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Spooks – I Spy Apocalypse from 2003

This installment starts with the Spooks team restricted as part of a simulation about a potential terror incident, overseen by two Home Office officials. As things progress, it appears that there really has been an attack with a chemical weapon released. The suspense builds as messages indicate a catastrophe taking place outside, and intensifies as the superior shows signs of exposure, and the government agents endeavor to depart, forcing Matthew Macfadyen’s character to opt for either shooting them or allowing them to leave and risking contaminating the sealed MI5 offices. This being Spooks, it is unsurprising which one he chooses.

Threads (1984)

Threads was low budget but one of the most frightening programmes I’ve ever seen due to its harsh realism and bleak government data. Watched it about a month ago following the initial broadcast; I frequently went to the Sheffield pub shown in the series which emphasised the reality and the casual, straightforward government details which was broadcast. Still absolutely terrifying 35 years later.

Severance – The We We Are (2022)

The concluding episode of Severance’s debut season ranks highly among intense episodes. I was throughout the episode quite literally on the edge of my seat, straining every sinew with Dylan to hold the switches that kept the Innies on overtime, while yelling at the Innies to disclose their facts. The concluding高潮 – “she’s alive!” – was like an eruption.

Industry – White Mischief from 2024

Episode five of the third series of Industry had my heart racing. I was compelled to halt and rise and depart the area multiple times due to the immense extent of the wanton self-destruction I saw. Rishi Ramdani is in deep shit at work and home – buried in financial obligations to illegal creditors because of his compulsive gambling, assuming hazardous chances with a bet on sterling which may result in huge losses for his employer. Naturally, he embarks on a betting frenzy, uses copious drugs and alcohol and experiences wins and losses, is brutally attacked. Whenever you assume the situation cannot deteriorate further, it worsens. There is a chance for salvation at the end of the episode yet he wastes the chance, with horrifying consequences during the season’s final episode. Absolutely had to relax following that!

Peep Show – Holiday from 2007

Peep Show is not inherently a tense series. Yet the installment Holiday features such degrees of awkwardness that it will make you rise for the full show, riddled with anxiety. The tension escalates once Jeremy and Mark find themselves being compelled to falsify about the canine they accidentally run over and subsequent attempts to dispose of it. You then occupy the remainder of the episode doubting if it can actually be more terrible than burning, and it can be!

The West Wing – The Two Cathedrals (2001)

No other viewing has been as gripping 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 escalates to a高潮 with a situation in Haiti, and the fallout from the non-disclosure about the president’s MS condition, with confirmation of his intention to run for another term. Excellent TV. Never bettered.

Bodyguard – episode one (2018)

The start of the British program Bodyguard, featuring the main character 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 knows something is off. The explosive disposal specialists are summoned, enter the train, and endeavor to coax the woman to remove her explosive vest. Tension escalates to an almost unbearable degree, until, finally, the vest is neutralized.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer – The Body from 2001

Buffy enters her house to find her mum has passed away due to natural factors, which is the most unusual type of death in this mystical program. The installment lacks any soundtrack, a somber mood, and we witness the episode via the perspective of Buffy’s astonishment upon finding 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 – initially – were uncertain of the reason. Tony’s enemies, real and imagined, were all overcome. Doesn’t this resemble the season one conclusion? “Recall the minor details.” However, the vibe is oddly threatening. Nearly Twin Peaks-like fear. The family gathers in a diner. Meadow finds a parking spot. Tony gloomily informs Carmela difficulties are arising with an additional associate working with the government. Meadow parks. Unfamiliar individuals come into the diner. Gaze at Tony(?) Meadow is parking. Tony plays a track on the music machine. Meadow parks. The bell sounds, an individual enters. It isn’t Meadow, she remains parking. Tony looks up. Don’t stop. It ceases. My spirit fell around 20 minutes subsequently.

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

I remained awake to view this installment at 2am. It was so intense after the buildup of bad guy Negan finding the group, cruelly taunting his victims and then leaving the victim unknown (finished with an unresolved situation). The victim’s POV shot and the muted audio – oh no! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season