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Spooks – I Spy Apocalypse from 2003

The show kicks off with the Spooks team confined during a training exercise about a potential terror incident, monitored by two government representatives. As events unfold, it becomes clear a real incident has taken place and a chemical agent deployed. The suspense builds as incoming communications show a crisis unfolding beyond their walls, and gets worse as the superior shows signs of exposure, with the two officials trying to exit, forcing Matthew Macfadyen’s character to choose between firing at them or letting them go and risking contaminating the sealed MI5 offices. Given it’s Spooks, his decision is predictable.

Threads from 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. Viewed it recently following the initial broadcast; I frequently went to the Sheffield pub featured in the show which emphasised the reality and the offhand factual official statements which was broadcast. Remaining completely frightening 35 years later.

Severance – The We We Are from 2022

The first season finale of Severance has to be right up there among intense episodes. I was throughout the episode literally perched nervously, exerting with Dylan to keep his hands on the levers that sustained the Innies’ extended time, while yelling at the Innies to get their truths out there. The ultimate peak – “she is living!” – felt like an explosion.

The 2024 Industry episode White Mischief

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 due to the immense extent of the wanton self-destruction I saw. Rishi Ramdani is in major difficulty in his job and domestic life – up to his eyeballs in debt to illegal creditors due to his addictive betting, taking such risks with a bet on sterling which could lose his company millions. Inevitably, he starts a gaming binge, does tons of drugs and drink and alternates between success and failure, is severely assaulted. Whenever you assume it can’t get any worse, it worsens. There is a chance for salvation as the installment closes but he misses the opening, leading to terrible outcomes 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 features such degrees of awkwardness that it can cause you to stand the whole episode, filled with nervousness. It all ramps up once Jeremy and Mark find themselves being compelled to falsify about the canine they accidentally run over and following tries to eliminate it. You subsequently use the rest of the installment wondering if it might be more awful than cremation, 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 second season finale of The West Wing. The installment begins with the consequences of the demise (in a car crash) of the president’s private assistant and builds to a peak with a crisis in Haiti, and the fallout from the non-disclosure of the president’s MS diagnosis, with confirmation of his intention to seek re-election. Wonderful television. Never bettered.

Bodyguard – episode one (2018)

The start of the British program Bodyguard, with the protagonist on a train accompanied by his small son, ranks among the most gripping episodes I’ve seen. He notices a Muslim female going into the loo and senses something is wrong. The bomb diffuser experts are called, board the train, and try to persuade the woman to remove her explosive vest. Anxiety builds to a practically unendurable point, until, indeed, the vest is disarmed.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer – The Body from 2001

Buffy enters her house to discover her mother has died due to natural factors, which is the rarest form of demise in this paranormal series. The episode has no background music, a somber mood, and we view the installment through the lens of Buffy’s dismay upon uncovering her mother.

The Sopranos – Made in America from 2007

The ultimate sequence of the series finale of the program was incredibly anxious. And if you viewed it when it first premiered, you – at the start – didn’t understand the cause. Tony’s adversaries, actual and perceived, were all overcome. Doesn’t this resemble the season one conclusion? “Think about the small elements.” However, the vibe is oddly threatening. Nearly Twin Peaks-like fear. The family sit in a restaurant. Meadow parks. Tony gloomily informs Carmela difficulties are arising with yet another of his crew working with the government. Meadow parks the vehicle. Strange people enter the restaurant. Gaze at Tony(?) Meadow is parking. 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 glances upward. Continue. It ceases. My spirit fell about 20 minutes later.

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

I remained awake to view this installment in the early morning. It was so intense after the establishment of antagonist Negan locating the survivors, mercilessly mocking his targets then not knowing who he killed (finished with an unresolved situation). The victim’s POV shot and the muffled sounds – argh! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season