🔗 Share this article

The 2003 Spooks episode I Spy Apocalypse

This installment starts with the intelligence unit restricted as part of a simulation concerning a fictional terrorist event, overseen by two Home Office officials. As the situation develops, it seems an actual attack has occurred with a chemical weapon released. The anxiety increases as messages indicate a disaster happening externally, and intensifies as the boss appears to be infected, and the government agents endeavor to depart, pushing the protagonist portrayed by Matthew Macfadyen to choose between firing at them or allowing them to leave and potentially infecting the secure MI5 headquarters. As this is Spooks, the outcome is expected.

Threads (1984)

Threads had minimal funding but one of the most frightening programmes I’ve ever seen because of the stark reality and dismal official figures. Watched it about a month ago having watched the original; I often attended the bar in Sheffield shown in the series which underscored the actuality and the glib matter-of-fact official information which was broadcast. Remaining completely frightening 35 years later.

Severance – The We We Are (2022)

The concluding episode of Severance’s debut season has to be right up there in terms of gripping installments. I spent the entire episode actually sitting tensely, exerting with Dylan to hold the switches that allowed the Innies to remain active, while shouting to the Innies to reveal their realities. The concluding高潮 – “she is living!” – resembled a outburst.

Industry – White Mischief from 2024

The fifth episode of Industry’s third season made my pulse quicken. I was compelled to halt and rise and exit the space repeatedly because of the sheer scale of the wanton self-destruction I observed. Rishi Ramdani is in deep shit at work and home – buried in financial obligations from unscrupulous lenders because of his compulsive gambling, assuming hazardous chances with a gamble on the pound that might cost his firm millions. So of course, he goes on a gambling spree, uses copious drugs and alcohol and alternates between success and failure, gets beaten to a pulp. Each instance you believe things cannot decline more, it worsens. Redemption seems possible by the episode’s conclusion yet he wastes the chance, with horrifying consequences in the concluding part of the season. Definitely needed a lie-down after that!

Peep Show – Holiday (2007)

Peep Show itself isn’t necessarily a stressful show. However, the Holiday episode contains such levels of cringe that it can cause you to stand throughout the entire episode, permeated with worry. It all ramps up as Jeremy and Mark discover needing to deceive regarding the dog they unintentionally hit and following tries to eliminate it. You then spend the rest of the episode doubting if it can actually be more terrible than burning, and it is possible!

The West Wing – The Two Cathedrals from 2001

No other viewing has been as gripping than the first time I watched 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 reaches a crescendo involving a Haitian emergency, and the fallout from the non-disclosure about the president’s MS condition, along with affirmation of his plan to seek re-election. Excellent TV. Never bettered.

Bodyguard – episode one (2018)

The start of the British program Bodyguard, featuring the main character on a train with his young son, is personally a top tense installment. He observes a woman in Islamic attire entering the restroom and knows something is off. The bomb diffuser experts are called, board the train, and attempt to convince the woman to remove her explosive vest. Anxiety builds to a nearly intolerable level, until, finally, the vest is neutralized.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer – The Body from 2001

Buffy enters her house to find her mum has passed away of natural causes, which is the rarest form of demise in this supernatural show. The episode has no background music, a sullen tone, and we see the episode through the experience of Buffy’s dismay upon uncovering her mother.

The Sopranos – Made in America from 2007

The ultimate sequence of the series finale of the program was incredibly anxious. 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 family sit in a restaurant. Meadow stops the car. Tony sadly tells Carmela there’s trouble afoot with an additional associate collaborating with the authorities. Meadow secures a parking space. Unfamiliar individuals come into the diner. Stare at Tony(?) Meadow parks. Tony puts a record on the jukebox. Meadow parks her car. The door chimes, a person comes in. 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 during the night. It was so intense after the buildup of bad guy Negan locating the survivors, cruelly taunting his victims then not knowing who he killed (concluded with a suspenseful moment). The victim’s POV shot and the subdued noises – argh! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season