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Spooks – I Spy Apocalypse (2003)

The show kicks off with the Spooks team locked down during a training exercise concerning a fictional terrorist event, overseen by two Home Office officials. As things progress, it becomes clear a real incident has taken place and a chemical weapon has been unleashed. The tension ratchets up as messages indicate a catastrophe taking place outside, and escalates as the superior shows signs of exposure, and the two Home Office officials attempt to leave, 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, his decision is predictable.

Threads from 1984

Threads was low budget yet among the scariest shows I’ve ever seen due to its harsh realism and dismal official figures. Viewed it recently after seeing the first airing; I used to visit the pub in Sheffield featured in the show which underscored the actuality and the glib matter-of-fact official information that aired. Continuing to be utterly horrifying after three and a half decades.

Severance – The We We Are (2022)

The concluding episode of Severance’s debut season deserves a top spot among intense episodes. I remained for the whole show literally perched nervously, pushing alongside Dylan to hold the switches that sustained the Innies’ extended time, while shouting to the Innies to reveal their realities. The ultimate peak – “she’s alive!” – felt like an explosion.

The 2024 Industry episode White Mischief

Episode five of the third series of Industry made my pulse quicken. I was compelled to halt and rise and depart the area multiple times because of the sheer scale of the wanton self-destruction I was witnessing. Rishi Ramdani is in deep shit at work and home – overwhelmed by debt to loan sharks owing to his uncontrollable gaming, engaging in dangerous ventures with a bet on sterling that might cost his firm millions. So of course, he goes on a gambling spree, does tons of drugs and drink and alternates between success and failure, gets beaten to a pulp. Whenever you assume the situation cannot deteriorate further, it does. There is a chance for salvation as the installment closes but he misses the opening, resulting in dreadful effects in the concluding part of the season. Absolutely had to relax following that!

Peep Show – Holiday from 2007

Peep Show is not inherently a tense series. Yet the installment Holiday includes such amounts of embarrassment that it will make you rise the whole episode, permeated with worry. The tension escalates once Jeremy and Mark find themselves being compelled to falsify about the canine they unintentionally hit and later efforts to get rid of it. You then occupy the remainder of the episode wondering if it might be more awful than cremation, and it turns out to be!

The West Wing – The Two Cathedrals from 2001

No other viewing has been as gripping compared to my initial viewing the concluding episode of The West Wing’s second season. The installment begins with the consequences of the passing (in a road incident) of the president’s personal secretary and reaches a crescendo with a situation in Haiti, and the repercussions of the secrecy of the president’s MS diagnosis, along with affirmation of his plan to run for another term. Wonderful television. Unequaled.

Bodyguard – episode one (2018)

The start of the British program Bodyguard, with the protagonist on a train alongside his juvenile boy, ranks among the most gripping episodes I’ve seen. He spots a Muslim woman entering the restroom and knows something is off. The explosive disposal specialists are summoned, get on the train, and attempt to convince the woman to take off her suicide vest. Tension escalates to a practically unendurable point, until, indeed, the vest is disarmed.

The 2001 Buffy episode The Body

Buffy enters her house to discover her mother has died from natural reasons, which is the rarest form of demise in this supernatural show. The installment lacks any soundtrack, a sullen tone, and we witness the episode via the perspective of Buffy’s dismay upon uncovering her mother.

The Sopranos – Made in America (2007)

The final scene of the final episode of the series was extremely nerve-wracking. And if you viewed it when it first premiered, you – at the start – didn’t understand the cause. Tony’s adversaries, actual and perceived, were all vanquished. This seems similar to the first season’s finale, right? “Remember the little things.” However, the vibe is oddly threatening. Approaching Twin Peaks-esque horror. The clan sits in an eatery. Meadow parks. Tony gloomily informs Carmela problems are brewing with yet another of his crew working with the government. Meadow parks the vehicle. Unfamiliar individuals come into the diner. Look at Tony(?) Meadow continues to park. Tony plays a track on the music machine. Meadow parks her car. The door chimes, a person comes in. It cannot be Meadow, she is still parking. Tony looks up. Don’t stop. It ceases. My heart sank roughly 20 minutes after.

The 2016 The Walking Dead episode The Last Day on Earth

I remained awake to view this installment during the night. It was incredibly tense after the buildup of bad guy Negan finding the group, mercilessly mocking his targets and then keeping the death a mystery (ended on a cliffhanger). 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