crew working with the government. Meadow parks the vehicle. Odd persons arrive at the eatery. Look at Tony(?) Meadow is parking. Tony selects a song on the jukebox. Meadow finds a spot. The bell rings, someone enters the restaurant. It cannot be Meadow, she is still parking. Tony looks up. Don’t stop. It stops. My spirit fell around 20 minutes subsequently.

The 2016 The Walking Dead episode The Last Day on Earth

I stayed up to watch this episode during the night. It was incredibly tense after the establishment of antagonist Negan finding the group, savagely teasing his prey and then leaving the victim unknown (finished with an unresolved situation). The first-person perspective of the victim and the muffled sounds – argh! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season