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The 2003 Spooks episode I Spy Apocalypse

This installment starts with the intelligence unit confined while undergoing a drill about a potential terror incident, supervised by two Home Office agents. As things progress, it appears that there really has been an attack with a chemical weapon released. The tension ratchets up as reports reveal a disaster happening externally, and escalates as the boss appears to be infected, with the two officials trying to exit, forcing Matthew Macfadyen’s character to opt for either shooting them or letting them go and potentially infecting the secure MI5 headquarters. Given it’s Spooks, the outcome is expected.

Threads from 1984

The production was inexpensive yet among the scariest shows I have viewed due to its harsh realism and dismal official figures. Saw it not long ago having watched the original; I used to visit the pub in Sheffield featured in the show which emphasised the reality and the casual, straightforward government details that were transmitted. Remaining completely frightening 35 years later.

Severance – The We We Are (2022)

The season one finale of Severance deserves a top spot among intense episodes. I was throughout the episode quite literally on the edge of my seat, pushing alongside Dylan to keep his hands on the levers that allowed the Innies to remain active, while yelling at the Innies to reveal their realities. The final climactic moment – “she survives!” – felt like an explosion.

The 2024 Industry episode White Mischief

Installment five in Industry’s third series made my pulse quicken. I was compelled to halt and rise and depart the area multiple times owing to the vast degree of the wanton self-destruction I observed. Rishi Ramdani faces serious trouble professionally and personally – buried in financial obligations from unscrupulous lenders due to his addictive betting, assuming hazardous chances with a gamble on the pound which may result in huge losses for his employer. Inevitably, he starts a gaming binge, does tons of drugs and drink and wins, loses, wins, gets beaten to a pulp. Each instance you believe it can’t get any worse, it worsens. Redemption seems possible at the end of the episode but he misses the opening, with horrifying consequences in the concluding part of the season. Absolutely had to relax following that!

The 2007 Peep Show episode Holiday

Peep Show itself isn’t necessarily a stressful show. Yet the installment Holiday contains such levels of cringe that it can cause you to stand the whole episode, permeated with worry. It all ramps up when Jeremy and Mark realize needing to deceive regarding the dog they unintentionally hit and subsequent attempts to dispose of it. You then spend the rest of the episode doubting if it can actually be more terrible than burning, and it is possible!

The 2001 The West Wing episode The Two Cathedrals

Nothing I have seen has been as tense than the first time I watched the second season finale of The West Wing. The show opens with the fallout of the passing (in a road incident) of the president’s personal secretary and reaches a crescendo with a situation in Haiti, and the repercussions of the secrecy about the president’s MS condition, along with affirmation of his plan to run for another term. Wonderful television. Unequaled.

Bodyguard – episode one from 2018

The opening of the British series Bodyguard, with the protagonist on a train accompanied by his small son, is personally a top tense installment. He observes a woman in Islamic attire entering the restroom and senses something is wrong. The bomb squad is alerted, enter the train, and endeavor to coax the woman to discard her bomb jacket. Suspense rises to an almost unbearable degree, until yes, the vest is diffused.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer – The Body (2001)

Buffy arrives at her residence to find her mum has passed away of natural causes, which is the rarest form of demise in this paranormal series. The show features no musical score, 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 final scene of the final episode of the program was incredibly anxious. And if you watched it when it originally aired, you – at first – weren’t sure why. Tony’s adversaries, actual and perceived, were all overcome. This seems similar to the first season’s finale, right? “Think about the small elements.” Yet the atmosphere is strangely foreboding. Almost Twin Peaks levels of terror. The clan sits in an eatery. Meadow stops the car. Tony sorrowfully notifies Carmela there’s trouble afoot with yet another of his crew cooperating with the officials. Meadow parks the vehicle. Strange people enter the restaurant. Stare at Tony(?) Meadow continues to park. Tony plays a track on the music machine. Meadow finds a spot. The bell sounds, an individual enters. It isn’t Meadow, she remains parking. Tony glances upward. Keep going. It ceases. My heart dropped from my mouth about 20 minutes later.

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

I kept late hours to see this show in the early morning. It was extremely gripping after the buildup of bad guy Negan locating the survivors, savagely teasing his prey and then leaving the victim unknown (finished with an unresolved situation). 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