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Spooks – I Spy Apocalypse (2003)

The show kicks off with the intelligence unit confined during a training exercise 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 tension ratchets up as reports reveal a crisis unfolding beyond their walls, and intensifies when the leader seems contaminated, and the two Home Office officials attempt to leave, pushing the protagonist portrayed by Matthew Macfadyen to choose between firing at them or letting them go and potentially infecting the secure MI5 headquarters. As this is Spooks, it is unsurprising which one he chooses.

Threads from 1984

The production was inexpensive yet among the scariest shows I have viewed because of the stark reality and dismal official figures. Saw it not long ago following the initial broadcast; I frequently went to the Sheffield pub from the programme that highlighted the truth and the glib matter-of-fact official information that aired. Continuing to be utterly horrifying decades on.

Severance – The We We Are (2022)

The first season finale of Severance ranks highly in terms of gripping installments. I was throughout the episode quite literally on the edge of my seat, pushing alongside Dylan to maintain his grip on the controls that sustained the Innies’ extended time, while screaming at the Innies to disclose their facts. The ultimate peak – “she is living!” – was like an eruption.

The 2024 Industry episode White Mischief

Installment five in Industry’s third series had my heart racing. I was compelled to halt and rise and depart the area multiple times owing to the vast degree of the deliberate ruin I saw. Rishi Ramdani faces serious trouble professionally and personally – overwhelmed by debt to loan sharks due to his addictive betting, assuming hazardous chances on a wager involving sterling that might cost his firm millions. So of course, he goes on a gambling spree, does tons of drugs and drink and wins, loses, wins, is brutally attacked. Whenever you assume the situation cannot deteriorate further, it worsens. There’s hope of redemption at the end of the episode but he squanders the opportunity, with horrifying consequences in the concluding part of the season. Certainly required a rest afterward!

The 2007 Peep Show episode Holiday

Peep Show itself isn’t necessarily a stressful show. But the episode Holiday contains such levels of cringe that it can cause you to stand throughout the entire episode, filled with nervousness. The situation intensifies once Jeremy and Mark find themselves being compelled to falsify about the canine they accidentally run over and later efforts to get rid of it. You then spend the rest of the episode wondering if it might be more awful than cremation, and it turns out to be!

The West Wing – The Two Cathedrals (2001)

Nothing I have seen has been as tense as when I first saw the concluding episode of The West Wing’s second season. The show opens with the fallout of the passing (in a road incident) of the president’s personal secretary and builds to a peak involving a Haitian emergency, and the repercussions of the secrecy regarding the president’s multiple sclerosis diagnosis, coupled with verification of his aim to seek re-election. Superb programming. Unsurpassed.

Bodyguard – episode one from 2018

The opening of the British series Bodyguard, featuring the main character on a train with his young son, ranks among the most gripping episodes I’ve seen. He observes a woman in Islamic attire heading to the toilet and knows something is off. The bomb squad is alerted, board the train, and endeavor to coax the woman to take off her suicide vest. Anxiety builds to an almost unbearable degree, until, finally, the vest is neutralized.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer – The Body from 2001

Buffy comes into her home to realize her mom has deceased due to natural factors, which is the most unusual type of death in this mystical program. The episode has no background music, a gloomy atmosphere, and we view the installment through the lens of Buffy’s dismay upon uncovering her mother.

The Sopranos – Made in America from 2007

The concluding moment of the last installment of the program was incredibly anxious. And if you watched it when it originally aired, you – initially – were uncertain of the reason. Tony’s adversaries, actual and perceived, were all overcome. This seems similar to the first season’s finale, right? “Remember the little things.” Yet the atmosphere is strangely foreboding. Almost Twin Peaks levels of terror. The clan sits in an eatery. Meadow parks. Tony sorrowfully notifies Carmela there’s trouble afoot with another member of his team collaborating with the authorities. Meadow secures a parking space. Unfamiliar individuals come into the diner. Gaze at Tony(?) Meadow parks. Tony selects a song on the jukebox. Meadow parks. The door chimes, a person comes in. It isn’t Meadow, she remains parking. Tony raises his gaze. Continue. It stops. My heart dropped from my mouth around 20 minutes subsequently.

The Walking Dead – The Last Day on Earth from 2016

I kept late hours to see this show at 2am. It was incredibly tense following the introduction of villain Negan discovering the characters, cruelly taunting his victims and then keeping the death a mystery (finished with an unresolved situation). The point-of-view shot from the victim and the muffled sounds – ugh! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season