‘I definitely needed a lie-down after that!’ The most intense television episodes of all time
The 2003 Spooks episode I Spy Apocalypse
This installment starts with the MI5 agents confined during a training exercise about a potential terror incident, overseen by two Home Office officials. As the situation develops, it seems an actual attack has occurred and a chemical weapon has been unleashed. The anxiety increases as incoming communications show a catastrophe taking place outside, and intensifies as the superior shows signs of exposure, and the government agents endeavor to depart, forcing Matthew Macfadyen’s character to choose between firing at them or letting them go and risking contaminating the sealed MI5 offices. Given it’s Spooks, the outcome is expected.
Threads from 1984
Threads had minimal funding but arguably the most terrifying series I have ever watched due to its harsh realism and grim official statistics. Saw it not long ago after seeing the first airing; I often attended the bar in Sheffield featured in the show which emphasised the reality and the glib matter-of-fact official information which was broadcast. Continuing to be utterly horrifying decades on.
Severance – The We We Are from 2022
The first season finale of Severance ranks highly among intense episodes. I spent the entire episode literally perched nervously, exerting with Dylan to maintain his grip on the controls that sustained the Innies’ extended time, while screaming at the Innies to disclose their facts. The ultimate peak – “she’s alive!” – was like an eruption.
Industry – White Mischief (2024)
The fifth episode of Industry’s third season caused my heart to pound. I needed to stop and stand and depart the area multiple times because of the sheer scale of the reckless self-harm I was witnessing. Rishi Ramdani is in major difficulty professionally and personally – buried in financial obligations from unscrupulous lenders owing to his uncontrollable gaming, assuming hazardous chances with a gamble on the pound that might cost his firm millions. So of course, he goes on a gambling spree, does tons of drugs and drink and alternates between success and failure, is brutally attacked. Every time you think things cannot decline more, it worsens. There is a chance for salvation by the episode’s conclusion but he squanders the opportunity, with horrifying consequences during the season’s final episode. Absolutely had to relax following that!
Peep Show – Holiday from 2007
The series Peep Show isn’t typically anxiety-inducing. But the episode Holiday includes such amounts of embarrassment that it’ll have you standing up for the full show, filled with nervousness. The tension escalates as Jeremy and Mark discover needing to deceive regarding 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 is possible!
The West Wing – The Two Cathedrals from 2001
No other viewing has been as gripping as when I first saw the concluding episode of The West Wing’s second season. The installment begins with the consequences of the demise (in a car crash) of the president’s confidential aide and reaches a crescendo 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 pursue re-election. Excellent TV. Unsurpassed.
The 2018 Bodyguard premiere episode
The beginning of the UK show Bodyguard, featuring the main character on a train alongside his juvenile boy, is personally a top tense installment. He spots a Muslim woman heading to the toilet and realizes something is amiss. The bomb squad is alerted, enter the train, and try to persuade the woman to discard her bomb jacket. Tension escalates to a practically unendurable point, until yes, the vest is diffused.
The 2001 Buffy episode The Body
Buffy enters her house to discover her mother has died from natural reasons, which is the rarest form of demise in this paranormal series. The installment lacks any soundtrack, a sullen tone, and we view the installment through the lens of Buffy’s astonishment upon finding her mother.
The 2007 The Sopranos finale Made in America
The concluding moment of the last installment of the program was incredibly anxious. And if you viewed it when it first premiered, you – at first – weren’t sure why. Tony’s enemies, real and imagined, had all been defeated. Surely this has the feel of the season one ending? “Remember the little things.” Yet the atmosphere is strangely foreboding. Approaching Twin Peaks-esque horror. The family sit in a restaurant. Meadow parks. Tony sorrowfully notifies Carmela problems are brewing with an additional associate collaborating with the authorities. Meadow parks the vehicle. Odd persons arrive at the eatery. Look at Tony(?) Meadow parks. Tony selects a song on the jukebox. Meadow finds a spot. The door chimes, a person comes in. Can’t be Meadow, she’s still parking. Tony looks up. Keep going. It halts. My heart dropped from my mouth about 20 minutes later.
The 2016 The Walking Dead episode The Last Day on Earth
I kept late hours to see this show at 2am. It was incredibly tense after the establishment of antagonist Negan locating the survivors, mercilessly mocking his targets and then keeping the death a mystery (finished with an unresolved situation). The point-of-view shot from the victim and the muffled sounds – oh no! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season
