‘I truly required a break after that!’ Your most gripping television episodes you’ve seen
Spooks – I Spy Apocalypse (2003)
This installment starts with the intelligence unit locked down while undergoing a drill concerning a fictional terrorist event, overseen by two Home Office officials. 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 intensifies when the leader seems contaminated, and the government agents endeavor to depart, pushing the protagonist portrayed by Matthew Macfadyen to choose between firing at them or permitting their exit and potentially infecting the secure MI5 headquarters. Given it’s Spooks, the outcome is expected.
Threads from 1984
Threads was low budget but arguably the most terrifying series I have viewed because of the stark reality and dismal official figures. Saw it not long ago following the initial broadcast; I often attended the bar in Sheffield featured in the show 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 (2022)
The season one finale of Severance has to be right up there in terms of gripping installments. I spent the entire episode actually sitting tensely, pushing alongside Dylan to hold the switches that allowed the Innies to remain active, while shouting to the Innies to reveal their realities. The ultimate peak – “she’s alive!” – felt like an explosion.
Industry – White Mischief from 2024
Episode five of the third series of Industry had my heart racing. I needed to stop and stand and exit the space repeatedly because of the sheer scale of the wanton self-destruction I observed. Rishi Ramdani faces serious trouble at work and home – up to his eyeballs in debt to loan sharks due to his addictive betting, taking such risks with a gamble on the pound that might cost his firm millions. Naturally, he embarks on a betting frenzy, does tons of drugs and drink and alternates between success and failure, is severely assaulted. Each instance you believe things cannot decline more, it does. There is a chance for salvation at the end of the episode but he misses the opening, resulting in dreadful effects during the season’s final episode. Certainly required a rest afterward!
The 2007 Peep Show episode Holiday
Peep Show itself isn’t necessarily a stressful show. But the episode Holiday features such degrees of awkwardness that it’ll have you standing up for the full show, filled with nervousness. The situation intensifies once Jeremy and Mark find themselves having to lie about the dog they by chance collide with and following tries to eliminate it. You then occupy the remainder 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
Nothing I’ve watched has been more intense as when I first saw the second season finale of The West Wing. The episode starts with the aftermath of the demise (in a car crash) of the president’s private assistant and reaches a crescendo with a crisis in Haiti, and the fallout from the non-disclosure of the president’s MS diagnosis, coupled with verification of his aim to seek re-election. Superb programming. Never bettered.
Bodyguard – episode one (2018)
The beginning of the UK show Bodyguard, with the hero aboard a train accompanied by his small son, is personally a top tense installment. He observes a woman in Islamic attire going into the loo and realizes something is amiss. The bomb diffuser experts are called, get on the train, and endeavor to coax the woman to discard her bomb jacket. Anxiety builds to a practically unendurable point, until, indeed, the vest is disarmed.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer – The Body from 2001
Buffy arrives at her residence to realize her mom has deceased from natural reasons, which is the rarest form of demise in this supernatural show. The episode has no background music, a somber mood, and we view the installment through the lens of Buffy’s dismay upon uncovering her mother.
The Sopranos – Made in America (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 – at first – weren’t sure why. Tony’s enemies, real and imagined, were all vanquished. Surely this has the feel of the season one ending? “Think about the small elements.” Yet the atmosphere is strangely foreboding. Approaching Twin Peaks-esque horror. The clan sits in an eatery. Meadow finds a parking spot. Tony gloomily informs Carmela there’s trouble afoot with yet another of his crew working with the government. Meadow parks. Strange people enter the restaurant. Gaze at Tony(?) Meadow continues to park. Tony plays a track on the music machine. Meadow finds a spot. The bell sounds, an individual enters. Can’t be Meadow, she’s still parking. Tony glances upward. Don’t stop. It stops. My heart dropped from my mouth about 20 minutes later.
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 finding the group, cruelly taunting his victims then not knowing who he killed (concluded with a suspenseful moment). The first-person perspective of the victim and the muffled sounds – ugh! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season
