‘I absolutely had to rest after that!’ The most gripping television episodes you’ve seen

Spooks – I Spy Apocalypse (2003)

The episode begins with the MI5 agents locked down while undergoing a drill relating to a hypothetical terrorist attack, supervised by two Home Office agents. As the situation develops, it becomes clear a real incident has taken place with a chemical weapon released. The suspense builds as messages indicate a disaster happening externally, and gets worse as the boss appears to be infected, and the two Home Office officials attempt to leave, pushing the protagonist portrayed by Matthew Macfadyen 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.

The 1984 production Threads

Threads was low budget yet among the scariest shows I have viewed 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 shown in the series that highlighted the truth and the offhand factual official statements which was broadcast. Remaining completely frightening after three and a half decades.

Severance – The We We Are (2022)

The concluding episode of Severance’s debut season ranks highly as a tense chapter. I remained for the whole show quite literally on the edge of my seat, straining every sinew with Dylan to keep his hands on the levers that sustained the Innies’ extended time, while yelling at the Innies to disclose their facts. The final climactic moment – “she’s alive!” – felt like an explosion.

Industry – White Mischief from 2024

The fifth episode of Industry’s third season made my pulse quicken. I was compelled to halt and rise and exit the space repeatedly owing to the vast degree of the reckless self-harm I saw. Rishi Ramdani faces serious trouble at work and home – up to his eyeballs in debt to illegal creditors due to his addictive betting, taking such risks on a wager involving 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 severely assaulted. Every time you think things cannot decline more, it worsens. There’s hope of redemption at the end of the episode but he squanders the opportunity, resulting in dreadful effects in the season finale. Certainly required a rest afterward!

The 2007 Peep Show episode Holiday

Peep Show is not inherently a tense series. However, the Holiday episode includes such amounts of embarrassment that it can cause you to stand the whole episode, riddled with anxiety. The tension escalates once Jeremy and Mark find themselves being compelled to falsify about the canine they unintentionally hit and subsequent attempts to dispose 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 2001 The West Wing episode The Two Cathedrals

No other viewing has been as gripping compared to my initial viewing the season two finale to The West Wing. The show opens with the fallout of the passing (in a road incident) of the president’s personal secretary and builds to a peak with a situation in Haiti, and the fallout from the non-disclosure regarding the president’s multiple sclerosis diagnosis, coupled with verification of his aim to seek re-election. Wonderful television. Unsurpassed.

Bodyguard – episode one (2018)

The opening of the British series Bodyguard, with the hero aboard a train with his young son, is for me one of the most intense episodes ever. He observes a woman in Islamic attire going into the loo and knows something is off. The bomb diffuser experts are called, enter the train, and attempt to convince the woman to discard her bomb jacket. Tension escalates to an almost unbearable degree, until, indeed, the vest is disarmed.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer – The Body (2001)

Buffy comes into her home to discover her mother has died of natural causes, which is the most unusual type of death in this paranormal series. The installment lacks any soundtrack, 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 concluding moment of the last installment of the series was extremely nerve-wracking. And if you watched it when it originally aired, you – at the start – didn’t understand the cause. Tony’s enemies, real and imagined, were all vanquished. This seems similar to the first season’s finale, right? “Remember the little things.” Yet the atmosphere is strangely foreboding. Approaching Twin Peaks-esque horror. The clan sits in an eatery. Meadow finds a parking spot. Tony sadly tells Carmela difficulties are arising with yet another of his crew collaborating with the authorities. Meadow secures a parking space. Odd persons arrive at the eatery. Stare at Tony(?) Meadow parks. Tony selects a song on the jukebox. Meadow parks. The door chimes, a person comes in. It cannot be Meadow, she is still parking. Tony raises his gaze. 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 in the early morning. It was incredibly tense after the buildup of bad guy Negan locating the survivors, cruelly taunting his victims then not knowing who he killed (concluded with a suspenseful moment). The first-person perspective of the victim and the subdued noises – ugh! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season