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Spooks – I Spy Apocalypse from 2003

The episode begins with the Spooks team locked down while undergoing a drill relating to a hypothetical terrorist attack, overseen by two Home Office officials. As events unfold, it seems an actual attack has occurred and a chemical weapon has been unleashed. The anxiety increases as incoming communications show a disaster happening externally, and escalates as the superior shows signs of exposure, and the government agents endeavor to depart, compelling the character played by Matthew Macfadyen to decide between shooting them or letting them go and potentially infecting the secure MI5 headquarters. Given it’s Spooks, it is unsurprising which one he chooses.

Threads from 1984

Threads had minimal funding yet among the scariest shows I’ve ever seen due to its harsh realism and dismal official figures. Saw it not long ago following the initial broadcast; I used to visit the pub in Sheffield featured in the show which emphasised the reality and the offhand factual official statements which was broadcast. Continuing to be utterly horrifying after three and a half decades.

Severance – The We We Are (2022)

The first season finale of Severance ranks highly among intense episodes. I spent the entire episode quite literally on the edge of my seat, straining every sinew with Dylan to maintain his grip on the controls that kept the Innies on overtime, while yelling at the Innies to reveal their realities. The ultimate peak – “she is living!” – felt like an explosion.

Industry – White Mischief (2024)

Episode five of the third series of Industry made my pulse quicken. I had to pause and get up and exit the space repeatedly owing to the vast degree of the reckless self-harm I observed. Rishi Ramdani is in major difficulty professionally and personally – buried in financial obligations to loan sharks because of his compulsive gambling, engaging in dangerous ventures with a gamble on the pound which may result in huge losses for his employer. Naturally, he embarks on a betting frenzy, uses copious drugs and alcohol and experiences wins and losses, is severely assaulted. Every time you think it can’t get any worse, it does. There is a chance for salvation by the episode’s conclusion but he misses the opening, leading to terrible outcomes during the season’s final episode. Definitely needed a lie-down after that!

Peep Show – Holiday (2007)

Peep Show itself isn’t necessarily a stressful show. But the episode Holiday features such degrees of awkwardness that it can cause you to stand the whole episode, riddled with anxiety. It all ramps up as Jeremy and Mark discover being compelled to falsify about the canine they by chance collide with and later efforts to get rid of it. You subsequently use the rest of the installment doubting if it can actually be more terrible than burning, and it is possible!

The 2001 The West Wing episode The Two Cathedrals

No other viewing has been as gripping compared to my initial viewing 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 situation in Haiti, and the repercussions of the secrecy about the president’s MS condition, with confirmation of his intention to run for another term. Superb programming. Never bettered.

The 2018 Bodyguard premiere episode

The start of the British program Bodyguard, with the hero aboard a train with his young son, 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 endeavor to coax the woman to remove her explosive vest. Tension escalates to a practically unendurable point, until, indeed, the vest is disarmed.

The 2001 Buffy episode The Body

Buffy arrives at her residence to discover her mother has died due to natural factors, which is the rarest form of demise in this paranormal series. The episode has no background music, a sullen tone, and we view the installment through the lens of Buffy’s shock of discovering 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.” But the mood is bizarrely ominous. Nearly Twin Peaks-like fear. The clan sits in an eatery. Meadow parks. Tony sadly tells Carmela problems are brewing with an additional associate cooperating with the officials. Meadow parks. Strange people enter the restaurant. Stare at Tony(?) Meadow parks. Tony puts a record on the jukebox. Meadow parks. The door chimes, a person comes in. It isn’t Meadow, she remains parking. Tony looks up. Keep going. It stops. My spirit fell about 20 minutes later.

The Walking Dead – The Last Day on Earth (2016)

I kept late hours to see this show during the night. It was extremely gripping following the introduction of villain Negan locating the survivors, savagely teasing his prey and then leaving the victim unknown (finished with an unresolved situation). The first-person perspective of the victim and the muffled sounds – oh no! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season