‘I absolutely had to rest after that!’ Your most gripping TV episodes ever
Spooks – I Spy Apocalypse (2003)
This installment starts with the intelligence unit locked down as part of a simulation concerning a fictional terrorist event, monitored by two government representatives. As the situation develops, it appears that there really has been an attack and a chemical weapon has been unleashed. The suspense builds as incoming communications show a disaster happening externally, and escalates when the leader seems contaminated, with the two officials trying to exit, compelling the character played by Matthew Macfadyen to decide between shooting them or allowing them to leave and endangering the sterile MI5 environment. As this is Spooks, it is unsurprising which one he chooses.
Threads from 1984
Threads was low budget but one of the most frightening programmes I’ve ever seen because of the stark reality and dismal official figures. Saw it not long ago after seeing the first airing; I frequently went to the Sheffield pub featured in the show which emphasised the reality and the glib matter-of-fact official information which was broadcast. Remaining completely frightening 35 years later.
The 2022 Severance episode The We We Are
The first season finale of Severance has to be right up there in terms of gripping installments. I remained for the whole show quite literally on the edge of my seat, pushing alongside Dylan to maintain his grip on the controls that kept the Innies on overtime, while shouting to the Innies to disclose their facts. The ultimate peak – “she’s alive!” – resembled a outburst.
Industry – White Mischief from 2024
Installment five in Industry’s third series caused my heart to pound. I needed to stop and stand and depart the area multiple times because of the sheer scale of the deliberate ruin I observed. Rishi Ramdani is in deep shit in his job and domestic life – buried in financial obligations to loan sharks because of his compulsive gambling, 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 wins, loses, wins, is brutally attacked. Whenever you assume it can’t get any worse, it does. There is a chance for salvation as the installment closes but he squanders the opportunity, leading to terrible outcomes in the season finale. Absolutely had to relax following that!
Peep Show – Holiday (2007)
The series Peep Show isn’t typically anxiety-inducing. However, the Holiday episode includes such amounts of embarrassment that it’ll have you standing up for the full show, permeated with worry. It all ramps up as Jeremy and Mark discover having to lie about the dog they unintentionally hit 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 (2001)
No other viewing has been as gripping than the first time I watched the second season finale of The West Wing. The episode starts with the aftermath of the death (in a traffic accident) 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, coupled with verification of his aim to run for another term. Wonderful television. Unsurpassed.
Bodyguard – episode one from 2018
The start of the British program Bodyguard, featuring the main character on a train accompanied by his small son, is personally a top tense installment. He spots a Muslim woman heading to the toilet and realizes something is amiss. The explosive disposal specialists are summoned, enter the train, and try to persuade the woman to remove her explosive vest. Tension escalates to a nearly intolerable level, until, finally, the vest is neutralized.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer – The Body from 2001
Buffy comes into her home to discover her mother has died due to natural factors, which is the most unusual type of death in this supernatural show. The show features no musical score, a gloomy atmosphere, and we view the installment through the lens of Buffy’s shock of discovering her mother.
The Sopranos – Made in America from 2007
The concluding moment of the last installment of the show was pants-wettingly tense. 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. This seems similar to the first season’s finale, right? “Recall the minor details.” Yet the atmosphere is strangely foreboding. Nearly Twin Peaks-like fear. The family sit in a restaurant. Meadow parks. Tony gloomily informs Carmela problems are brewing with an additional associate cooperating with the officials. Meadow parks the vehicle. Unfamiliar individuals come into the diner. Gaze at Tony(?) Meadow parks. Tony puts a record on the jukebox. Meadow parks. The door chimes, a person comes in. It isn’t Meadow, she remains parking. Tony glances upward. Don’t stop. It halts. My spirit fell about 20 minutes later.
The 2016 The Walking Dead episode The Last Day on Earth
I kept late hours to see this show during the night. It was so intense after the establishment of antagonist Negan finding the group, cruelly taunting his victims and then leaving the victim unknown (concluded with a suspenseful moment). The first-person perspective of the victim and the muted audio – oh no! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season
