‘I absolutely had to rest after that!’ The most nerve-wracking TV episodes ever
Spooks – I Spy Apocalypse (2003)
This installment starts with the MI5 agents restricted as part of a simulation relating to a hypothetical terrorist attack, supervised by two Home Office agents. As things progress, it seems an actual attack has occurred and a chemical weapon has been unleashed. The tension ratchets up as messages indicate a crisis unfolding beyond their walls, and gets worse as the superior shows signs of exposure, with the two officials trying to exit, compelling the character played by Matthew Macfadyen to opt for either shooting them or permitting their exit and endangering the sterile MI5 environment. As this is Spooks, it is unsurprising which one he chooses.
The 1984 production Threads
The production was inexpensive but one of the most frightening programmes I’ve ever seen due to its harsh realism and bleak government data. Viewed it recently after seeing the first airing; I frequently went to the Sheffield pub from the programme which emphasised the reality and the offhand factual official statements that aired. Continuing to be utterly horrifying 35 years later.
Severance – The We We Are from 2022
The season one finale of Severance ranks highly in terms of gripping installments. I remained for the whole show literally perched nervously, straining every sinew with Dylan to maintain his grip on the controls that sustained the Innies’ extended time, while screaming at the Innies to disclose their facts. The ultimate peak – “she survives!” – was like an eruption.
Industry – White Mischief (2024)
Episode five of the third series of Industry made my pulse quicken. I had to pause and get up and leave the room several times due to the immense extent of the wanton self-destruction I observed. Rishi Ramdani is in major difficulty at work and home – overwhelmed by debt to loan sharks due to his addictive betting, assuming hazardous chances with a gamble on the pound that might cost his firm millions. Naturally, he embarks on a betting frenzy, uses copious drugs and alcohol and wins, loses, wins, gets beaten to a pulp. Whenever you assume things cannot decline more, 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. Absolutely had to relax following that!
The 2007 Peep Show episode Holiday
Peep Show is not inherently a tense series. But the episode Holiday features such degrees of awkwardness that it’ll have you standing up throughout the entire episode, permeated with worry. It all ramps up once Jeremy and Mark find themselves having to lie about the dog they unintentionally hit 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 can be!
The West Wing – The Two Cathedrals from 2001
No other viewing has been as gripping than the first time I watched 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 reaches a crescendo with a situation in Haiti, and the effects of the withheld information regarding the president’s multiple sclerosis diagnosis, with confirmation of his intention to seek re-election. Wonderful television. Never bettered.
Bodyguard – episode one (2018)
The opening of the British series Bodyguard, with the protagonist on a train accompanied by his small 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. Tension escalates to an almost unbearable degree, until, indeed, the vest is disarmed.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer – The Body (2001)
Buffy arrives at her residence to discover her mother has died due to natural factors, which is the most unusual type of death in this supernatural show. The episode has no background music, a somber mood, and we witness the episode via the perspective of Buffy’s dismay upon uncovering 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 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. Almost Twin Peaks levels of terror. The family sit in a restaurant. Meadow parks. Tony sorrowfully notifies Carmela there’s trouble afoot with an additional associate working with the government. Meadow parks the vehicle. Unfamiliar individuals come into the diner. Look at Tony(?) Meadow is parking. Tony selects a song on the jukebox. Meadow parks her car. The bell sounds, an individual enters. Can’t be Meadow, she’s still parking. Tony looks up. Keep going. It ceases. My spirit fell around 20 minutes subsequently.
The Walking Dead – The Last Day on Earth (2016)
I kept late hours to see this show during the night. It was so intense after the buildup of bad guy Negan locating the survivors, savagely teasing his prey and then leaving the victim unknown (ended on a cliffhanger). The victim’s POV shot and the muted audio – ugh! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season
