🔗 Share this article ‘I absolutely had to rest after that!’ The most gripping episodes of TV you’ve seen Spooks – I Spy Apocalypse (2003) The show kicks off with the MI5 agents restricted while undergoing a drill relating to a hypothetical terrorist attack, overseen by two Home Office officials. As events unfold, it appears that there really has been an attack with a chemical weapon released. The tension ratchets up as messages indicate a disaster happening externally, and intensifies when the leader seems contaminated, and the two Home Office officials attempt to leave, compelling the character played by Matthew Macfadyen to decide between shooting them or permitting their exit and potentially infecting the secure MI5 headquarters. This being Spooks, the outcome is expected. Threads (1984) Threads was low budget but arguably the most terrifying series I’ve ever seen because of the stark reality and dismal official figures. Saw it not long ago following the initial broadcast; I used to visit the pub in Sheffield featured in the show that highlighted the truth and the casual, straightforward government details that were transmitted. Still absolutely terrifying decades on. The 2022 Severance episode The We We Are The concluding episode of Severance’s debut season deserves a top spot in terms of gripping installments. I remained for the whole show literally perched nervously, straining every sinew with Dylan to keep his hands on the levers that kept the Innies on overtime, while shouting to the Innies to reveal their realities. The ultimate peak – “she’s alive!” – resembled a outburst. The 2024 Industry episode White Mischief Installment five in Industry’s third series made my pulse quicken. I had to pause and get up and depart the area multiple times due to the immense extent of the wanton self-destruction I observed. Rishi Ramdani faces serious trouble at work and home – buried in financial obligations from unscrupulous lenders owing to his uncontrollable gaming, taking such risks on a wager involving sterling which could lose his company millions. Inevitably, he starts a gaming binge, does tons of drugs and drink and alternates between success and failure, is brutally attacked. Every time you think things cannot decline more, it worsens. There’s hope of redemption by the episode’s conclusion but he misses the opening, leading to terrible outcomes in the season finale. Certainly required a rest afterward! Peep Show – Holiday from 2007 The series Peep Show isn’t typically anxiety-inducing. But the episode Holiday contains such levels of cringe that it can cause you to stand for the full show, filled with nervousness. The situation intensifies as Jeremy and Mark discover needing to deceive regarding the dog they by chance collide with and following tries to eliminate it. You then occupy the remainder of the episode questioning whether it truly can be worse than incineration, and it turns out to be! The West Wing – The Two Cathedrals (2001) Nothing I have seen has been as tense compared to my initial viewing the concluding episode of The West Wing’s second season. The installment begins with the consequences of the death (in a traffic accident) of the president’s confidential aide and escalates to a高潮 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 seek re-election. Wonderful television. Unsurpassed. Bodyguard – episode one (2018) The opening of the British series Bodyguard, with the hero aboard a train with his young son, is for me one of the most intense episodes ever. He notices a Muslim female going into the loo and senses something is wrong. The bomb diffuser experts are called, board the train, and try to persuade the woman to take off her suicide vest. Tension escalates to a practically unendurable point, until yes, the vest is diffused. Buffy the Vampire Slayer – The Body (2001) Buffy enters her house to find her mum has passed away 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 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 watched it when it originally aired, you – at the start – didn’t understand the cause. Tony’s foes, genuine and fictional, were all vanquished. Surely this has the feel of the season one ending? “Remember the little things.” However, the vibe is oddly threatening. Almost Twin Peaks levels of terror. The family gathers in a diner. Meadow parks. Tony gloomily informs Carmela there’s trouble afoot with an additional associate collaborating with the authorities. Meadow secures a parking space. Odd persons arrive at the eatery. Gaze at Tony(?) Meadow parks. Tony plays a track on the music machine. Meadow parks. The bell rings, someone enters the restaurant. It isn’t Meadow, she remains parking. Tony glances upward. Keep going. It ceases. My heart sank around 20 minutes subsequently. The 2016 The Walking Dead episode The Last Day on Earth I kept late hours to see this show in the early morning. It was incredibly tense after the buildup of bad guy Negan locating the survivors, savagely teasing his prey and then leaving the victim unknown (concluded with a suspenseful moment). The point-of-view shot from the victim and the subdued noises – argh! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season