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The 2003 Spooks episode I Spy Apocalypse

The episode begins with the intelligence unit confined while undergoing a drill concerning a fictional terrorist event, overseen by two Home Office officials. As the situation develops, it appears that there really has been an attack with a chemical weapon released. The anxiety increases as messages indicate a disaster happening externally, and intensifies as the superior shows signs of exposure, and the two Home Office officials attempt to leave, pushing the protagonist portrayed by Matthew Macfadyen to choose between firing at them or letting them go and endangering the sterile MI5 environment. This being Spooks, it is unsurprising which one he chooses.

Threads (1984)

Threads was low budget yet among the scariest shows I have viewed owing to its grim authenticity and bleak government data. Saw it not long ago having watched the original; I used to visit the pub in Sheffield shown in the series which underscored the actuality and the casual, straightforward government details which was broadcast. Still absolutely terrifying decades on.

Severance – The We We Are from 2022

The concluding episode of Severance’s debut season deserves a top spot as a tense chapter. I remained for the whole show literally perched nervously, exerting with Dylan to hold the switches that sustained the Innies’ extended time, while shouting to 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 exit the space repeatedly because of the sheer scale of the reckless self-harm I saw. Rishi Ramdani is in deep shit in his job and domestic life – buried in financial obligations to illegal creditors because of his compulsive gambling, assuming hazardous chances with a gamble on the pound which may result in huge losses for his employer. Inevitably, he starts a gaming binge, consumes excessive substances and alcohol and alternates between success and failure, is brutally attacked. Each instance you believe it can’t get any worse, it deteriorates. There’s hope of redemption at the end of the episode yet he wastes the chance, with horrifying consequences 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, filled with nervousness. The tension escalates when Jeremy and Mark realize being compelled to falsify about the canine they accidentally run over and subsequent attempts to dispose of it. You then spend the rest of the episode doubting if it can actually be more terrible than burning, and it can be!

The West Wing – The Two Cathedrals (2001)

Nothing I’ve watched has been more intense compared to my initial viewing the second season finale of The West Wing. The installment begins with the consequences of the demise (in a car crash) of the president’s private assistant and reaches a crescendo with a crisis in Haiti, and the fallout from the non-disclosure of the president’s MS diagnosis, along with affirmation of his plan to seek re-election. Excellent TV. Never bettered.

The 2018 Bodyguard premiere episode

The opening of the British series Bodyguard, featuring the main character on a train alongside his juvenile boy, is personally a top tense installment. He notices a Muslim female entering the restroom and senses something is wrong. The bomb squad is alerted, board the train, and endeavor to coax the woman to remove her explosive vest. Tension escalates to a nearly intolerable level, until, indeed, the vest is disarmed.

The 2001 Buffy episode The Body

Buffy enters her house to realize her mom has deceased from natural reasons, which is the least common kind of passing in this supernatural show. The show features no musical score, a somber mood, and we view the installment through the lens 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 show was pants-wettingly tense. And for those who saw it during its initial broadcast, you – initially – were uncertain of the reason. Tony’s enemies, real and imagined, were all overcome. Surely this has the feel of the season one ending? “Remember the little things.” Yet the atmosphere is strangely foreboding. Approaching Twin Peaks-esque horror. The clan sits in an eatery. Meadow parks. Tony sadly tells Carmela there’s trouble afoot with another member of his team cooperating with the officials. Meadow secures a parking space. Odd persons arrive at the eatery. Stare at Tony(?) Meadow continues to park. Tony plays a track on the music machine. Meadow parks. The bell sounds, an individual enters. It cannot be Meadow, she is still parking. Tony glances upward. Keep going. It halts. My heart sank around 20 minutes subsequently.

The Walking Dead – The Last Day on Earth from 2016

I stayed up to watch this episode at 2am. It was extremely gripping following the introduction of villain Negan discovering the characters, mercilessly mocking his targets and then keeping the death a mystery (ended on a cliffhanger). The point-of-view shot from the victim and the muffled sounds – argh! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season