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Spooks – I Spy Apocalypse from 2003

The show kicks off with the Spooks team confined while undergoing a drill about a potential terror incident, overseen by two Home Office officials. As events unfold, it seems an actual attack has occurred and a chemical agent deployed. The anxiety increases as incoming communications show a crisis unfolding beyond their walls, and escalates as the superior shows signs of exposure, and the government agents endeavor to depart, forcing Matthew Macfadyen’s character to choose between firing at them or allowing them to leave and risking contaminating the sealed MI5 offices. Given it’s Spooks, it is unsurprising which one he chooses.

The 1984 production Threads

Threads was low budget but one of the most frightening programmes I’ve ever seen because of the stark reality and grim official statistics. Viewed it recently following the initial broadcast; I used to visit the pub in Sheffield featured in the show which emphasised the reality and the casual, straightforward government details that aired. Continuing to be utterly horrifying 35 years later.

Severance – The We We Are (2022)

The first season finale of Severance has to be right up there among intense episodes. I spent the entire episode quite literally on the edge of my seat, pushing alongside Dylan to hold the switches that kept the Innies on overtime, while shouting to the Innies to get their truths out there. The final climactic moment – “she is living!” – resembled a outburst.

Industry – White Mischief (2024)

Episode five of the third series of Industry caused my heart to pound. I needed to stop and stand and exit the space repeatedly because of the sheer scale 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 loan sharks due to his addictive betting, assuming hazardous chances on a wager involving sterling which may result in huge losses for his employer. So of course, he goes on a gambling spree, uses copious drugs and alcohol and experiences wins and losses, is brutally attacked. Each instance you believe it can’t get any worse, it worsens. There’s hope of redemption by the episode’s conclusion but he misses the opening, with horrifying consequences in the concluding part of the season. Definitely needed a lie-down after that!

The 2007 Peep Show episode Holiday

Peep Show itself isn’t necessarily a stressful show. Yet the installment Holiday features such degrees of awkwardness that it’ll have you standing up the whole episode, filled with nervousness. The tension escalates once Jeremy and Mark find themselves having to lie about the dog they unintentionally hit and following tries to eliminate it. You subsequently use the rest of the installment questioning whether it truly can be worse than incineration, and it turns out to be!

The West Wing – The Two Cathedrals (2001)

Nothing I have seen has been as tense as when I first saw the concluding episode of The West Wing’s second season. The installment begins with the consequences of the demise (in a car crash) of the president’s confidential aide 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 pursue re-election. Wonderful television. Never bettered.

The 2018 Bodyguard premiere episode

The opening of the British series Bodyguard, featuring the main character on a train with his young son, ranks among the most gripping episodes I’ve seen. He spots a Muslim woman entering the restroom and knows something is off. The explosive disposal specialists are summoned, board the train, and try to persuade the woman to discard her bomb jacket. Suspense rises to a nearly intolerable level, until yes, the vest is diffused.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer – The Body from 2001

Buffy arrives at her residence to find her mum has passed away due to natural factors, which is the rarest form of demise in this supernatural show. The episode has no background music, a somber mood, and we view the installment through the lens of Buffy’s shock of discovering her mother.

The Sopranos – Made in America (2007)

The concluding moment of the last installment of the show was pants-wettingly tense. And for those who saw it during its initial broadcast, you – initially – were uncertain of the reason. Tony’s enemies, real and imagined, were all vanquished. Surely this has the feel of the season one ending? “Remember the little things.” But the mood is bizarrely ominous. Almost Twin Peaks levels of terror. The family sit in a restaurant. Meadow parks. Tony sadly tells Carmela difficulties are arising with an additional associate collaborating with the authorities. Meadow parks the vehicle. Strange people enter the restaurant. Stare at Tony(?) Meadow parks. Tony plays a track on the music machine. Meadow finds a spot. The bell rings, someone enters the restaurant. Can’t be Meadow, she’s still parking. Tony raises his gaze. Continue. It stops. My heart sank roughly 20 minutes after.

The Walking Dead – The Last Day on Earth from 2016

I kept late hours to see this show during the night. It was incredibly tense after the buildup of bad guy Negan discovering the characters, savagely teasing his prey 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