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Spooks – I Spy Apocalypse from 2003

This installment starts with the intelligence unit restricted during a training exercise about a potential terror incident, supervised by two Home Office agents. As the situation develops, it becomes clear a real incident has taken place with a chemical weapon released. The anxiety increases as incoming communications show a crisis unfolding beyond their walls, and escalates as the superior shows signs of exposure, with the two officials trying to exit, forcing Matthew Macfadyen’s character to choose between firing at them or allowing them to leave and potentially infecting the secure MI5 headquarters. This being Spooks, his decision is predictable.

Threads (1984)

Threads had minimal funding yet among the scariest shows I’ve ever seen because of the stark reality and dismal official figures. Saw it not long ago following the initial broadcast; I frequently went to the Sheffield pub shown in the series that highlighted the truth and the offhand factual official statements that aired. Continuing to be utterly horrifying decades on.

Severance – The We We Are (2022)

The first season finale of Severance deserves a top spot as a tense chapter. I spent the entire episode literally perched nervously, pushing alongside Dylan to keep his hands on the levers that sustained the Innies’ extended time, while shouting to the Innies to disclose their facts. The ultimate peak – “she survives!” – was like an eruption.

The 2024 Industry episode White Mischief

The fifth episode of Industry’s third season had my heart racing. I had to pause and get up and leave the room several times owing to the vast degree of the wanton self-destruction I observed. Rishi Ramdani faces serious trouble at work and home – up to his eyeballs in debt to loan sharks because of his compulsive gambling, assuming hazardous chances on a wager involving sterling that might cost his firm 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 it can’t get any worse, it does. Redemption seems possible by the episode’s conclusion yet he wastes the chance, resulting in dreadful effects in the concluding part of the season. Certainly required a rest afterward!

The 2007 Peep Show episode Holiday

Peep Show itself isn’t necessarily a stressful show. But the episode Holiday contains such levels of cringe that it can cause you to stand the whole episode, filled with nervousness. The situation intensifies when Jeremy and Mark realize needing to deceive regarding the dog they unintentionally hit and subsequent attempts to dispose of it. You subsequently use the rest of the installment questioning whether it truly can be worse than incineration, and it is possible!

The 2001 The West Wing episode The Two Cathedrals

Nothing I’ve watched has been more intense as when I first saw the second season finale of The West Wing. The show opens with the fallout of the death (in a traffic accident) of the president’s personal secretary and reaches a crescendo with a situation in Haiti, and the repercussions of the secrecy about the president’s MS condition, along with affirmation of his plan to seek re-election. Superb programming. Never bettered.

Bodyguard – episode one (2018)

The opening of the British series Bodyguard, featuring the main character on a train accompanied by his small son, is for me one of the most intense episodes ever. He notices a Muslim female going into the loo and realizes something is amiss. The bomb squad is alerted, board the train, and endeavor to coax the woman to remove her explosive vest. Tension escalates to a practically unendurable point, until yes, the vest is diffused.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer – The Body from 2001

Buffy arrives at her residence to find her mum has passed away of natural causes, which is the least common kind of passing in this paranormal series. The show features no musical score, 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 final scene of the final episode 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 enemies, real and imagined, had all been defeated. Surely this has the feel of the season one ending? “Think about the small elements.” However, the vibe is oddly threatening. Almost Twin Peaks levels of terror. The clan sits in an eatery. Meadow stops the car. Tony sadly tells Carmela difficulties are arising with another member of his team working with the government. Meadow secures a parking space. Unfamiliar individuals come into the diner. Stare at Tony(?) Meadow parks. Tony puts a record on the jukebox. Meadow parks. The bell rings, someone enters the restaurant. It cannot be Meadow, she is still parking. Tony raises his gaze. Continue. It ceases. My heart dropped from my mouth roughly 20 minutes after.

The Walking Dead – The Last Day on Earth (2016)

I stayed up to watch this episode at 2am. It was incredibly tense after the buildup of bad guy Negan locating the survivors, cruelly taunting his victims then not knowing who he killed (ended on a cliffhanger). The first-person perspective of the victim and the subdued noises – argh! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season