‘I truly required a break after that!’ The most intense television episodes of all time

Spooks – I Spy Apocalypse (2003)

This installment starts with the MI5 agents locked down as part of a simulation relating to a hypothetical terrorist attack, supervised by two Home Office agents. As the situation develops, it seems an actual attack has occurred and a chemical agent deployed. The tension ratchets up as reports reveal a catastrophe taking place outside, and escalates 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 letting them go and potentially infecting the secure MI5 headquarters. Given it’s Spooks, his decision is predictable.

Threads (1984)

The production was inexpensive yet among the scariest shows I have ever watched due to its harsh realism and dismal official figures. Viewed it recently following the initial broadcast; I frequently went to the Sheffield pub featured in the show which emphasised the reality and the glib matter-of-fact official information that were transmitted. Continuing to be utterly horrifying decades on.

The 2022 Severance episode The We We Are

The season one finale of Severance ranks highly in terms of gripping installments. I spent the entire episode quite literally on the edge of my seat, straining every sinew with Dylan to maintain his grip on the controls that kept the Innies on overtime, while yelling at the Innies to disclose their facts. The ultimate peak – “she’s alive!” – felt like an explosion.

Industry – White Mischief (2024)

The fifth episode of Industry’s third season made my pulse quicken. I was compelled to halt and rise and leave the room several times due to the immense extent of the deliberate ruin I saw. Rishi Ramdani faces serious trouble in his job and domestic life – up to his eyeballs in debt from unscrupulous lenders because of his compulsive gambling, assuming hazardous chances on a wager involving sterling that might cost his firm millions. Naturally, he embarks on a betting frenzy, uses copious drugs and alcohol and wins, loses, wins, is severely assaulted. Every time you think the situation cannot deteriorate further, it does. Redemption seems possible at the end of the episode but he squanders the opportunity, with horrifying consequences during the season’s final episode. Definitely needed a lie-down after that!

The 2007 Peep Show episode Holiday

Peep Show is not inherently a tense series. However, the Holiday episode includes such amounts of embarrassment that it’ll have you standing up the whole episode, filled with nervousness. It all ramps up when Jeremy and Mark realize being compelled to falsify about the canine they accidentally run over 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 can be!

The 2001 The West Wing episode The Two Cathedrals

Nothing I have seen has been as tense as when I first saw the concluding episode of The West Wing’s second season. The episode starts with the aftermath of the passing (in a road incident) of the president’s personal secretary and reaches a crescendo involving a Haitian emergency, and the fallout from the non-disclosure about the president’s MS condition, with confirmation of his intention to pursue re-election. Superb programming. Unequaled.

Bodyguard – episode one from 2018

The start of the British program Bodyguard, featuring the main character on a train alongside his juvenile boy, ranks among the most gripping episodes I’ve seen. He observes a woman in Islamic attire going into the loo and realizes something is amiss. The explosive disposal specialists are summoned, get on the train, and try to persuade the woman to remove her explosive vest. Suspense rises to an almost unbearable degree, until, indeed, the vest is disarmed.

The 2001 Buffy episode The Body

Buffy arrives at her residence to realize her mom has deceased due to natural factors, which is the most unusual type of death in this paranormal series. The episode has no background music, a sullen tone, and we witness the episode via the perspective of Buffy’s astonishment upon finding her mother.

The Sopranos – Made in America from 2007

The ultimate sequence of the series finale 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 foes, genuine and fictional, had all been defeated. Surely this has the feel of the season one ending? “Recall the minor details.” But the mood is bizarrely ominous. Approaching Twin Peaks-esque horror. The family sit in a restaurant. Meadow finds a parking spot. Tony sadly tells Carmela problems are brewing with another member of his team collaborating with the authorities. Meadow parks. Unfamiliar individuals come into the diner. Gaze at Tony(?) Meadow is parking. Tony puts a record on the jukebox. Meadow parks her car. The door chimes, a person comes in. It isn’t Meadow, she remains parking. Tony raises his gaze. Continue. It halts. My spirit fell about 20 minutes later.

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

I remained awake to view this installment in the early morning. It was extremely gripping after the buildup of bad guy Negan finding the group, savagely teasing his prey and then leaving the victim unknown (concluded with a suspenseful moment). 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