‘I absolutely had to rest after that!’ Your most gripping television episodes of all time
Spooks – I Spy Apocalypse (2003)
This installment starts with the Spooks team restricted as part of a simulation concerning a fictional terrorist event, overseen by two Home Office officials. As things progress, it becomes clear a real incident has taken place with a chemical weapon released. The suspense builds as incoming communications show a crisis unfolding beyond their walls, and gets worse as the superior shows signs of exposure, and the government agents endeavor to depart, pushing the protagonist portrayed by Matthew Macfadyen to decide between shooting them or letting them go and endangering the sterile MI5 environment. As this is Spooks, it is unsurprising which one he chooses.
The 1984 production Threads
Threads was low budget yet among the scariest shows I’ve ever seen owing to its grim authenticity and bleak government data. Viewed it recently following the initial broadcast; I used to visit the pub in Sheffield shown in the series which emphasised the reality and the offhand factual official statements that were transmitted. Continuing to be utterly horrifying after three and a half decades.
The 2022 Severance episode The We We Are
The concluding episode of Severance’s debut season deserves a top spot as a tense chapter. I remained for the whole show actually sitting tensely, straining every sinew with Dylan to keep his hands on the levers that sustained the Innies’ extended time, while yelling at the Innies to reveal their realities. The final climactic moment – “she’s alive!” – was like an eruption.
The 2024 Industry episode White Mischief
The fifth episode of Industry’s third season caused my heart to pound. I had to pause and get up and leave the room several times due to the immense extent of the deliberate ruin I saw. Rishi Ramdani is in major difficulty in his job and domestic life – up to his eyeballs in debt to loan sharks owing to his uncontrollable gaming, taking such risks on a wager involving sterling that might cost his firm millions. Naturally, he embarks on a betting frenzy, uses copious drugs and alcohol and wins, loses, wins, is brutally attacked. Whenever you assume the situation cannot deteriorate further, it does. Redemption seems possible at the end of the episode yet he wastes the chance, resulting in dreadful effects in the season finale. Definitely needed a lie-down after that!
Peep Show – Holiday (2007)
Peep Show is not inherently a tense series. Yet the installment Holiday features such degrees of awkwardness that it will make you rise the whole episode, permeated with worry. The tension escalates as Jeremy and Mark discover being compelled to falsify about the canine they accidentally run over and subsequent attempts to dispose of it. You subsequently use the rest of the installment questioning whether it truly can be worse than incineration, and it can be!
The 2001 The West Wing episode The Two Cathedrals
Nothing I have seen has been as tense as when I first saw the concluding episode of The West Wing’s second season. The show opens with the fallout of the passing (in a road incident) of the president’s confidential aide and builds to a peak with a situation in Haiti, and the fallout from the non-disclosure about the president’s MS condition, along with affirmation of his plan to run for another term. Superb programming. Never bettered.
Bodyguard – episode one (2018)
The beginning of the UK show Bodyguard, with the hero aboard a train with his young son, ranks among the most gripping episodes I’ve seen. He notices a Muslim female going into the loo and knows something is off. The explosive disposal specialists are summoned, enter the train, and endeavor to coax the woman to remove her explosive vest. Tension escalates to a practically unendurable point, until, finally, the vest is neutralized.
The 2001 Buffy episode The Body
Buffy comes into her home to discover her mother has died due to natural factors, which is the most unusual type of death in this paranormal series. The show features no musical score, a somber mood, and we witness the episode via the perspective of Buffy’s shock of discovering her mother.
The Sopranos – Made in America (2007)
The final scene of the final episode of the series was extremely nerve-wracking. And if you watched it when it originally aired, you – at first – weren’t sure why. Tony’s enemies, real and imagined, had all been defeated. This seems similar to the first season’s finale, right? “Recall the minor details.” However, the vibe is oddly threatening. Almost Twin Peaks levels of terror. The family gathers in a diner. Meadow stops the car. Tony sorrowfully notifies Carmela difficulties are arising with another member of his team collaborating with the authorities. Meadow parks. Unfamiliar individuals come into the diner. Look at Tony(?) Meadow parks. Tony puts a record 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. Don’t stop. It halts. My spirit fell about 20 minutes later.
The Walking Dead – The Last Day on Earth (2016)
I remained awake to view this installment during the night. It was incredibly tense following the introduction of villain Negan discovering the characters, cruelly taunting his victims and then leaving the victim unknown (ended on a cliffhanger). The point-of-view shot from the victim and the subdued noises – argh! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season
