‘I definitely needed a lie-down after that!’ The most gripping TV episodes of all time
Spooks – I Spy Apocalypse from 2003
The episode begins with the Spooks team restricted while undergoing a drill about a potential terror incident, supervised by two Home Office agents. As things progress, it becomes clear a real incident has taken place with a chemical weapon released. The tension ratchets up as reports reveal a crisis unfolding beyond their walls, and gets worse as the superior shows signs of exposure, and the government agents endeavor to depart, compelling the character played by Matthew Macfadyen to decide between shooting them or allowing them to leave 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’ve ever seen because of the stark reality and dismal official figures. Watched it about a month ago after seeing the first airing; I frequently went to the Sheffield pub featured in the show that highlighted the truth and the offhand factual official statements which was broadcast. Continuing to be utterly horrifying after three and a half decades.
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 hold the switches that kept the Innies on overtime, while yelling at 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 was compelled to halt and rise and leave the room several times owing to the vast degree of the wanton self-destruction I was witnessing. Rishi Ramdani is in deep shit in his job and domestic life – buried in financial obligations to loan sharks because of his compulsive gambling, engaging in dangerous ventures on a wager involving sterling which could lose his company millions. Naturally, he embarks on a betting frenzy, uses copious drugs and alcohol and wins, loses, wins, is brutally attacked. Whenever you assume it can’t get any worse, it worsens. There’s hope of redemption as the installment closes yet he wastes the chance, with horrifying consequences during the season’s final episode. Definitely needed a lie-down after that!
The 2007 Peep Show episode Holiday
Peep Show itself isn’t necessarily a stressful show. However, the Holiday episode features such degrees of awkwardness that it’ll have you standing up throughout the entire episode, riddled with anxiety. The tension escalates once Jeremy and Mark find themselves having to lie about the dog they by chance collide with and later efforts to get rid of it. You then occupy the remainder of the episode wondering if it might be more awful than cremation, and it turns out to be!
The West Wing – The Two Cathedrals from 2001
Nothing I’ve watched has been more intense compared to my initial viewing the second season finale of The West Wing. The show opens with the fallout 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 repercussions of the secrecy regarding the president’s multiple sclerosis diagnosis, coupled with verification of his aim to seek re-election. Excellent TV. Unsurpassed.
The 2018 Bodyguard premiere episode
The beginning of the UK show Bodyguard, with the protagonist on a train with his young son, is personally a top tense installment. He observes a woman in Islamic attire going into the loo and knows something is off. The bomb squad is alerted, board the train, and try to persuade the woman to remove her explosive vest. Anxiety builds to a nearly intolerable level, until, indeed, the vest is disarmed.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer – The Body from 2001
Buffy enters her house to realize her mom has deceased due to natural factors, which is the least common kind of passing in this paranormal series. The show features no musical score, a gloomy atmosphere, and we see the episode through the experience of Buffy’s shock of discovering her mother.
The 2007 The Sopranos finale Made in America
The ultimate sequence of the series finale 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 adversaries, actual and perceived, had all been defeated. Surely this has the feel of the season one ending? “Think about the small elements.” Yet the atmosphere is strangely foreboding. Approaching Twin Peaks-esque horror. The family gathers in a diner. Meadow stops the car. Tony sorrowfully notifies Carmela difficulties are arising with yet another of his crew working with the government. Meadow secures a parking space. Odd persons arrive at the eatery. Stare at Tony(?) Meadow parks. Tony puts a record on the jukebox. Meadow parks her car. The bell sounds, an individual enters. It isn’t Meadow, she remains parking. Tony glances upward. Continue. It halts. My heart dropped from my mouth about 20 minutes later.
The Walking Dead – The Last Day on Earth from 2016
I stayed up to watch this episode at 2am. It was so intense after the buildup of bad guy Negan finding the group, savagely teasing his prey and then keeping the death a mystery (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