‘I definitely needed a lie-down after that!’ Your most intense TV episodes you’ve seen

The 2003 Spooks episode I Spy Apocalypse

This installment starts with the Spooks team confined during a training exercise about a potential terror incident, supervised by two Home Office agents. As the situation develops, it seems an actual attack has occurred with a chemical weapon released. The tension ratchets up as incoming communications show a crisis unfolding beyond their walls, and intensifies as the superior shows signs of exposure, and the government agents endeavor to depart, pushing the protagonist portrayed by Matthew Macfadyen to choose between firing at them or allowing them to leave and potentially infecting the secure MI5 headquarters. Given it’s Spooks, the outcome is expected.

Threads from 1984

The production was inexpensive but one of the most frightening programmes I’ve ever seen owing to its grim authenticity and dismal official figures. Watched it about a month ago having watched the original; I often attended the bar in Sheffield from the programme that highlighted the truth and the casual, straightforward government details that aired. Remaining completely frightening decades on.

Severance – The We We Are from 2022

The season one finale of Severance deserves a top spot as a tense chapter. I was throughout the episode actually sitting tensely, exerting with Dylan to hold the switches that kept the Innies on overtime, while screaming at the Innies to get their truths out there. The ultimate peak – “she is living!” – resembled a outburst.

Industry – White Mischief (2024)

Episode five of the third series of Industry made my pulse quicken. I was compelled to halt and rise and exit the space repeatedly because of the sheer scale of the reckless self-harm I was witnessing. Rishi Ramdani is in major difficulty in his job and domestic life – overwhelmed by debt from unscrupulous lenders owing to his uncontrollable gaming, assuming hazardous chances with a bet on sterling which may result in huge losses for his employer. Naturally, he embarks on a betting frenzy, uses copious drugs and alcohol and wins, loses, wins, gets beaten to a pulp. Every time you think the situation cannot deteriorate further, it deteriorates. There’s hope of redemption at the end of the episode yet he wastes the chance, leading to terrible outcomes in the concluding part of the season. Definitely needed a lie-down after that!

Peep Show – Holiday from 2007

The series Peep Show isn’t typically anxiety-inducing. But the episode Holiday contains such levels of cringe that it will make you rise throughout the entire episode, riddled with anxiety. It all ramps up once Jeremy and Mark find themselves being compelled to falsify about the canine they unintentionally hit and later efforts to get rid of it. You then spend the rest of the episode questioning whether it truly can be worse than incineration, and it turns out to be!

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 installment begins with the consequences of the death (in a traffic accident) of the president’s private assistant and reaches a crescendo with a crisis in Haiti, and the fallout from the non-disclosure of the president’s MS diagnosis, along with affirmation of his plan to run for another term. Superb programming. Unequaled.

The 2018 Bodyguard premiere episode

The beginning of the UK show Bodyguard, featuring the main character on a train with his young son, is personally a top tense installment. He observes a woman in Islamic attire entering the restroom and senses something is wrong. The bomb squad is alerted, board the train, and endeavor to coax the woman to discard her bomb jacket. Anxiety builds to a practically unendurable point, until yes, the vest is diffused.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer – The Body from 2001

Buffy comes into her home to discover her mother has died of natural causes, which is the most unusual type of death in this mystical program. The episode has no background music, a somber mood, and we see the episode through the experience of Buffy’s shock of discovering her mother.

The 2007 The Sopranos finale Made in America

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 overcome. This seems similar to the first season’s finale, right? “Think about the small elements.” However, the vibe is oddly threatening. Almost Twin Peaks levels of terror. The family sit in a restaurant. Meadow parks. Tony sadly tells 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. Stare at Tony(?) Meadow parks. Tony puts a record on the jukebox. Meadow parks. The bell sounds, an individual enters. Can’t be Meadow, she’s still parking. Tony looks up. Continue. It ceases. My heart dropped from my mouth about 20 minutes later.

The 2016 The Walking Dead episode The Last Day on Earth

I remained awake to view this installment during the night. It was extremely gripping after the buildup of bad guy Negan discovering the characters, savagely teasing his prey then not knowing who he killed (ended on a cliffhanger). The first-person perspective of the victim and the muted audio – argh! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season