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Spooks – I Spy Apocalypse from 2003

The episode begins with the intelligence unit confined as part of a simulation concerning a fictional terrorist event, supervised by two Home Office agents. As the situation develops, it seems an actual attack has occurred with a chemical weapon released. The anxiety increases as incoming communications show a disaster happening externally, and gets worse as the boss appears to be infected, 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 endangering the sterile MI5 environment. Given it’s Spooks, the outcome is expected.

Threads from 1984

The production was inexpensive but one of the most frightening programmes I have ever watched due to its harsh realism and dismal official figures. Watched it about a month ago following the initial broadcast; I used to visit the pub in Sheffield from the programme which emphasised the reality and the offhand factual official statements that were transmitted. Still absolutely terrifying 35 years later.

Severance – The We We Are from 2022

The season one finale of Severance ranks highly in terms of gripping installments. I was throughout the episode actually sitting tensely, pushing alongside Dylan to maintain his grip on the controls that kept the Innies on overtime, while shouting to the Innies to reveal their realities. The ultimate peak – “she survives!” – resembled a outburst.

Industry – White Mischief from 2024

Installment five in Industry’s third series made my pulse quicken. I had to pause and get up and exit the space repeatedly due to the immense extent of the reckless self-harm I saw. Rishi Ramdani faces serious trouble in his job and domestic life – up to his eyeballs in debt from unscrupulous lenders due to his addictive betting, assuming hazardous chances on a wager involving sterling that might cost his firm millions. Naturally, he embarks on a betting frenzy, uses copious drugs and alcohol and experiences wins and losses, is severely assaulted. Each instance you believe things cannot decline more, it deteriorates. Redemption seems possible by the episode’s conclusion yet he wastes the chance, with horrifying consequences during the season’s final episode. Certainly required a rest afterward!

The 2007 Peep Show episode Holiday

The series Peep Show isn’t typically anxiety-inducing. Yet the installment Holiday includes such amounts of embarrassment that it’ll have you standing up throughout the entire episode, riddled with anxiety. It all ramps up when Jeremy and Mark realize needing to deceive regarding the dog they unintentionally hit and following tries to eliminate it. You then occupy the remainder of the episode wondering if it might be more awful than cremation, and it is possible!

The 2001 The West Wing episode The Two Cathedrals

Nothing I have seen has been as tense than the first time I watched the second season finale of The West Wing. The episode starts with the aftermath of the passing (in a road incident) of the president’s personal secretary and builds to a peak involving a Haitian emergency, and the effects of the withheld information of the president’s MS diagnosis, with confirmation of his intention to run for another term. Wonderful television. Unsurpassed.

Bodyguard – episode one (2018)

The start of the British program Bodyguard, with the protagonist on a train accompanied by his small son, is personally a top tense installment. He observes a woman in Islamic attire going into the loo and realizes something is amiss. The explosive disposal specialists are summoned, board the train, and attempt to convince the woman to take off her suicide vest. Tension escalates to a practically unendurable point, until, finally, the vest is neutralized.

The 2001 Buffy episode The Body

Buffy arrives at her residence to find her mum has passed away due to natural factors, which is the rarest form of demise in this paranormal series. The installment lacks any soundtrack, a sullen tone, 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 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? “Recall the minor details.” But the mood is bizarrely ominous. Nearly Twin Peaks-like fear. The family sit in a restaurant. Meadow finds a parking spot. Tony gloomily informs Carmela problems are brewing with yet another of his crew cooperating with the officials. Meadow parks. Unfamiliar individuals come into the diner. Look at Tony(?) Meadow is parking. Tony puts a record on the jukebox. Meadow parks her car. The door chimes, a person comes in. It cannot be Meadow, she is still parking. Tony glances upward. Continue. It ceases. My heart sank about 20 minutes later.

The 2016 The Walking Dead episode The Last Day on Earth

I kept late hours to see this show during the night. It was incredibly tense after the establishment of antagonist Negan locating the survivors, cruelly taunting his victims then not knowing who he killed (ended on a cliffhanger). The victim’s POV shot and the subdued noises – oh no! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season