‘I absolutely had to rest after that!’ The most nerve-wracking TV episodes ever
Spooks – I Spy Apocalypse from 2003
The show kicks off with the Spooks team confined while undergoing a drill concerning a fictional terrorist event, supervised by two Home Office agents. As events unfold, it appears that there really has been an attack with a chemical weapon released. The suspense builds as reports reveal a disaster happening externally, and escalates as the superior shows signs of exposure, and the government agents endeavor to depart, forcing Matthew Macfadyen’s character to choose between firing at them or letting them go and risking contaminating the sealed MI5 offices. As this is Spooks, his decision is predictable.
Threads from 1984
Threads was low budget but one of the most frightening programmes I have ever watched owing to its grim authenticity and grim official statistics. Saw it not long ago after seeing the first airing; I often attended the bar in Sheffield featured in the show which underscored the actuality and the offhand factual official statements that aired. Remaining completely frightening decades on.
Severance – The We We Are (2022)
The first season finale of Severance ranks highly in terms of gripping installments. I spent the entire episode literally perched nervously, exerting with Dylan to maintain his grip on the controls that allowed the Innies to remain active, while shouting to the Innies to disclose their facts. The ultimate peak – “she survives!” – felt like an explosion.
Industry – White Mischief (2024)
The fifth episode of Industry’s third season made my pulse quicken. I had to pause and get up and depart the area multiple times due to the immense extent of the reckless self-harm I saw. Rishi Ramdani is in deep shit in his job and domestic life – up to his eyeballs in debt from unscrupulous lenders because of his compulsive gambling, assuming hazardous chances with a gamble on the pound which could lose his company millions. Inevitably, he starts a gaming binge, does tons of drugs and drink and wins, loses, wins, gets beaten to a pulp. Whenever you assume things cannot decline more, it worsens. Redemption seems possible as the installment closes but he misses the opening, resulting in dreadful effects during the season’s final episode. Certainly required a rest afterward!
Peep Show – Holiday (2007)
Peep Show is not inherently a tense series. However, the Holiday episode contains such levels of cringe that it will make you rise throughout the entire episode, permeated with worry. It all ramps up when Jeremy and Mark realize having to lie about the dog they accidentally run over and later efforts to get rid of it. You then spend the rest of the episode questioning whether it truly can be worse than incineration, and it turns out to be!
The West Wing – The Two Cathedrals (2001)
No other viewing has been as gripping than the first time I watched the season two finale to The West Wing. The installment begins with the consequences of the demise (in a car crash) of the president’s personal secretary and escalates to a高潮 with a situation in Haiti, and the repercussions of the secrecy regarding the president’s multiple sclerosis diagnosis, coupled with verification of his aim to run for another term. Superb programming. Unsurpassed.
Bodyguard – episode one (2018)
The start of the British program Bodyguard, with the protagonist on a train alongside his juvenile boy, is for me one of the most intense episodes ever. He spots a Muslim woman going into the loo and senses something is wrong. The bomb diffuser experts are called, get on 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.
The 2001 Buffy episode The Body
Buffy arrives at her residence to discover her mother has died from natural reasons, which is the rarest form of demise in this supernatural show. The episode has no background music, a sullen tone, and we see the episode through the experience of Buffy’s dismay upon uncovering her mother.
The Sopranos – Made in America from 2007
The concluding moment of the last installment of the program was incredibly anxious. And for those who saw it during its initial broadcast, you – at the start – didn’t understand the cause. Tony’s foes, genuine and fictional, were all vanquished. Surely this has the feel of the season one ending? “Think about the small elements.” But the mood is bizarrely ominous. Approaching Twin Peaks-esque horror. The family gathers in a diner. Meadow stops the car. Tony gloomily informs Carmela there’s trouble afoot with another member of his team cooperating with the officials. Meadow parks. Unfamiliar individuals come into the diner. Gaze at Tony(?) Meadow is parking. Tony plays a track on the music machine. Meadow finds a spot. The door chimes, a person comes in. It isn’t Meadow, she remains parking. Tony glances upward. Continue. It stops. My heart sank around 20 minutes subsequently.
The Walking Dead – The Last Day on Earth (2016)
I remained awake to view this installment at 2am. It was extremely gripping after the buildup of bad guy Negan finding the group, cruelly taunting his victims then not knowing who he killed (concluded with a suspenseful moment). 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
