‘I absolutely had to rest after that!’ Your most nerve-wracking episodes of TV ever
Spooks – I Spy Apocalypse (2003)
This installment starts with the intelligence unit locked down during a training exercise relating to a hypothetical terrorist attack, monitored by two government representatives. As things progress, it seems an actual attack has occurred and a chemical weapon has been unleashed. The tension ratchets up as incoming communications show a catastrophe taking place outside, and intensifies when the leader seems contaminated, and the government agents endeavor to depart, pushing the protagonist portrayed by Matthew Macfadyen to decide between shooting 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 owing to its grim authenticity and dismal official figures. Watched it about a month ago having watched the original; I often attended the bar in Sheffield 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 from 2022
The first season finale of Severance has to be right up there among intense episodes. I spent the entire episode actually sitting tensely, pushing alongside Dylan to hold the switches that kept the Innies on overtime, while screaming at the Innies to disclose their facts. The final climactic moment – “she survives!” – resembled a outburst.
The 2024 Industry episode White Mischief
Episode five of the third series of Industry had my heart racing. I had to pause and get up and leave the room several times owing to the vast degree of the wanton self-destruction I saw. Rishi Ramdani is in major difficulty at work and home – overwhelmed by debt from unscrupulous lenders because of his compulsive gambling, assuming hazardous chances 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 alternates between success and failure, gets beaten to a pulp. Whenever you assume things cannot decline more, it worsens. Redemption seems possible by the episode’s conclusion but he squanders the opportunity, resulting in dreadful effects during the season’s final episode. Absolutely had to relax following that!
The 2007 Peep Show episode Holiday
The series Peep Show isn’t typically anxiety-inducing. However, the Holiday episode includes such amounts of embarrassment that it will make you rise for the full show, filled with nervousness. It all ramps up when Jeremy and Mark realize needing to deceive regarding the dog they by chance collide with and later efforts to get rid of it. You subsequently use the rest of the installment questioning whether it truly can be worse than incineration, and it turns out to be!
The West Wing – The Two Cathedrals (2001)
Nothing I’ve watched has been more intense compared to my initial viewing 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 involving a Haitian emergency, and the repercussions of the secrecy regarding the president’s multiple sclerosis diagnosis, coupled with verification of his aim to run for another term. Excellent TV. Unsurpassed.
The 2018 Bodyguard premiere episode
The start of the British program Bodyguard, with the protagonist on a train alongside his juvenile boy, ranks among the most gripping episodes I’ve seen. He spots a Muslim woman entering the restroom and knows something is off. The bomb squad is alerted, get on the train, and attempt to convince the woman to take off her suicide vest. Suspense rises to a practically unendurable point, until yes, the vest is diffused.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer – The Body from 2001
Buffy arrives at her residence to realize her mom has deceased from natural reasons, which is the rarest form of demise in this mystical program. The episode has no background music, a somber mood, and we witness the episode via the perspective of Buffy’s dismay upon uncovering her mother.
The Sopranos – Made in America from 2007
The concluding moment of the last installment of the show was pants-wettingly tense. 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, 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 family gathers in a diner. Meadow parks. Tony gloomily informs Carmela there’s trouble afoot with another member of his team working with the government. Meadow secures a parking space. Strange people enter the restaurant. Look at Tony(?) Meadow continues to park. Tony selects a song on the jukebox. Meadow finds a spot. The bell rings, someone enters the restaurant. Can’t be Meadow, she’s still parking. Tony looks up. Continue. It halts. My heart sank around 20 minutes subsequently.
The Walking Dead – The Last Day on Earth from 2016
I kept late hours to see this show during the night. It was incredibly tense following the introduction of villain 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 muted audio – argh! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season
