‘I truly required a break after that!’ The most intense television episodes ever
Spooks – I Spy Apocalypse from 2003
This installment starts with the intelligence unit restricted as part of a simulation about a potential terror incident, supervised by two Home Office agents. As events unfold, it becomes clear a real incident has taken place and a chemical agent deployed. The anxiety increases as incoming communications show a catastrophe taking place outside, and gets worse as the superior shows signs of exposure, and the government agents endeavor to depart, compelling the character played by Matthew Macfadyen to decide between shooting them or permitting their exit and risking contaminating the sealed MI5 offices. Given it’s Spooks, his decision is predictable.
Threads from 1984
Threads was low budget but one of the most frightening programmes I have ever watched owing to its grim authenticity and dismal official figures. Viewed it recently following the initial broadcast; I used to visit the pub in Sheffield shown in the series which emphasised the reality and the glib matter-of-fact official information that aired. Still absolutely terrifying 35 years later.
Severance – The We We Are (2022)
The concluding episode of Severance’s debut season ranks highly in terms of gripping installments. I was throughout the episode quite literally on the edge of my seat, straining every sinew with Dylan to keep his hands on the levers that kept the Innies on overtime, while screaming at the Innies to disclose their facts. The ultimate peak – “she’s alive!” – was like an eruption.
Industry – White Mischief from 2024
The fifth episode of Industry’s third season caused my heart to pound. I had to pause and get up and exit the space repeatedly because of the sheer scale of the wanton self-destruction I was witnessing. Rishi Ramdani is in major difficulty in his job and domestic life – buried in financial obligations from unscrupulous lenders because of his compulsive gambling, taking such risks with a gamble on the pound which could lose his company millions. So of course, he goes on a gambling spree, uses copious drugs and alcohol and wins, loses, wins, is brutally attacked. Every time you think it can’t get any worse, it worsens. Redemption seems possible by the episode’s conclusion but he squanders the opportunity, resulting in dreadful effects during the season’s final episode. Certainly required a rest afterward!
The 2007 Peep Show episode Holiday
The series Peep Show isn’t typically anxiety-inducing. Yet the installment Holiday contains such levels of cringe that it’ll have you standing up the whole episode, permeated with worry. The tension escalates as Jeremy and Mark discover being compelled to falsify about the canine they by chance collide with 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 turns out to be!
The West Wing – The Two Cathedrals from 2001
No other viewing has been as gripping as when I first saw the second season finale of The West Wing. The installment begins with the consequences of the demise (in a car crash) of the president’s private assistant and builds to a peak involving a Haitian emergency, and the effects of the withheld information of the president’s MS diagnosis, along with affirmation of his plan to pursue re-election. Wonderful television. Unsurpassed.
Bodyguard – episode one (2018)
The start of the British program Bodyguard, with the hero aboard a train with his young son, is personally a top tense installment. He notices a Muslim female going into the loo and knows something is off. The bomb diffuser experts are called, get on the train, and endeavor to coax the woman to remove her explosive vest. Anxiety builds to a practically unendurable point, until yes, the vest is diffused.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer – The Body from 2001
Buffy enters her house to find her mum has passed away of natural causes, which is the rarest form of demise in this paranormal series. The show features no musical score, a gloomy atmosphere, and we witness the episode via the perspective of Buffy’s shock of discovering her mother.
The Sopranos – Made in America (2007)
The concluding moment of the last installment of the series was extremely nerve-wracking. And if you watched it when it originally aired, you – initially – were uncertain of the reason. Tony’s adversaries, actual and perceived, had all been defeated. Surely this has the feel of the season one ending? “Recall the minor details.” However, the vibe is oddly threatening. Approaching Twin Peaks-esque horror. The family sit in a restaurant. Meadow finds a parking spot. Tony sadly tells Carmela problems are brewing with yet another of his crew working with the government. Meadow parks the vehicle. Strange people enter the restaurant. Stare at Tony(?) Meadow continues to park. Tony plays a track on the music machine. Meadow parks her car. The bell sounds, an individual enters. It isn’t Meadow, she remains parking. Tony raises his gaze. Don’t stop. It stops. My heart dropped from my mouth about 20 minutes later.
The 2016 The Walking Dead episode The Last Day on Earth
I remained awake to view this installment at 2am. It was extremely gripping after the buildup of bad guy Negan discovering the characters, mercilessly mocking his targets and then leaving the victim unknown (finished with an unresolved situation). The point-of-view shot from the victim and the subdued noises – ugh! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season
