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Spooks – I Spy Apocalypse (2003)

The show kicks off with the Spooks team restricted while undergoing a drill relating to a hypothetical terrorist attack, supervised by two Home Office agents. As things progress, it becomes clear a real incident has taken place and a chemical weapon has been unleashed. The suspense builds as messages indicate a catastrophe taking place outside, and intensifies as the superior shows signs of exposure, with the two officials trying to exit, pushing the protagonist portrayed by Matthew Macfadyen to choose between firing at them or permitting their exit and risking contaminating the sealed MI5 offices. Given it’s Spooks, the outcome is expected.

Threads (1984)

Threads had minimal funding but one of the most frightening programmes I’ve ever seen due to its harsh realism and dismal official figures. Viewed it recently having watched the original; I often attended the bar in Sheffield shown in the series which underscored the actuality and the casual, straightforward government details which was broadcast. Still absolutely terrifying decades on.

The 2022 Severance episode The We We Are

The concluding episode of Severance’s debut season ranks highly among intense episodes. I spent the entire episode literally perched nervously, exerting with Dylan to maintain his grip on the controls that kept the Innies on overtime, while screaming at the Innies to get their truths out there. The ultimate peak – “she survives!” – resembled a outburst.

Industry – White Mischief from 2024

The fifth episode of Industry’s third season had my heart racing. I had to pause and get up and exit the space repeatedly because of the sheer scale of the deliberate ruin I saw. Rishi Ramdani is in major difficulty in his job and domestic life – buried in financial obligations to illegal creditors due to his addictive betting, engaging in dangerous ventures with a gamble on the pound which may result in huge losses for his employer. Naturally, he embarks on a betting frenzy, does tons of drugs and drink and experiences wins and losses, gets beaten to a pulp. Every time you think it can’t get any worse, it worsens. There is a chance for salvation by the episode’s conclusion but he squanders the opportunity, with horrifying consequences in the season finale. Definitely needed a lie-down after that!

The 2007 Peep Show episode Holiday

Peep Show is not inherently a tense series. Yet the installment Holiday contains such levels of cringe that it can cause you to stand the whole episode, permeated with worry. The situation intensifies as Jeremy and Mark discover having to lie about the dog they unintentionally hit and subsequent attempts to dispose of it. You then spend the rest of the episode questioning whether it truly can be worse than incineration, and it is possible!

The West Wing – The Two Cathedrals from 2001

Nothing I have seen has been as tense as when I first saw the second season finale of The West Wing. The episode starts with the aftermath of the demise (in a car crash) of the president’s private assistant and builds to a peak 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. Unsurpassed.

Bodyguard – episode one from 2018

The beginning of the UK show Bodyguard, featuring the main character on a train with his young son, ranks among the most gripping episodes I’ve seen. He spots a Muslim woman entering the restroom and senses something is wrong. The bomb diffuser experts are called, enter the train, and attempt to convince the woman to remove her explosive vest. Tension escalates to a practically unendurable point, until, indeed, the vest is disarmed.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer – The Body (2001)

Buffy comes into her home to discover her mother has died of natural causes, which is the rarest form of demise in this supernatural show. The episode has no background music, a somber mood, and we witness the episode via the perspective of Buffy’s shock of discovering 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 – initially – were uncertain of the reason. Tony’s adversaries, actual and perceived, were all overcome. This seems similar to the first season’s finale, right? “Recall the minor details.” However, the vibe is oddly threatening. Almost Twin Peaks levels of terror. The family gathers in a diner. Meadow stops the car. Tony sadly tells Carmela difficulties are arising with an additional associate working with the government. Meadow secures a parking space. Odd persons arrive at the eatery. Look 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. Keep going. It ceases. My heart dropped from my mouth around 20 minutes subsequently.

The 2016 The Walking Dead episode The Last Day on Earth

I remained awake to view this installment in the early morning. It was so intense after the establishment of antagonist Negan finding the group, savagely teasing his prey then not knowing who he killed (finished with an unresolved situation). The victim’s POV shot and the muffled sounds – argh! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season