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Spooks – I Spy Apocalypse (2003)

This installment starts with the Spooks team confined during a training exercise relating to a hypothetical terrorist attack, monitored by two government representatives. As the situation develops, it appears that there really has been an attack and a chemical agent deployed. The tension ratchets up as incoming communications show a catastrophe taking place outside, and gets worse when the leader seems contaminated, and the two Home Office officials attempt to leave, forcing Matthew Macfadyen’s character to opt for either shooting them or allowing them to leave and risking contaminating the sealed MI5 offices. As this is Spooks, his decision is predictable.

Threads from 1984

Threads had minimal funding but one of the most frightening programmes I’ve ever seen owing to its grim authenticity and dismal official figures. Watched it about a month ago after seeing the first airing; I often attended the bar in Sheffield shown in the series which underscored the actuality and the casual, straightforward government details which was broadcast. Continuing to be utterly horrifying decades on.

Severance – The We We Are (2022)

The first season finale of Severance deserves a top spot among intense episodes. I was throughout the episode actually sitting tensely, exerting with Dylan to hold the switches that sustained the Innies’ extended time, while screaming at the Innies to disclose their facts. The ultimate peak – “she is living!” – felt like an explosion.

Industry – White Mischief (2024)

Installment five in Industry’s third series made my pulse quicken. I was compelled to halt and rise and leave the room several times owing to the vast degree of the wanton self-destruction I observed. Rishi Ramdani is in major difficulty at work and home – up to his eyeballs in debt from unscrupulous lenders because of his compulsive gambling, engaging in dangerous ventures with a bet on sterling which may result in huge losses for his employer. Inevitably, he starts a gaming binge, consumes excessive substances and alcohol and alternates between success and failure, is severely assaulted. Each instance you believe things cannot decline more, it does. There’s hope of redemption by the episode’s conclusion but he squanders the opportunity, with horrifying consequences in the concluding part of the season. Definitely needed a lie-down after that!

The 2007 Peep Show episode Holiday

Peep Show is not inherently a tense series. Yet the installment Holiday features such degrees of awkwardness that it’ll have you standing up throughout the entire episode, riddled with anxiety. It all ramps up as Jeremy and Mark discover having to lie about the dog they by chance collide with and later efforts to get rid of it. You subsequently use the rest of the installment wondering if it might be more awful than cremation, and it is possible!

The West Wing – The Two Cathedrals (2001)

Nothing I’ve watched has been more intense compared to my initial viewing the concluding episode of The West Wing’s second season. The episode starts with the aftermath of the demise (in a car crash) of the president’s private assistant and reaches a crescendo involving a Haitian emergency, and the effects of the withheld information regarding the president’s multiple sclerosis diagnosis, with confirmation of his intention to pursue re-election. Superb programming. Never bettered.

Bodyguard – episode one (2018)

The beginning of the UK show Bodyguard, with the hero aboard a train accompanied by his small son, is personally a top tense installment. He spots a Muslim woman entering the restroom and knows something is off. The bomb diffuser experts are called, board the train, and attempt to convince the woman to discard her bomb jacket. Tension escalates to an almost unbearable degree, until yes, the vest is diffused.

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 rarest form of demise in this mystical program. The installment lacks any soundtrack, a somber mood, and we see the episode through the experience of Buffy’s dismay upon uncovering her mother.

The Sopranos – Made in America from 2007

The ultimate sequence of the series finale of the series was extremely nerve-wracking. And if you watched it when it originally aired, you – initially – were uncertain of the reason. Tony’s enemies, real and imagined, had all been defeated. This seems similar to the first season’s finale, right? “Recall the minor details.” However, the vibe is oddly threatening. Almost Twin Peaks levels of terror. The clan sits in an eatery. Meadow stops the car. Tony sadly tells Carmela difficulties are arising with yet another of his crew cooperating with the officials. Meadow parks. Odd persons arrive at the eatery. Look at Tony(?) Meadow is parking. Tony selects a song on the jukebox. Meadow parks her car. The door chimes, a person comes in. Can’t be Meadow, she’s still parking. Tony looks up. Don’t stop. It stops. My heart sank roughly 20 minutes after.

The Walking Dead – The Last Day on Earth from 2016

I stayed up to watch this episode at 2am. It was extremely gripping following the introduction of villain Negan discovering the characters, savagely teasing his prey and then leaving the victim unknown (concluded with a suspenseful moment). The victim’s POV shot and the subdued noises – argh! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season