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Spooks – I Spy Apocalypse (2003)

This installment starts with the intelligence unit confined while undergoing a drill relating to a hypothetical terrorist attack, supervised by two Home Office agents. As events unfold, it seems an actual attack has occurred and a chemical weapon has been unleashed. The anxiety increases as reports reveal a crisis unfolding beyond their walls, and escalates when the leader seems contaminated, and the government agents endeavor to depart, pushing the protagonist portrayed by Matthew Macfadyen to choose between firing at them or letting them go and risking contaminating the sealed MI5 offices. As this is Spooks, it is unsurprising which one he chooses.

Threads from 1984

Threads had minimal funding but arguably the most terrifying series I’ve ever seen due to its harsh realism and dismal official figures. Viewed it recently having watched the original; I used to visit the pub in Sheffield shown in the series which emphasised the reality and the casual, straightforward government details which was broadcast. 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 ranks highly in terms of gripping installments. I spent the entire episode quite literally on the edge of my seat, exerting with Dylan to hold the switches that kept the Innies on overtime, while shouting to the Innies to get their truths out there. The concluding高潮 – “she survives!” – was like an eruption.

Industry – White Mischief from 2024

The fifth episode of Industry’s third season had my heart racing. I had to pause and get up and depart the area multiple times due to the immense extent of the reckless self-harm I saw. Rishi Ramdani is in deep shit in his job and domestic life – overwhelmed by debt to loan sharks owing to his uncontrollable gaming, assuming hazardous chances with a bet on sterling which could lose his company millions. Inevitably, he starts a gaming binge, does tons of drugs and drink and experiences wins and losses, gets beaten to a pulp. Whenever you assume things cannot decline more, it deteriorates. There’s hope of redemption by the episode’s conclusion but he misses the opening, leading to terrible outcomes in the concluding part of the season. Absolutely had to relax following that!

Peep Show – Holiday from 2007

Peep Show is not inherently a tense series. Yet the installment Holiday features such degrees of awkwardness that it will make you rise for the full show, riddled with anxiety. It all ramps up when Jeremy and Mark realize needing to deceive regarding the dog they by chance collide with and later efforts to get rid of it. You then spend the rest of the episode wondering if it might be more awful than cremation, and it turns out to be!

The West Wing – The Two Cathedrals (2001)

No other viewing has been as gripping compared to my initial viewing the concluding episode of The West Wing’s second season. The episode starts with the aftermath of the passing (in a road incident) of the president’s personal secretary and builds to a peak with a crisis in Haiti, and the repercussions of the secrecy regarding the president’s multiple sclerosis diagnosis, coupled with verification of his aim to pursue re-election. Superb programming. Unequaled.

Bodyguard – episode one from 2018

The opening of the British series Bodyguard, featuring the main character on a train with his young son, is for me one of the most intense episodes ever. He observes a woman in Islamic attire heading to the toilet and realizes something is amiss. The bomb squad is alerted, board the train, and endeavor to coax the woman to take off her suicide vest. Suspense rises to a nearly intolerable level, until, indeed, the vest is disarmed.

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 least common kind of passing in this supernatural show. The episode has no background music, a sullen tone, and we view the installment through the lens of Buffy’s shock of discovering her mother.

The Sopranos – Made in America (2007)

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 enemies, real and imagined, had all been defeated. This seems similar to the first season’s finale, right? “Remember the little things.” However, the vibe is oddly threatening. Almost Twin Peaks levels of terror. The family gathers in a diner. Meadow finds a parking spot. Tony sadly tells Carmela there’s trouble afoot with yet another of his crew working with the government. Meadow secures a parking space. Unfamiliar individuals come into the diner. Stare at Tony(?) Meadow parks. Tony plays a track on the music machine. Meadow parks. The bell sounds, an individual enters. It cannot be Meadow, she is still parking. Tony glances upward. Continue. It ceases. My spirit fell roughly 20 minutes after.

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 so intense following the introduction of villain Negan finding the group, savagely teasing his prey then not knowing who he killed (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