‘I absolutely had to rest after that!’ Your most nerve-wracking episodes of TV ever
Spooks – I Spy Apocalypse from 2003
The episode begins with the Spooks team confined during a training exercise about a potential terror incident, overseen by two Home Office officials. As things progress, it appears that there really has been an attack and a chemical weapon has been unleashed. The anxiety increases as messages indicate a disaster happening externally, and intensifies when the leader seems contaminated, with the two officials trying to exit, forcing Matthew Macfadyen’s character to opt for either shooting them or letting them go and risking contaminating the sealed MI5 offices. This being Spooks, his decision is predictable.
The 1984 production Threads
Threads had minimal funding but arguably the most terrifying series I’ve ever seen because of the stark reality and grim official statistics. Viewed it recently having watched the original; I often attended the bar in Sheffield featured in the show which emphasised the reality and the casual, straightforward government details that were transmitted. Continuing to be utterly horrifying 35 years later.
Severance – The We We Are (2022)
The season one finale of Severance deserves a top spot among intense episodes. I remained for the whole show literally perched nervously, straining every sinew with Dylan to hold the switches that kept the Innies on overtime, while yelling at the Innies to get their truths out there. The final climactic moment – “she survives!” – resembled a outburst.
The 2024 Industry episode White Mischief
The fifth episode of Industry’s third season had my heart racing. I needed to stop and stand and exit the space repeatedly due to the immense extent of the reckless self-harm I was witnessing. Rishi Ramdani is in major difficulty at work and home – overwhelmed by debt to illegal creditors owing to his uncontrollable gaming, assuming hazardous chances on a wager involving sterling which may result in huge losses for his employer. Inevitably, he starts a gaming binge, consumes excessive substances and alcohol and wins, loses, wins, is severely assaulted. Every time you think the situation cannot deteriorate further, it does. There’s hope of redemption at the end of the episode yet he wastes the chance, with horrifying consequences during the season’s final episode. Absolutely had to relax following that!
The 2007 Peep Show episode Holiday
Peep Show itself isn’t necessarily a stressful show. Yet the installment Holiday includes such amounts of embarrassment that it can cause you to stand the whole episode, filled with nervousness. The situation intensifies when Jeremy and Mark realize needing to deceive regarding the dog they by chance collide with 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 can be!
The West Wing – The Two Cathedrals (2001)
Nothing I’ve watched has been more intense as when I first saw the concluding episode of The West Wing’s second season. The show opens with the fallout of the demise (in a car crash) of the president’s confidential aide and escalates to a高潮 with a crisis in Haiti, and the fallout from the non-disclosure regarding the president’s multiple sclerosis diagnosis, coupled with verification of his aim to run for another term. Wonderful television. Never bettered.
Bodyguard – episode one from 2018
The opening of the British series Bodyguard, featuring the main character on a train accompanied by his small son, is personally a top tense installment. He notices a Muslim female going into the loo and realizes something is amiss. The explosive disposal specialists are summoned, enter the train, and attempt to convince the woman to remove her explosive vest. Suspense rises to a nearly intolerable level, 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 due to natural factors, which is the rarest form of demise in this mystical program. The installment lacks any soundtrack, a somber mood, and we view the installment through the lens of Buffy’s astonishment upon finding 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 viewed it when it first premiered, you – initially – were uncertain of the reason. Tony’s adversaries, actual and perceived, were all vanquished. Surely this has the feel of the season one ending? “Think about the small elements.” However, the vibe is oddly threatening. Approaching Twin Peaks-esque horror. The family gathers in a diner. Meadow stops the car. Tony gloomily informs Carmela there’s trouble afoot with another member of his team working with the government. Meadow parks. Odd persons arrive at the eatery. Stare at Tony(?) Meadow is parking. Tony selects a song on the jukebox. Meadow parks. The bell rings, someone enters the restaurant. Can’t be Meadow, she’s still parking. Tony raises his gaze. Don’t stop. It ceases. My heart sank around 20 minutes subsequently.
The Walking Dead – The Last Day on Earth from 2016
I kept late hours to see this show in the early morning. It was incredibly tense after the establishment of antagonist Negan locating the survivors, cruelly taunting his victims then not knowing who he killed (finished with an unresolved situation). The first-person perspective of the victim and the muted audio – ugh! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season