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Spooks – I Spy Apocalypse from 2003

This installment starts with the intelligence unit confined during a training exercise relating to a hypothetical terrorist attack, monitored by two government representatives. As things progress, it seems an actual attack has occurred with a chemical weapon released. The suspense builds as reports reveal a crisis unfolding beyond their walls, and intensifies as the boss appears to be infected, and the two Home Office officials attempt to leave, pushing the protagonist portrayed by Matthew Macfadyen to decide between shooting them or letting them go and risking contaminating the sealed MI5 offices. This being Spooks, his decision is predictable.

Threads (1984)

Threads was low budget yet among the scariest shows I have viewed because of the stark reality and bleak government data. Saw it not long ago having watched the original; I often attended the bar in Sheffield from the programme which underscored the actuality and the casual, straightforward government details that aired. Remaining completely frightening decades on.

Severance – The We We Are from 2022

The season one finale of Severance ranks highly among intense episodes. I remained for the whole show literally perched nervously, exerting with Dylan to maintain his grip on the controls that kept the Innies on overtime, while screaming at the Innies to disclose their facts. The ultimate peak – “she survives!” – was like an eruption.

The 2024 Industry episode White Mischief

Installment five in Industry’s third series had my heart racing. I was compelled to halt and rise and leave the room several times because of the sheer scale of the wanton self-destruction I was witnessing. Rishi Ramdani is in major difficulty in his job and domestic life – overwhelmed by debt to loan sharks owing to his uncontrollable gaming, engaging in dangerous ventures on a wager involving sterling which may result in huge losses for his employer. So of course, he goes on a gambling spree, consumes excessive substances and alcohol and wins, loses, wins, is severely assaulted. Whenever you assume the situation cannot deteriorate further, it does. Redemption seems possible at the end of the episode but he squanders the opportunity, with horrifying consequences 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. But the episode Holiday contains such levels of cringe that it will make you rise the whole episode, riddled with anxiety. It all ramps up once Jeremy and Mark find themselves having to lie about the dog they accidentally run over 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 is possible!

The West Wing – The Two Cathedrals from 2001

Nothing I have seen has been as tense compared to my initial viewing 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 personal secretary and reaches a crescendo involving a Haitian emergency, and the effects of the withheld information about the president’s MS condition, along with affirmation of his plan to pursue re-election. Superb programming. Unsurpassed.

Bodyguard – episode one (2018)

The start of the British program Bodyguard, with the hero aboard a train accompanied by his small son, is personally a top tense installment. He spots a Muslim woman entering the restroom and knows something is off. The explosive disposal specialists are summoned, enter the train, and attempt to convince the woman to take off her suicide vest. Tension escalates to a practically unendurable point, until, finally, the vest is neutralized.

The 2001 Buffy episode The Body

Buffy arrives at her residence to discover her mother has died due to natural factors, which is the rarest form of demise in this mystical program. The show features no musical score, a gloomy atmosphere, and we witness the episode via the perspective 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, had all been defeated. Doesn’t this resemble the season one conclusion? “Remember the little things.” Yet the atmosphere is strangely foreboding. Nearly Twin Peaks-like fear. The family gathers in a diner. Meadow parks. Tony sadly tells Carmela there’s trouble afoot with an additional associate cooperating with the officials. Meadow parks the vehicle. Unfamiliar individuals come into the diner. Look at Tony(?) Meadow is parking. Tony puts a record on the jukebox. Meadow finds a spot. The bell rings, someone enters the restaurant. It isn’t Meadow, she remains parking. Tony glances upward. Don’t stop. It stops. My heart sank about 20 minutes later.

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

I stayed up to watch this episode in the early morning. It was so intense after the buildup of bad guy Negan finding the group, cruelly taunting his victims then not knowing who he killed (concluded with a suspenseful moment). The first-person perspective of the victim and the subdued noises – argh! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season