‘I absolutely had to rest after that!’ Your most nerve-wracking TV episodes of all time
Spooks – I Spy Apocalypse from 2003
This installment starts with the Spooks team restricted as part of a simulation about a potential terror incident, supervised by two Home Office agents. As things progress, it appears that there really has been an attack and a chemical agent deployed. The suspense builds as incoming communications show a catastrophe taking place outside, and gets worse when the leader seems contaminated, and the government agents endeavor to depart, compelling the character played by Matthew Macfadyen to opt for either shooting them or letting them go and potentially infecting the secure MI5 headquarters. As this is Spooks, his decision is predictable.
Threads (1984)
Threads was low budget but arguably the most terrifying series I have ever watched because of the stark reality and bleak government data. Watched it about a month ago having watched the original; I often attended the bar in Sheffield shown in the series which underscored the actuality and the offhand factual official statements which was broadcast. Continuing to be utterly horrifying after three and a half decades.
Severance – The We We Are from 2022
The season one finale of Severance deserves a top spot in terms of gripping installments. I spent the entire episode quite literally on the edge of my seat, pushing alongside Dylan to keep his hands on the levers that kept the Innies on overtime, while screaming at the Innies to disclose their facts. The final climactic moment – “she is living!” – felt like an explosion.
Industry – White Mischief (2024)
The fifth episode of Industry’s third season made my pulse quicken. I was compelled to halt and rise and exit the space repeatedly because of the sheer scale of the reckless self-harm I saw. Rishi Ramdani is in major difficulty in his job and domestic life – buried in financial obligations to illegal creditors owing to his uncontrollable gaming, assuming hazardous chances with a gamble on the pound which could lose his company millions. So of course, he goes on a gambling spree, consumes excessive substances and alcohol and experiences wins and losses, gets beaten to a pulp. Whenever you assume things cannot decline more, it does. There’s hope of redemption by the episode’s conclusion but he squanders the opportunity, resulting in dreadful effects during the season’s final episode. Definitely needed a lie-down after that!
The 2007 Peep Show episode Holiday
Peep Show is not inherently a tense series. But the episode Holiday features such degrees of awkwardness that it will make you rise for the full show, filled with nervousness. The tension escalates once Jeremy and Mark find themselves being compelled to falsify about the canine they by chance collide with and later efforts to get rid of it. You then occupy the remainder of the episode wondering if it might be more awful than cremation, and it turns out to be!
The West Wing – The Two Cathedrals (2001)
Nothing I have seen has been as tense than the first time I watched the season two finale to The West Wing. The episode starts with the aftermath of the death (in a traffic accident) of the president’s personal secretary and reaches a crescendo with a crisis in Haiti, and the fallout from the non-disclosure of the president’s MS diagnosis, coupled with verification of his aim to pursue re-election. Wonderful television. Unequaled.
Bodyguard – episode one from 2018
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 observes a woman in Islamic attire heading to the toilet and senses something is wrong. The bomb squad is alerted, enter the train, and attempt to convince the woman to discard her bomb jacket. Anxiety builds to a nearly intolerable level, until, finally, the vest is neutralized.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer – The Body (2001)
Buffy comes into her home to realize her mom has deceased of natural causes, which is the least common kind of passing in this supernatural show. The show features no musical score, a sullen tone, and we see the episode through the experience of Buffy’s dismay upon uncovering her mother.
The 2007 The Sopranos finale Made in America
The concluding moment of the last installment 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 adversaries, actual and perceived, were all vanquished. This seems similar to the first season’s finale, right? “Remember the little things.” But the mood is bizarrely ominous. Approaching Twin Peaks-esque horror. The family gathers in a diner. Meadow finds a parking spot. Tony sorrowfully notifies Carmela difficulties are arising with an additional associate cooperating with the officials. Meadow parks. Strange people enter the restaurant. Stare at Tony(?) Meadow is parking. Tony plays a track on the music machine. Meadow finds a spot. The door chimes, a person comes in. It cannot be Meadow, she is still parking. Tony looks up. Don’t stop. It ceases. My heart dropped from my mouth 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 so intense following the introduction of villain Negan finding the group, mercilessly mocking his targets and then keeping the death a mystery (concluded with a suspenseful moment). The first-person perspective of the victim and the subdued noises – ugh! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season
