‘I absolutely had to rest after that!’ Your most gripping episodes of TV of all time
The 2003 Spooks episode I Spy Apocalypse
This installment starts with the Spooks team confined while undergoing a drill 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 anxiety increases as reports reveal a disaster happening externally, and escalates as the boss appears to be infected, and the two Home Office officials attempt to leave, compelling the character played by Matthew Macfadyen to decide between shooting them or permitting their exit and endangering the sterile MI5 environment. This being Spooks, the outcome is expected.
Threads from 1984
Threads had minimal funding but arguably the most terrifying series I’ve ever seen owing to its grim authenticity and grim official statistics. Saw it not long ago having watched the original; I often attended the bar in Sheffield shown in the series that highlighted the truth and the glib matter-of-fact official information 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 has to be right up there as a tense chapter. I spent the entire episode actually sitting tensely, straining every sinew with Dylan to maintain his grip on the controls that allowed the Innies to remain active, while shouting to the Innies to get their truths out there. The ultimate peak – “she survives!” – was like an eruption.
Industry – White Mischief from 2024
Installment five in Industry’s third series caused my heart to pound. I had to pause and get up and exit the space repeatedly because of the sheer scale of the wanton self-destruction I was witnessing. Rishi Ramdani is in major difficulty at work and home – up to his eyeballs in debt to loan sharks because of his compulsive gambling, assuming hazardous chances with a bet on sterling which may result in huge losses for his employer. Inevitably, he starts a gaming binge, uses copious drugs and alcohol and wins, loses, wins, is severely assaulted. Every time you think things cannot decline more, it deteriorates. Redemption seems possible at the end of the episode but he squanders the opportunity, resulting in dreadful effects in the season finale. Absolutely had to relax following that!
The 2007 Peep Show episode Holiday
Peep Show itself isn’t necessarily a stressful show. Yet the installment Holiday contains such levels of cringe that it will make you rise for the full show, riddled with anxiety. The situation intensifies when Jeremy and Mark realize being compelled to falsify about the canine they unintentionally hit and later efforts to get rid of it. You then spend the rest of the episode questioning whether it truly can be worse than incineration, and it turns out to be!
The West Wing – The Two Cathedrals from 2001
Nothing I’ve watched has been more intense as when I first saw the season two finale to The West Wing. The show opens with the fallout of the death (in a traffic accident) of the president’s confidential aide and builds to a peak with a situation in Haiti, and the effects of the withheld information regarding the president’s multiple sclerosis diagnosis, along with affirmation of his plan to run for another term. Excellent TV. Never bettered.
Bodyguard – episode one (2018)
The opening of the British series Bodyguard, featuring the main character on a train alongside his juvenile boy, is for me one of the most intense episodes ever. He spots a Muslim woman entering the restroom and senses something is wrong. The bomb squad is alerted, get on the train, and attempt to convince the woman to discard her bomb jacket. Tension escalates to a nearly intolerable level, until, finally, the vest is neutralized.
The 2001 Buffy episode The Body
Buffy comes into her home to find her mum has passed away due to natural factors, which is the least common kind of passing in this mystical program. The episode has no background music, a gloomy atmosphere, and we witness the episode via the perspective of Buffy’s astonishment upon finding her mother.
The Sopranos – Made in America from 2007
The ultimate sequence of the series finale of the series was extremely nerve-wracking. 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. This seems similar to the first season’s finale, right? “Remember the little things.” Yet the atmosphere is strangely foreboding. Almost Twin Peaks levels of terror. The family sit in a restaurant. Meadow finds a parking spot. Tony gloomily informs Carmela difficulties are arising with yet another of his crew collaborating with the authorities. Meadow parks the vehicle. Odd persons arrive at the eatery. Gaze at Tony(?) Meadow continues to park. Tony selects a song on the jukebox. Meadow finds a spot. The bell rings, someone enters the restaurant. It cannot be Meadow, she is still parking. Tony glances upward. Continue. It stops. My heart dropped from my mouth roughly 20 minutes after.
The 2016 The Walking Dead episode The Last Day on Earth
I stayed up to watch this episode in the early morning. It was extremely gripping after the buildup of bad guy Negan discovering the characters, mercilessly mocking his targets then not knowing who he killed (finished with an unresolved situation). 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