‘I definitely needed a lie-down after that!’ The most nerve-wracking television episodes of all time
Spooks – I Spy Apocalypse from 2003
This installment starts with the Spooks team locked down while undergoing a drill about a potential terror incident, overseen by two Home Office officials. As events unfold, it appears that there really has been an attack and a chemical weapon has been unleashed. The tension ratchets up as reports reveal a catastrophe taking place outside, and gets worse as the superior shows signs of exposure, and the government agents endeavor to depart, compelling the character played by Matthew Macfadyen to choose between firing at them or allowing them to leave and potentially infecting the secure MI5 headquarters. Given it’s Spooks, the outcome is expected.
Threads from 1984
Threads had minimal funding yet among the scariest shows I’ve ever seen because of the stark reality and bleak government data. Saw it not long ago after seeing the first airing; I used to visit the pub in Sheffield shown in the series which underscored the actuality and the casual, straightforward government details that were transmitted. Continuing to be utterly horrifying 35 years later.
Severance – The We We Are from 2022
The first season finale of Severance ranks highly as a tense chapter. I spent the entire episode literally perched nervously, exerting with Dylan to hold the switches that sustained the Innies’ extended time, while screaming at the Innies to get their truths out there. The final climactic moment – “she’s alive!” – resembled a outburst.
Industry – White Mischief (2024)
The fifth episode of Industry’s third season made my pulse quicken. I was compelled to halt and rise and leave the room several times owing to the vast degree of the wanton self-destruction I was witnessing. Rishi Ramdani faces serious trouble in his job and domestic life – buried in financial obligations from unscrupulous lenders due to his addictive betting, taking such risks with a bet on sterling which could lose his company millions. So of course, he goes on a gambling spree, consumes excessive substances and alcohol and alternates between success and failure, gets beaten to a pulp. Whenever you assume things cannot decline more, it deteriorates. There is a chance for salvation by the episode’s conclusion yet he wastes the chance, resulting in dreadful effects in the concluding part of the season. Certainly required a rest afterward!
Peep Show – Holiday (2007)
Peep Show is not inherently a tense series. However, the Holiday episode features such degrees of awkwardness that it will make you rise the whole episode, filled with nervousness. The tension escalates when Jeremy and Mark realize 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 questioning whether it truly can be worse than incineration, and it can be!
The West Wing – The Two Cathedrals (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 installment begins with the consequences of the passing (in a road incident) of the president’s personal secretary and builds to a peak with a crisis in Haiti, and the effects of the withheld information about the president’s MS condition, with confirmation of his intention to run for another term. Wonderful television. Never bettered.
The 2018 Bodyguard premiere episode
The beginning of the UK show Bodyguard, featuring the main character on a train with his young son, ranks among the most gripping episodes I’ve seen. He notices a Muslim female entering the restroom and knows something is off. The bomb diffuser experts are called, board the train, and endeavor to coax the woman to discard her bomb jacket. Anxiety builds to an almost unbearable degree, until, finally, the vest is neutralized.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer – The Body (2001)
Buffy enters her house to realize her mom has deceased of natural causes, which is the most unusual type of death in this supernatural show. The show features no musical score, a gloomy atmosphere, and we see the episode through the experience of Buffy’s astonishment upon finding her mother.
The 2007 The Sopranos finale Made in America
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, had all been defeated. Surely this has the feel of the season one ending? “Think about the small elements.” Yet the atmosphere is strangely foreboding. Almost Twin Peaks levels of terror. The family sit in a restaurant. Meadow stops the car. Tony gloomily informs Carmela problems are brewing with an additional associate cooperating with the officials. Meadow secures a parking space. Strange people enter the restaurant. Gaze at Tony(?) Meadow continues to park. Tony puts a record on the jukebox. Meadow parks her car. The bell rings, someone enters the restaurant. It cannot be Meadow, she is still parking. Tony looks up. Continue. It halts. My spirit fell about 20 minutes later.
The 2016 The Walking Dead episode The Last Day on Earth
I remained awake to view this installment during the night. It was so intense following the introduction of villain Negan locating the survivors, savagely teasing his prey and then leaving the victim unknown (ended on a cliffhanger). The victim’s POV shot and the muted audio – ugh! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season
