‘I definitely needed a lie-down after that!’ Your most intense television episodes of all time
Spooks – I Spy Apocalypse (2003)
The episode begins with the MI5 agents locked down during a training exercise concerning a fictional terrorist event, supervised by two Home Office agents. As events unfold, it seems an actual attack has occurred and a chemical agent deployed. The tension ratchets up as incoming communications show a crisis unfolding beyond their walls, and escalates as the superior shows signs of exposure, and the government agents endeavor to depart, pushing the protagonist portrayed by Matthew Macfadyen to decide between shooting them or letting them go and endangering the sterile MI5 environment. This being Spooks, the outcome is expected.
Threads from 1984
Threads had minimal funding but arguably the most terrifying series I’ve ever seen because of the stark reality and dismal official figures. Saw it not long ago having watched the original; I frequently went to the Sheffield pub featured in the show that highlighted the truth and the glib matter-of-fact official information that aired. Continuing to be utterly horrifying after three and a half decades.
Severance – The We We Are from 2022
The concluding episode of Severance’s debut season has to be right up there as a tense chapter. I was throughout the episode literally perched nervously, straining every sinew with Dylan to maintain his grip on the controls that kept the Innies on overtime, while yelling at the Innies to disclose their facts. The ultimate peak – “she is living!” – felt like an explosion.
Industry – White Mischief (2024)
The fifth episode of Industry’s third season caused my heart to pound. I needed to stop and stand and depart the area multiple times owing to the vast degree of the deliberate ruin I observed. Rishi Ramdani faces serious trouble in his job and domestic life – up to his eyeballs in debt from unscrupulous lenders owing to his uncontrollable gaming, engaging in dangerous ventures with a gamble on the pound which may result in huge losses for his employer. Inevitably, he starts a gaming binge, does tons of drugs and drink and wins, loses, wins, is brutally attacked. Each instance you believe it can’t get any worse, it deteriorates. Redemption seems possible by the episode’s conclusion but he squanders the opportunity, resulting in dreadful effects in the concluding part of the season. Definitely needed a lie-down after that!
Peep Show – Holiday from 2007
Peep Show is not inherently a tense series. But the episode Holiday includes such amounts of embarrassment that it can cause you to stand the whole 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 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 can be!
The West Wing – The Two Cathedrals from 2001
Nothing I have seen has been as tense than the first time I watched the season two finale to The West Wing. The installment begins with the consequences of the death (in a traffic accident) of the president’s private assistant and escalates to a高潮 with a crisis in Haiti, and the fallout from the non-disclosure regarding the president’s multiple sclerosis diagnosis, with confirmation of his intention to seek re-election. Excellent TV. Unequaled.
Bodyguard – episode one (2018)
The opening of the British series Bodyguard, with the hero aboard a train accompanied by his small son, is personally a top tense installment. He spots a Muslim woman going into the loo and realizes something is amiss. The bomb diffuser experts are called, enter the train, and try to persuade the woman to discard her bomb jacket. Suspense rises to a nearly intolerable level, until, indeed, the vest is disarmed.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer – The Body from 2001
Buffy arrives at her residence to find her mum has passed away from natural reasons, which is the most unusual type of death in this paranormal series. The show features no musical score, a somber mood, and we see the episode through the experience of Buffy’s dismay upon uncovering her mother.
The Sopranos – Made in America (2007)
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 foes, genuine and fictional, were all overcome. 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 stops the car. Tony sorrowfully notifies Carmela there’s trouble afoot with another member of his team cooperating with the officials. Meadow parks. Odd persons arrive at the eatery. Stare at Tony(?) Meadow parks. Tony selects a song on the jukebox. Meadow finds a spot. The door chimes, a person comes in. It cannot be Meadow, she is still parking. Tony glances upward. Keep going. It stops. My heart dropped from my mouth about 20 minutes later.
The Walking Dead – The Last Day on Earth from 2016
I kept late hours to see this show in the early morning. It was so intense after the establishment of antagonist Negan discovering the characters, savagely teasing his prey and then keeping the death a mystery (ended on a cliffhanger). The point-of-view shot from the victim and the subdued noises – argh! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season
