‘I definitely needed a lie-down after that!’ The most nerve-wracking TV episodes ever

Spooks – I Spy Apocalypse (2003)

The show kicks off with the MI5 agents restricted as part of a simulation relating to a hypothetical terrorist attack, overseen by two Home Office officials. As things progress, it seems an actual attack has occurred with a chemical weapon released. The anxiety increases as reports reveal a catastrophe taking place outside, and intensifies when the leader seems contaminated, and the two Home Office officials attempt to leave, pushing the protagonist portrayed by Matthew Macfadyen to decide between shooting them or allowing them to leave and risking contaminating the sealed MI5 offices. This being Spooks, his decision is predictable.

Threads from 1984

Threads was low budget but one of the most frightening programmes I have viewed because of the stark reality and dismal official figures. Watched it about a month ago following the initial broadcast; I often attended the bar in Sheffield shown in the series which underscored the actuality and the glib matter-of-fact official information that aired. Continuing to be utterly horrifying decades on.

The 2022 Severance episode The We We Are

The concluding episode of Severance’s debut season ranks highly among intense episodes. I was throughout the episode quite literally on the edge of my seat, straining every sinew with 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 survives!” – was like an eruption.

The 2024 Industry episode White Mischief

Installment five in Industry’s third series made my pulse quicken. I needed to stop and stand and exit the space repeatedly because of the sheer scale of the deliberate ruin I observed. Rishi Ramdani faces serious trouble in his job and domestic life – up to his eyeballs in debt from unscrupulous lenders because of his compulsive gambling, engaging in dangerous ventures on a wager involving sterling that might cost his firm millions. Naturally, he embarks on a betting frenzy, uses copious drugs and alcohol and wins, loses, wins, gets beaten to a pulp. Each instance you believe things cannot decline more, it does. There’s hope of redemption at the end of the episode yet he wastes the chance, leading to terrible outcomes during the season’s final episode. Certainly required a rest afterward!

The 2007 Peep Show episode Holiday

Peep Show is not inherently a tense series. But the episode Holiday contains such levels of cringe that it’ll have you standing up the whole episode, filled with nervousness. The tension escalates as Jeremy and Mark discover being compelled to falsify about the canine they accidentally run over and subsequent attempts to dispose of it. You then occupy the remainder of the episode doubting if it can actually be more terrible than burning, and it can be!

The 2001 The West Wing episode The Two Cathedrals

Nothing I’ve watched has been more intense as when I first saw the second season finale of The West Wing. The show opens with the fallout of the passing (in a road incident) of the president’s personal secretary and escalates to a高潮 involving a Haitian emergency, and the repercussions of the secrecy about the president’s MS condition, coupled with verification of his aim to run for another term. Wonderful television. Unsurpassed.

Bodyguard – episode one (2018)

The opening of the British series Bodyguard, with the hero aboard a train accompanied by his small son, is personally a top tense installment. He notices a Muslim female heading to the toilet and senses something is wrong. The bomb squad is alerted, enter the train, and try to persuade the woman to remove her explosive vest. Suspense rises to a practically unendurable point, until, indeed, the vest is disarmed.

The 2001 Buffy episode The Body

Buffy enters her house to discover her mother has died from natural reasons, which is the most unusual type of death in this supernatural show. The show features no musical score, a gloomy atmosphere, and we witness the episode via the perspective of Buffy’s astonishment upon finding her mother.

The Sopranos – Made in America (2007)

The final scene of the final episode of the show was pants-wettingly tense. And if you watched it when it originally aired, you – at the start – didn’t understand the cause. Tony’s foes, genuine and fictional, had all been defeated. This seems similar to the first season’s finale, right? “Remember the little things.” Yet the atmosphere is strangely foreboding. Nearly Twin Peaks-like fear. The family gathers in a diner. Meadow parks. Tony sadly tells Carmela difficulties are arising with another member of his team collaborating with the authorities. Meadow parks. Unfamiliar individuals come into the diner. Gaze at Tony(?) Meadow continues to park. Tony plays a track on the music machine. Meadow parks. The bell sounds, an individual enters. It isn’t Meadow, she remains parking. Tony glances upward. Continue. It stops. My spirit fell around 20 minutes subsequently.

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

I remained awake to view this installment during the night. It was extremely gripping after the establishment of antagonist Negan locating the survivors, mercilessly mocking his targets then not knowing who he killed (concluded with a suspenseful moment). The victim’s POV shot and the muted audio – argh! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season