‘I absolutely had to rest after that!’ Your most gripping television episodes ever

Spooks – I Spy Apocalypse (2003)

The episode begins with the intelligence unit confined as part of a simulation 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 tension ratchets up as messages indicate a disaster happening externally, and intensifies as the superior shows signs of exposure, with the two officials trying to exit, compelling the character played by Matthew Macfadyen to choose between firing at them or allowing them to leave and endangering the sterile MI5 environment. As this is Spooks, it is unsurprising which one he chooses.

Threads from 1984

Threads was low budget but arguably the most terrifying series I have ever watched due to its harsh realism and grim official statistics. Saw it not long ago having watched the original; I often attended the bar in Sheffield featured in the show that highlighted the truth and the offhand factual official statements that were transmitted. Still absolutely terrifying 35 years later.

Severance – The We We Are from 2022

The first season finale of Severance deserves a top spot as a tense chapter. I remained for the whole show quite literally on the edge of my seat, straining every sinew with Dylan to maintain his grip on the controls that allowed the Innies to remain active, while yelling at the Innies to disclose their facts. The final climactic moment – “she’s alive!” – resembled a outburst.

Industry – White Mischief (2024)

The fifth episode of Industry’s third season had my heart racing. I needed to stop and stand and leave the room several times due to the immense extent of the reckless self-harm I observed. Rishi Ramdani is in deep shit at work and home – up to his eyeballs in debt to illegal creditors because of his compulsive gambling, engaging in dangerous ventures with a bet on sterling that might cost his firm millions. Inevitably, he starts a gaming binge, does tons of drugs and drink and wins, loses, wins, is severely assaulted. Each instance you believe the situation cannot deteriorate further, it does. Redemption seems possible by the episode’s conclusion but he squanders the opportunity, with horrifying consequences in the concluding part of the season. Definitely needed a lie-down after that!

Peep Show – Holiday (2007)

Peep Show is not inherently a tense series. However, the Holiday episode includes such amounts of embarrassment that it will make you rise the whole episode, permeated with worry. The situation intensifies when Jeremy and Mark realize having to lie about the dog they unintentionally hit and later efforts to get rid of it. You subsequently use the rest of the installment wondering if it might be more awful than cremation, and it is possible!

The 2001 The West Wing episode The Two Cathedrals

Nothing I have seen has been as tense compared to my initial viewing the season two finale to The West Wing. The episode starts with the aftermath of the death (in a traffic accident) of the president’s personal secretary and builds to a peak involving a Haitian emergency, and the repercussions of the secrecy about the president’s MS condition, with confirmation of his intention to run for another term. Wonderful television. 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, ranks among the most gripping episodes I’ve seen. He observes a woman in Islamic attire heading to the toilet and realizes something is amiss. The bomb diffuser experts are called, enter the train, and try to persuade the woman to remove her explosive vest. Anxiety builds to a practically unendurable point, until, indeed, the vest is disarmed.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer – The Body from 2001

Buffy enters her house to find her mum has passed away from natural reasons, which is the rarest form of demise in this supernatural show. The episode has no background music, a gloomy atmosphere, and we witness the episode via the perspective of Buffy’s astonishment upon finding her mother.

The Sopranos – Made in America (2007)

The ultimate sequence of the series finale of the program was incredibly anxious. And if you viewed it when it first premiered, you – initially – were uncertain of the reason. Tony’s adversaries, actual and perceived, had all been defeated. This seems similar to the first season’s finale, right? “Think about the small elements.” Yet the atmosphere is strangely foreboding. Nearly Twin Peaks-like fear. The family sit in a restaurant. Meadow finds a parking spot. Tony sorrowfully notifies Carmela problems are brewing with yet another of his crew working with the government. Meadow parks the vehicle. Unfamiliar individuals come into the diner. Stare at Tony(?) Meadow parks. Tony puts a record on the jukebox. Meadow parks her car. The bell sounds, an individual enters. It cannot be Meadow, she is still parking. Tony glances upward. Keep going. It stops. My spirit fell roughly 20 minutes after.

The 2016 The Walking Dead episode The Last Day on Earth

I kept late hours to see this show at 2am. It was so intense following the introduction of villain Negan discovering the characters, mercilessly mocking his targets then not knowing who he killed (finished with an unresolved situation). The point-of-view shot from the victim and the muffled sounds – argh! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season