‘I absolutely had to rest after that!’ Your most gripping episodes of TV ever
The 2003 Spooks episode I Spy Apocalypse
This installment starts with the intelligence unit restricted while undergoing a drill about a potential terror incident, supervised by two Home Office agents. As things progress, it becomes clear a real incident has taken place and a chemical agent deployed. The tension ratchets up as incoming communications show a crisis unfolding beyond their walls, and gets worse when the leader seems contaminated, with the two officials trying to exit, pushing the protagonist portrayed by Matthew Macfadyen to opt for either shooting them or permitting their exit and potentially infecting the secure MI5 headquarters. This being Spooks, the outcome is expected.
Threads (1984)
Threads was low budget but arguably the most terrifying series I have viewed because of the stark reality and grim official statistics. Saw it not long ago following the initial broadcast; I often attended the bar in Sheffield from the programme which emphasised the reality and the offhand factual official statements that aired. Remaining completely frightening 35 years later.
The 2022 Severance episode The We We Are
The season one finale of Severance ranks highly as a tense chapter. I spent the entire episode literally perched nervously, straining every sinew with Dylan to hold the switches that kept the Innies on overtime, while yelling at the Innies to disclose their facts. The final climactic moment – “she’s alive!” – was like an eruption.
Industry – White Mischief (2024)
Episode five of the third series of Industry made my pulse quicken. I needed to stop and stand and exit the space repeatedly due to the immense extent of the reckless self-harm I observed. Rishi Ramdani is in deep shit professionally and personally – buried in financial obligations to loan sharks due to his addictive betting, taking such risks with a gamble on the pound which may result in huge losses for his employer. Inevitably, he starts a gaming binge, does tons of drugs and drink and wins, loses, wins, is brutally attacked. Each instance you believe it can’t get any worse, it does. There’s hope of redemption by the episode’s conclusion but he squanders the opportunity, with horrifying consequences in the concluding part of the season. Certainly required a rest afterward!
Peep Show – Holiday (2007)
The series Peep Show isn’t typically anxiety-inducing. However, the Holiday episode contains such levels of cringe that it’ll have you standing up for the full show, filled with nervousness. The tension escalates as Jeremy and Mark discover being compelled to falsify about the canine they unintentionally hit and subsequent attempts to dispose of it. You then spend the rest of the episode doubting if it can actually be more terrible than burning, and it can be!
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 episode starts with the aftermath of the passing (in a road incident) of the president’s confidential aide and builds to a peak with a crisis in Haiti, and the repercussions of the secrecy about the president’s MS condition, along with affirmation of his plan to run for another term. Superb programming. Never bettered.
The 2018 Bodyguard premiere episode
The start of the British program Bodyguard, with the protagonist on a train accompanied by his small son, ranks among the most gripping episodes I’ve seen. He notices a Muslim female going into the loo and realizes something is amiss. The explosive disposal specialists are summoned, get on the train, and attempt to convince the woman to take off her suicide vest. Tension escalates to an almost unbearable degree, until yes, the vest is diffused.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer – The Body (2001)
Buffy arrives at her residence to discover her mother has died from natural reasons, which is the rarest form of demise in this mystical program. The installment lacks any soundtrack, a gloomy atmosphere, and we see the episode through the experience of Buffy’s dismay upon uncovering 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 watched it when it originally aired, you – at the start – didn’t understand the cause. Tony’s enemies, real and imagined, were all overcome. Surely this has the feel of the season one ending? “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 yet another of his crew collaborating with the authorities. Meadow parks. Strange people enter the restaurant. Look at Tony(?) Meadow parks. Tony plays a track on the music machine. Meadow finds a spot. The door chimes, a person comes in. Can’t be Meadow, she’s still parking. Tony glances upward. Continue. It ceases. My heart sank roughly 20 minutes after.
The Walking Dead – The Last Day on Earth from 2016
I remained awake to view this installment in the early morning. It was incredibly tense following the introduction of villain Negan locating the survivors, cruelly taunting his victims and then leaving the victim unknown (ended on a cliffhanger). The first-person perspective of the victim and the muted audio – argh! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season
