🔗 Share this article

Spooks – I Spy Apocalypse from 2003

This installment starts with the intelligence unit confined while undergoing a drill relating to a hypothetical terrorist attack, monitored by two government representatives. As events unfold, it becomes clear a real incident has taken place and a chemical agent deployed. The anxiety increases as messages indicate a catastrophe taking place outside, and escalates when the leader seems contaminated, and the two Home Office officials attempt to leave, forcing Matthew Macfadyen’s character to decide between shooting them or permitting their exit and potentially infecting the secure MI5 headquarters. As this is Spooks, it is unsurprising which one he chooses.

Threads (1984)

Threads had minimal funding but one of the most frightening programmes I’ve ever seen due to its harsh realism and grim official statistics. Saw it not long ago having watched the original; I used to visit the pub in Sheffield shown in the series which emphasised the reality and the offhand factual official statements that aired. Continuing to be utterly horrifying 35 years later.

Severance – The We We Are (2022)

The concluding episode of Severance’s debut season deserves a top spot in terms of gripping installments. I remained for the whole show quite literally on the edge of my seat, exerting with Dylan to maintain his grip on the controls that sustained the Innies’ extended time, while screaming at the Innies to reveal their realities. The final climactic moment – “she is living!” – felt like an explosion.

The 2024 Industry episode White Mischief

Episode five of the third series of Industry had my heart racing. I needed to stop and stand and exit the space repeatedly owing to the vast degree of the wanton self-destruction I saw. Rishi Ramdani is in deep shit at work and home – buried in financial obligations 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. Naturally, he embarks on a betting frenzy, uses copious drugs and alcohol and alternates between success and failure, gets beaten to a pulp. Whenever you assume the situation cannot deteriorate further, it worsens. There is a chance for salvation by the episode’s conclusion yet he wastes the chance, resulting in dreadful effects in the concluding part of the season. Absolutely had to relax following that!

The 2007 Peep Show episode Holiday

The series Peep Show isn’t typically anxiety-inducing. However, the Holiday episode features such degrees of awkwardness that it will make you rise for the full show, permeated with worry. The situation intensifies once Jeremy and Mark find themselves having to lie about the dog they accidentally run over and following tries to eliminate it. You then spend the rest of the episode wondering if it might be more awful than cremation, and it is possible!

The West Wing – The Two Cathedrals (2001)

No other viewing has been as gripping as when I first saw the concluding episode of The West Wing’s second season. The show opens with the fallout of the death (in a traffic accident) of the president’s personal secretary and escalates to a高潮 involving a Haitian emergency, and the repercussions of the secrecy regarding the president’s multiple sclerosis diagnosis, coupled with verification of his aim to run for another term. Wonderful television. Unequaled.

Bodyguard – episode one (2018)

The opening of the British series Bodyguard, featuring the main character on a train alongside his juvenile boy, ranks among the most gripping episodes I’ve seen. He spots a Muslim woman heading to the toilet and realizes something is amiss. The explosive disposal specialists are summoned, get on the train, and endeavor to coax the woman to take off her suicide vest. Anxiety builds to a nearly intolerable level, until yes, the vest is diffused.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer – The Body (2001)

Buffy enters her house to realize her mom has deceased due to natural factors, which is the rarest form of demise in this paranormal series. The installment lacks any soundtrack, a sullen tone, and we witness the episode via the perspective of Buffy’s astonishment upon finding her mother.

The 2007 The Sopranos finale Made in America

The final scene of the final episode of the series was extremely nerve-wracking. And if you watched it when it originally aired, you – at first – weren’t sure why. 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. Almost Twin Peaks levels of terror. The clan sits in an eatery. Meadow stops the car. Tony sadly tells Carmela there’s trouble afoot with another member of his team collaborating with the authorities. Meadow parks the vehicle. Odd persons arrive at the eatery. Stare at Tony(?) Meadow continues to park. Tony selects a song on the jukebox. Meadow finds a spot. The bell sounds, an individual enters. It cannot be Meadow, she is still parking. Tony glances upward. Don’t stop. It halts. My heart dropped from my mouth around 20 minutes subsequently.

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

I kept late hours to see this show in the early morning. It was so intense after the buildup of bad guy Negan discovering the characters, mercilessly mocking his targets and then keeping the death a mystery (concluded with a suspenseful moment). The victim’s POV shot and the muffled sounds – argh! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season