‘I truly required a break after that!’ The most intense television episodes ever

Spooks – I Spy Apocalypse (2003)

The episode begins with the intelligence unit restricted while undergoing a drill concerning a fictional terrorist event, monitored by two government representatives. As things progress, it seems an actual attack has occurred and a chemical weapon has been unleashed. The suspense builds 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 opt for either shooting them or allowing them to leave and endangering the sterile MI5 environment. This being Spooks, the outcome is expected.

Threads from 1984

Threads was low budget yet among the scariest shows I’ve ever seen owing to its grim authenticity and dismal official figures. Viewed it recently following the initial broadcast; I used to visit the pub in Sheffield from the programme which emphasised the reality and the glib matter-of-fact official information that aired. Continuing to be utterly horrifying 35 years later.

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 literally perched nervously, pushing alongside Dylan to maintain his grip on the controls that sustained the Innies’ extended time, while shouting to the Innies to get their truths out there. 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 made my pulse quicken. I needed to stop and stand and exit the space repeatedly owing to the vast degree of the deliberate ruin I observed. Rishi Ramdani faces serious trouble at work and home – buried in financial obligations to loan sharks due to his addictive betting, assuming hazardous chances on a wager involving sterling that might cost his firm millions. So of course, he goes on a gambling spree, does tons of drugs and drink and experiences wins and losses, is severely assaulted. Each instance you believe the situation cannot deteriorate further, it does. Redemption seems possible at the end of the episode but he squanders the opportunity, leading to terrible outcomes during the season’s final episode. Absolutely had to relax following that!

The 2007 Peep Show episode Holiday

The series Peep Show isn’t typically anxiety-inducing. But the episode Holiday features such degrees of awkwardness that it will make you rise throughout the entire episode, permeated with worry. The tension escalates when Jeremy and Mark realize being compelled to falsify about the canine they accidentally run over and subsequent attempts to dispose of it. You subsequently use the rest of the installment doubting if it can actually be more terrible than burning, and it turns out to be!

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 episode starts with the aftermath of the passing (in a road incident) of the president’s private assistant and reaches a crescendo involving a Haitian emergency, and the fallout from the non-disclosure about the president’s MS condition, along with affirmation of his plan to seek re-election. Excellent TV. Unsurpassed.

Bodyguard – episode one from 2018

The beginning of the UK show Bodyguard, with the hero aboard a train alongside his juvenile boy, ranks among the most gripping episodes I’ve seen. He notices a Muslim female 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 remove her explosive vest. Suspense rises to a practically unendurable point, until, finally, the vest is neutralized.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer – The Body from 2001

Buffy enters her house to discover her mother has died of natural causes, which is the least common kind of passing in this mystical program. The show features no musical score, a somber mood, and we see the episode through the experience of Buffy’s astonishment upon finding her mother.

The Sopranos – Made in America (2007)

The concluding moment of the last installment of the show was pants-wettingly tense. And if you viewed it when it first premiered, you – initially – were uncertain of the reason. Tony’s foes, genuine and fictional, were all overcome. Surely this has the feel of the season one ending? “Recall the minor details.” Yet the atmosphere is strangely foreboding. Nearly Twin Peaks-like fear. The family sit in a restaurant. Meadow stops the car. Tony sorrowfully notifies Carmela difficulties are arising with an additional associate cooperating with the officials. Meadow secures a parking space. Unfamiliar individuals come into the diner. Gaze at Tony(?) Meadow continues to park. Tony puts a record on the jukebox. Meadow parks. The door chimes, a person comes in. It isn’t Meadow, she remains parking. Tony raises his gaze. Don’t stop. It halts. My heart sank around 20 minutes subsequently.

The Walking Dead – The Last Day on Earth from 2016

I kept late hours to see this show during the night. It was extremely gripping following the introduction of villain Negan finding the group, cruelly taunting his victims then not knowing who he killed (concluded with a suspenseful moment). The victim’s POV shot and the subdued noises – ugh! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season