‘I truly required a break after that!’ Your most gripping television episodes of all time
The 2003 Spooks episode I Spy Apocalypse
The show kicks off with the MI5 agents confined while undergoing a drill concerning a fictional terrorist event, overseen by two Home Office officials. As events unfold, it seems an actual attack has occurred with a chemical weapon released. The suspense builds as incoming communications show a disaster happening externally, and escalates as the boss appears to be infected, 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 endangering the sterile MI5 environment. As this is Spooks, the outcome is expected.
Threads (1984)
Threads was low budget but arguably the most terrifying series I’ve ever seen due to its harsh realism and grim official statistics. Saw it not long ago following the initial broadcast; I often attended the bar in Sheffield shown in the series which emphasised the reality and the casual, straightforward government details that were transmitted. Remaining completely frightening decades on.
Severance – The We We Are (2022)
The concluding episode of Severance’s debut season deserves a top spot as a tense chapter. I remained for the whole show literally perched nervously, exerting with Dylan to hold the switches that kept the Innies on overtime, while shouting to the Innies to disclose their facts. The final climactic moment – “she is living!” – resembled a outburst.
Industry – White Mischief from 2024
The fifth episode of Industry’s third season made my pulse quicken. I had to pause and get up and leave the room several times because of the sheer scale of the deliberate ruin I was witnessing. Rishi Ramdani is in deep shit at work and home – buried in financial obligations to loan sharks owing to his uncontrollable gaming, engaging in dangerous ventures with a bet on sterling which may result in huge losses for his employer. So of course, he goes on a gambling spree, does tons of drugs and drink and wins, loses, wins, gets beaten to a pulp. Whenever you assume it can’t get any worse, it deteriorates. There’s hope of redemption as the installment closes but he squanders the opportunity, leading to terrible outcomes during the season’s final episode. Definitely needed a lie-down after that!
Peep Show – Holiday (2007)
Peep Show is not inherently a tense series. However, the Holiday episode features such degrees of awkwardness that it can cause you to stand throughout the entire episode, permeated with worry. It all ramps up as Jeremy and Mark discover needing to deceive regarding the dog they accidentally run over and subsequent attempts to dispose of it. You subsequently use the rest of the installment 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 show opens with the fallout of the death (in a traffic accident) of the president’s confidential aide and reaches a crescendo with a crisis in Haiti, and the repercussions of the secrecy about the president’s MS condition, along with affirmation of his plan to seek re-election. Superb programming. Unequaled.
Bodyguard – episode one from 2018
The opening of the British series Bodyguard, with the protagonist on a train with his young 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 squad is alerted, get on the train, and attempt to convince the woman to discard her bomb jacket. Anxiety builds to a nearly intolerable level, until yes, the vest is diffused.
The 2001 Buffy episode The Body
Buffy arrives at her residence to find her mum has passed away due to natural factors, which is the rarest form of demise in this mystical program. 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 from 2007
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, had all been defeated. Surely this has the feel of the season one ending? “Recall the minor details.” But the mood is bizarrely ominous. Nearly Twin Peaks-like fear. The family gathers in a diner. Meadow finds a parking spot. Tony sorrowfully notifies Carmela problems are brewing with another member of his team working with the government. Meadow parks. Odd persons arrive at the eatery. Look at Tony(?) Meadow continues to park. 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. Don’t stop. It stops. My heart dropped from my mouth roughly 20 minutes after.
The 2016 The Walking Dead episode The Last Day on Earth
I stayed up to watch this episode at 2am. It was incredibly tense following the introduction of villain Negan discovering the characters, savagely teasing his prey and then keeping the death a mystery (ended on a cliffhanger). The point-of-view shot from the victim and the subdued noises – oh no! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season
