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Spooks – I Spy Apocalypse (2003)

This installment starts with the MI5 agents restricted while undergoing a drill relating to a hypothetical terrorist attack, monitored by two government representatives. As events unfold, it seems an actual attack has occurred with a chemical weapon released. The tension ratchets up as messages indicate a catastrophe taking place outside, and gets worse when the leader seems contaminated, with the two officials trying to exit, compelling the character played by Matthew Macfadyen to decide between shooting them or permitting their exit and endangering the sterile MI5 environment. This being Spooks, the outcome is expected.

Threads from 1984

The production was inexpensive but arguably the most terrifying series I’ve ever seen due to its harsh realism and dismal official figures. Watched it about a month ago 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 that were transmitted. Still absolutely terrifying 35 years later.

Severance – The We We Are (2022)

The concluding episode of Severance’s debut season has to be right up there in terms of gripping installments. I spent the entire episode actually sitting tensely, exerting with Dylan to keep his hands on the levers that allowed the Innies to remain active, while yelling at the Innies to disclose their facts. The concluding高潮 – “she’s alive!” – resembled a outburst.

Industry – White Mischief (2024)

Installment five in Industry’s third series caused my heart to pound. I was compelled to halt and rise and depart the area multiple times due to the immense extent of the deliberate ruin I saw. Rishi Ramdani is in deep shit professionally and personally – buried in financial obligations to loan sharks because of his compulsive gambling, assuming hazardous chances with a gamble on the pound which may result in huge losses for his employer. Naturally, he embarks on a betting frenzy, consumes excessive substances and alcohol and alternates between success and failure, is brutally attacked. Every time you think it can’t get any worse, it worsens. There’s hope of redemption by the episode’s conclusion yet he wastes the chance, with horrifying consequences in the season finale. Definitely needed a lie-down after that!

Peep Show – Holiday from 2007

The series Peep Show isn’t typically anxiety-inducing. Yet the installment Holiday includes such amounts of embarrassment that it will make you rise throughout the entire episode, filled with nervousness. The situation intensifies once Jeremy and Mark find themselves having to lie about the dog they unintentionally hit and later efforts to get rid of it. You then occupy the remainder of the episode doubting if it can actually be more terrible than burning, and it is possible!

The West Wing – The Two Cathedrals from 2001

No other viewing has been as gripping as when I first saw 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 builds to a peak involving a Haitian emergency, and the fallout from the non-disclosure about the president’s MS condition, with confirmation of his intention to seek re-election. Wonderful television. Never bettered.

Bodyguard – episode one (2018)

The opening of the British series 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 heading to the toilet and senses something is wrong. The bomb diffuser experts are called, board the train, and attempt to convince the woman to remove her explosive vest. Tension escalates to an almost unbearable degree, until, finally, the vest is neutralized.

The 2001 Buffy episode The Body

Buffy enters her house to realize her mom has deceased of natural causes, which is the least common kind of passing in this paranormal series. 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 2007 The Sopranos finale Made in America

The final scene of the final episode of the show was pants-wettingly tense. And if you viewed it when it first premiered, you – at the start – didn’t understand the cause. Tony’s adversaries, actual and perceived, were all vanquished. Doesn’t this resemble the season one conclusion? “Recall the minor details.” Yet the atmosphere is strangely foreboding. Nearly Twin Peaks-like fear. The family gathers in a diner. Meadow stops the car. Tony sadly tells Carmela problems are brewing with another member of his team collaborating with the authorities. Meadow secures a parking space. Odd persons arrive at the eatery. Stare at Tony(?) Meadow parks. Tony plays a track on the music machine. Meadow parks her car. The bell rings, someone enters the restaurant. It cannot be Meadow, she is still parking. Tony looks up. Continue. It ceases. My spirit fell about 20 minutes later.

The 2016 The Walking Dead episode The Last Day on Earth

I kept late hours to see this show in the early morning. It was so intense following the introduction of villain Negan locating the survivors, mercilessly mocking his targets and then keeping the death a mystery (ended on a cliffhanger). The first-person perspective of the victim and the muted audio – argh! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season