‘I absolutely had to rest after that!’ Your most gripping TV episodes ever

Spooks – I Spy Apocalypse (2003)

This installment starts with the MI5 agents locked down while undergoing a drill about a potential terror incident, monitored by two government representatives. As the situation develops, it becomes clear a real incident has taken place with a chemical weapon released. The tension ratchets up as messages indicate a crisis unfolding beyond their walls, and gets worse as the superior shows signs of exposure, and the government agents endeavor to depart, compelling the character played by Matthew Macfadyen to opt for either shooting them or allowing them to leave and endangering the sterile MI5 environment. Given it’s Spooks, the outcome is expected.

Threads from 1984

Threads had minimal funding yet among the scariest shows I’ve ever seen because of the stark reality and grim official statistics. Watched it about a month ago having watched the original; I often attended the bar in Sheffield from the programme which underscored the actuality and the casual, straightforward government details that aired. Continuing to be utterly horrifying decades on.

The 2022 Severance episode The We We Are

The concluding episode of Severance’s debut season has to be right up there in terms of gripping installments. I spent the entire episode quite literally on the edge of my seat, straining every sinew with Dylan to maintain his grip on the controls that allowed the Innies to remain active, while screaming at the Innies to disclose their facts. The concluding高潮 – “she is living!” – resembled a outburst.

Industry – White Mischief (2024)

The fifth episode of Industry’s third season made my pulse quicken. I was compelled to halt and rise and depart the area multiple times owing to the vast degree of the deliberate ruin I saw. Rishi Ramdani is in deep shit in his job and domestic life – overwhelmed by debt 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. So of course, he goes on a gambling spree, consumes excessive substances and alcohol and wins, loses, wins, gets beaten to a pulp. Every time you think things cannot decline more, it does. Redemption seems possible as the installment closes but he misses the opening, with horrifying consequences in the season finale. Certainly required a rest afterward!

Peep Show – Holiday from 2007

Peep Show is not inherently a tense series. However, the Holiday episode includes such amounts of embarrassment that it’ll have you standing up the whole episode, permeated with worry. The situation intensifies when Jeremy and Mark realize having to lie about the dog they unintentionally hit and subsequent attempts to dispose of it. You then occupy the remainder of the episode questioning whether it truly can be worse than incineration, and it can be!

The West Wing – The Two Cathedrals (2001)

Nothing I’ve watched has been more intense as when I first saw 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 confidential aide and builds to a peak involving a Haitian emergency, and the effects of the withheld information about the president’s MS condition, along with affirmation of his plan to run for another term. Wonderful television. Unsurpassed.

Bodyguard – episode one from 2018

The start of the British program Bodyguard, with the hero aboard a train accompanied by his small son, ranks among the most gripping episodes I’ve seen. He spots a Muslim woman entering the restroom and knows something is off. The bomb squad is alerted, board the train, and endeavor to coax the woman to remove her explosive vest. Tension escalates to an almost unbearable degree, until, indeed, the vest is disarmed.

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 most unusual type of death in this mystical program. The episode has no background music, a gloomy atmosphere, and we witness the episode via the perspective 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 show was pants-wettingly tense. And for those who saw it during its initial broadcast, you – initially – were uncertain of the reason. Tony’s foes, genuine and fictional, were all vanquished. Surely this has the feel of the season one ending? “Think about the small elements.” But the mood is bizarrely ominous. Nearly Twin Peaks-like fear. The clan sits in an eatery. Meadow finds a parking spot. Tony sadly tells Carmela difficulties are arising with another member of his team cooperating with the officials. Meadow secures a parking space. Unfamiliar individuals come into the diner. Look at Tony(?) Meadow continues to park. Tony puts a record on the jukebox. Meadow parks. The bell rings, someone enters the restaurant. It cannot be Meadow, she is still parking. Tony looks up. Don’t stop. It stops. My spirit fell around 20 minutes subsequently.

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 incredibly tense after the establishment of antagonist Negan finding the group, mercilessly mocking his targets and then leaving the victim unknown (ended on a cliffhanger). The victim’s POV shot and the muted audio – argh! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season