‘I absolutely had to rest after that!’ The most nerve-wracking television episodes you’ve seen
Spooks – I Spy Apocalypse from 2003
The show kicks off with the MI5 agents confined during a training exercise concerning a fictional terrorist event, supervised by two Home Office agents. As things progress, it seems an actual attack has occurred and a chemical weapon has been unleashed. The anxiety increases as reports reveal a disaster happening externally, and intensifies as the superior shows signs of exposure, and the two Home Office officials attempt to leave, forcing Matthew Macfadyen’s character to decide between shooting them or letting them go and risking contaminating the sealed MI5 offices. As this is Spooks, his decision is predictable.
The 1984 production Threads
Threads had minimal funding but one of the most frightening programmes I’ve ever seen owing to its grim authenticity and grim official statistics. Viewed it recently following the initial broadcast; I used to visit the pub in Sheffield featured in the show which emphasised the reality and the casual, straightforward government details which was broadcast. Still absolutely terrifying 35 years later.
Severance – The We We Are from 2022
The concluding episode of Severance’s debut season ranks highly among intense episodes. I spent the entire episode quite literally on the edge of my seat, pushing alongside Dylan to hold the switches that allowed the Innies to remain active, while yelling at the Innies to get their truths out there. The ultimate peak – “she’s alive!” – resembled a outburst.
Industry – White Mischief from 2024
Episode five of the third series of Industry had my heart racing. I needed to stop and stand and leave the room several times owing to the vast degree of the wanton self-destruction I observed. Rishi Ramdani is in deep shit professionally and personally – up to his eyeballs in debt to loan sharks due to his addictive betting, taking such risks with a gamble on the pound which could lose his company millions. Naturally, he embarks on a betting frenzy, consumes excessive substances and alcohol and experiences wins and losses, is severely assaulted. Each instance you believe the situation cannot deteriorate further, it worsens. There’s hope of redemption at the end of the episode yet he wastes the chance, leading to terrible outcomes in the season finale. Certainly required a rest afterward!
Peep Show – Holiday (2007)
Peep Show itself isn’t necessarily a stressful show. Yet the installment Holiday contains such levels of cringe that it can cause you to stand for the full show, permeated with worry. It all ramps up once Jeremy and Mark find themselves needing to deceive regarding the dog they by chance collide with and subsequent attempts to dispose of it. You then spend the rest of the episode wondering if it might be more awful than cremation, and it is possible!
The 2001 The West Wing episode The Two Cathedrals
No other viewing has been as gripping compared to my initial viewing the season two finale to The West Wing. The show opens with the fallout of the demise (in a car crash) of the president’s private assistant and escalates to a高潮 involving a Haitian emergency, and the fallout from the non-disclosure regarding the president’s multiple sclerosis diagnosis, coupled with verification of his aim to run for another term. Superb programming. Unsurpassed.
The 2018 Bodyguard premiere episode
The opening of the British series Bodyguard, with the hero aboard a train with his young son, is personally a top tense installment. He notices a Muslim female heading to the toilet and realizes something is amiss. The bomb squad is alerted, get on the train, and attempt to convince the woman to discard her bomb jacket. Suspense rises to a nearly intolerable level, until, finally, the vest is neutralized.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer – The Body from 2001
Buffy comes into her home to find her mum has passed away from natural reasons, which is the least common kind of passing in this mystical program. The episode has no background music, a gloomy atmosphere, and we view the installment through the lens of Buffy’s dismay upon uncovering her mother.
The 2007 The Sopranos finale Made in America
The final scene of the final episode of the show was pants-wettingly tense. And if you viewed it when it first premiered, you – at the start – didn’t understand the cause. Tony’s enemies, real and imagined, were all vanquished. 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 sit in a restaurant. Meadow parks. Tony sadly tells Carmela there’s trouble afoot with another member of his team working with the government. Meadow parks the vehicle. Odd persons arrive at the eatery. Stare at Tony(?) Meadow continues to park. Tony selects a song on the jukebox. Meadow finds a spot. The door chimes, a person comes in. It isn’t Meadow, she remains parking. Tony glances upward. Continue. It stops. My heart dropped from my mouth roughly 20 minutes after.
The Walking Dead – The Last Day on Earth (2016)
I kept late hours to see this show during the night. It was incredibly tense following the introduction of villain Negan locating the survivors, mercilessly mocking his targets then not knowing who he killed (ended on a cliffhanger). The point-of-view shot from the victim and the subdued noises – oh no! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season
