‘I definitely needed a lie-down after that!’ Your most intense TV episodes of all time

Spooks – I Spy Apocalypse (2003)

The show kicks off with the Spooks team confined as part of a simulation relating to a hypothetical terrorist attack, monitored by two government representatives. As events unfold, it appears that there really has been an attack with a chemical weapon released. The suspense builds as reports reveal a crisis unfolding beyond their walls, and gets worse when the leader seems contaminated, with the two officials trying to exit, pushing the protagonist portrayed by Matthew Macfadyen to opt for either shooting them or letting them go and risking contaminating the sealed MI5 offices. Given it’s Spooks, his decision is predictable.

The 1984 production Threads

Threads had minimal funding but arguably the most terrifying series I have ever watched because of the stark reality and grim official statistics. Viewed it recently following the initial broadcast; I used to visit the pub in Sheffield from the programme which emphasised the reality and the casual, straightforward government details which was broadcast. Continuing to be utterly horrifying 35 years later.

The 2022 Severance episode The We We Are

The first season finale of Severance deserves a top spot in terms of gripping installments. I spent the entire episode quite literally on the edge of my seat, straining every sinew with Dylan to keep his hands on the levers that sustained the Innies’ extended time, while yelling at the Innies to disclose their facts. The concluding高潮 – “she’s alive!” – resembled a outburst.

Industry – White Mischief from 2024

Episode five of the third series of Industry had my heart racing. I needed to stop and stand and depart the area multiple times because of the sheer scale of the deliberate ruin I saw. Rishi Ramdani is in major difficulty in his job and domestic life – up to his eyeballs in debt to loan sharks owing to his uncontrollable gaming, assuming hazardous chances with a gamble on the pound that might cost his firm millions. Inevitably, he starts a gaming binge, consumes excessive substances and alcohol and wins, loses, wins, is severely assaulted. Every time you think it can’t get any worse, it worsens. There’s hope of redemption as the installment closes but he squanders the opportunity, leading to terrible outcomes in the concluding part of the season. Absolutely had to relax following that!

The 2007 Peep Show episode Holiday

The series Peep Show isn’t typically anxiety-inducing. However, the Holiday episode contains such levels of cringe that it will make you rise the whole episode, permeated with worry. The tension escalates when Jeremy and Mark realize having to lie about the dog they by chance collide with and later efforts to get rid of it. You then spend the rest 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

Nothing I’ve watched has been more intense than the first time I watched 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 private assistant and escalates to a高潮 involving a Haitian emergency, and the effects of the withheld information regarding the president’s multiple sclerosis diagnosis, with confirmation of his intention to pursue re-election. Excellent TV. Never bettered.

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 notices a Muslim female heading to the toilet and knows something is off. The bomb squad is alerted, board the train, and endeavor to coax the woman to take off her suicide vest. Tension escalates to a practically unendurable point, until, indeed, the vest is disarmed.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer – The Body (2001)

Buffy enters her house to discover her mother has died due to natural factors, which is the rarest form of demise in this supernatural show. The installment lacks any soundtrack, 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 concluding moment of the last installment of the program was incredibly anxious. And if you watched it when it originally aired, you – at the start – didn’t understand the cause. Tony’s foes, genuine and fictional, were all vanquished. This seems similar to the first season’s finale, right? “Recall the minor details.” Yet the atmosphere is strangely foreboding. Approaching Twin Peaks-esque horror. The family gathers in a diner. Meadow stops the car. Tony gloomily informs Carmela problems are brewing with yet another of his crew working with the government. Meadow parks. Strange people enter the restaurant. Stare at Tony(?) Meadow continues to park. Tony puts a record on the jukebox. Meadow parks. The bell rings, someone enters the restaurant. It isn’t Meadow, she remains parking. Tony looks up. Keep going. It halts. 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 during the night. It was incredibly tense after the buildup of bad guy Negan locating the survivors, mercilessly mocking his targets and then leaving the victim unknown (concluded with a suspenseful moment). The first-person perspective of the victim and the muffled sounds – argh! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season