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The 2003 Spooks episode I Spy Apocalypse

The episode begins with the Spooks team confined while undergoing a drill about a potential terror incident, overseen by two Home Office officials. As events unfold, it appears that there really has been an attack and a chemical agent deployed. The suspense builds as incoming communications show a disaster happening externally, and intensifies when the leader seems contaminated, with the two officials trying to exit, forcing Matthew Macfadyen’s character to choose between firing at them or permitting their exit and endangering the sterile MI5 environment. As this is Spooks, the outcome is expected.

Threads (1984)

Threads was low budget but arguably the most terrifying series I have ever watched owing to its grim authenticity and grim official statistics. Watched it about a month ago following the initial broadcast; I used to visit the pub in Sheffield shown in the series which emphasised the reality and the casual, straightforward government details which was broadcast. Still absolutely terrifying 35 years later.

Severance – The We We Are (2022)

The concluding episode of Severance’s debut season deserves a top spot as a tense chapter. I spent the entire episode literally perched nervously, exerting with Dylan to hold the switches that allowed the Innies to remain active, while screaming at the Innies to reveal their realities. The final climactic moment – “she survives!” – resembled a outburst.

The 2024 Industry episode White Mischief

Episode five of the third series of Industry caused my heart to pound. I needed to stop and stand and exit the space repeatedly due to the immense extent of the wanton self-destruction I observed. Rishi Ramdani faces serious trouble in his job and domestic life – buried in financial obligations to illegal creditors owing to his uncontrollable gaming, taking such risks with a gamble on the pound which may result in huge losses for his employer. So of course, he goes on a gambling spree, does tons of drugs and drink and alternates between success and failure, gets beaten to a pulp. Whenever you assume it can’t get any worse, it does. There’s hope of redemption as the installment closes but he squanders the opportunity, resulting in dreadful effects in the season finale. Absolutely had to relax following that!

The 2007 Peep Show episode Holiday

The series Peep Show isn’t typically anxiety-inducing. But the episode Holiday contains such levels of cringe that it’ll have you standing up for the full show, permeated with worry. The tension escalates as Jeremy and Mark discover being compelled to falsify about the canine they unintentionally hit and later efforts to get rid of it. You then occupy the remainder of the episode doubting if it can actually be more terrible than burning, and it can be!

The West Wing – The Two Cathedrals (2001)

No other viewing has been as gripping as when I first saw the concluding episode of The West Wing’s second season. The episode starts with the aftermath of the demise (in a car crash) of the president’s personal secretary and builds to a peak involving a Haitian emergency, and the effects of the withheld information regarding the president’s multiple sclerosis diagnosis, along with affirmation of his plan to pursue re-election. Excellent TV. Never bettered.

Bodyguard – episode one (2018)

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 observes a woman in Islamic attire entering the restroom and senses something is wrong. The explosive disposal specialists are summoned, enter the train, and try to persuade the woman to discard her bomb jacket. Anxiety builds to a practically unendurable point, until, finally, the vest is neutralized.

The 2001 Buffy episode The Body

Buffy arrives at her residence to discover her mother has died due to natural factors, which is the rarest form of demise in this paranormal series. The episode has no background music, a gloomy atmosphere, and we see the episode through the experience of Buffy’s dismay upon uncovering her mother.

The Sopranos – Made in America (2007)

The ultimate sequence of the series finale of the series was extremely nerve-wracking. And if you watched it when it originally aired, you – at the start – didn’t understand the cause. Tony’s foes, genuine and fictional, were all vanquished. This seems similar to the first season’s finale, right? “Remember the little things.” Yet the atmosphere is strangely foreboding. Approaching Twin Peaks-esque horror. The family sit in a restaurant. Meadow finds a parking spot. Tony sorrowfully notifies Carmela difficulties are arising with an additional associate working with the government. Meadow parks the vehicle. Strange people enter the restaurant. Look at Tony(?) Meadow parks. Tony puts a record on the jukebox. Meadow parks. The bell sounds, an individual enters. It isn’t Meadow, she remains parking. Tony looks up. Continue. It stops. 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 incredibly tense after the establishment of antagonist Negan finding the group, savagely teasing his prey and then leaving the victim unknown (ended on a cliffhanger). The first-person perspective of the victim and the muted audio – argh! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season