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Spooks – I Spy Apocalypse from 2003

The show kicks off with the MI5 agents confined as part of a simulation concerning a fictional terrorist event, supervised by two Home Office agents. As the situation develops, it becomes clear a real incident has taken place and a chemical weapon has been unleashed. The suspense builds as reports reveal a catastrophe taking place outside, and gets worse as the boss appears to be infected, and the two Home Office officials attempt to leave, forcing Matthew Macfadyen’s character 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 but arguably the most terrifying series I have ever watched because of the stark reality and bleak government data. Saw it not long ago after seeing the first airing; I often attended the bar in Sheffield from the programme which emphasised the reality and the casual, straightforward government details that were transmitted. Remaining completely frightening decades on.

Severance – The We We Are (2022)

The season one finale of Severance has to be right up there in terms of gripping installments. I was throughout the episode quite literally on the edge of my seat, exerting with Dylan to maintain his grip on the controls that allowed the Innies to remain active, while shouting to the Innies to disclose their facts. The final climactic moment – “she survives!” – resembled a outburst.

The 2024 Industry episode White Mischief

Installment five in Industry’s third series made my pulse quicken. I had to pause and get up and depart the area multiple times due to the immense extent of the wanton self-destruction I was witnessing. Rishi Ramdani faces serious trouble in his job and domestic life – buried in financial obligations to illegal creditors due to his addictive betting, assuming hazardous chances with a gamble on the pound which may result in huge losses for his employer. Naturally, he embarks on a betting frenzy, does tons of drugs and drink and wins, loses, wins, is severely assaulted. Every time you think the situation cannot deteriorate further, it worsens. There’s hope of redemption at the end of the episode but he misses the opening, resulting in dreadful effects in the season finale. Absolutely had to relax following that!

Peep Show – Holiday from 2007

Peep Show is not inherently a tense series. But the episode Holiday includes such amounts of embarrassment that it can cause you to stand the whole episode, riddled with anxiety. The tension escalates as Jeremy and Mark discover having to lie about the dog they unintentionally hit and subsequent attempts to dispose of it. You subsequently use the rest of the installment wondering if it might be more awful than cremation, and it is possible!

The West Wing – The Two Cathedrals from 2001

Nothing I’ve watched has been more intense than the first time I watched the season two finale to The West Wing. The show opens with the fallout of the demise (in a car crash) of the president’s personal secretary and builds to a peak with a crisis in Haiti, and the repercussions of the secrecy of the president’s MS diagnosis, coupled with verification of his aim to pursue re-election. Wonderful television. Unequaled.

Bodyguard – episode one (2018)

The start of the British program Bodyguard, featuring the main character on a train accompanied by his small son, is for me one of the most intense episodes ever. He observes a woman in Islamic attire going into the loo and realizes something is amiss. The bomb squad is alerted, enter the train, and attempt to convince the woman to discard her bomb jacket. Tension escalates to an almost unbearable degree, until yes, the vest is diffused.

The 2001 Buffy episode The Body

Buffy enters her house to find her mum has passed away 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 witness the episode via the perspective of Buffy’s astonishment upon finding her mother.

The 2007 The Sopranos finale Made in America

The final scene of the final episode of the show was pants-wettingly tense. And if you watched it when it originally aired, you – initially – were uncertain of the reason. Tony’s foes, genuine and fictional, were all overcome. Doesn’t this resemble the season one conclusion? “Remember the little things.” But the mood is bizarrely ominous. Almost Twin Peaks levels of terror. The clan sits in an eatery. Meadow parks. Tony sadly tells Carmela difficulties are arising with an additional associate cooperating with the officials. Meadow parks. Odd persons arrive at the eatery. Look at Tony(?) Meadow is parking. Tony puts a record on the jukebox. Meadow finds a spot. The bell rings, someone enters the restaurant. Can’t be Meadow, she’s still parking. Tony glances upward. Don’t stop. It halts. My heart sank roughly 20 minutes after.

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

I remained awake to view this installment in the early morning. It was extremely gripping after the buildup of bad guy Negan locating the survivors, mercilessly mocking his targets and then leaving the victim unknown (finished with an unresolved situation). The first-person perspective of the victim and the muted audio – ugh! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season