‘I absolutely had to rest after that!’ The most intense TV episodes you’ve seen

Spooks – I Spy Apocalypse (2003)

This installment starts with the Spooks team locked down while undergoing a drill concerning a fictional terrorist event, overseen by two Home Office officials. As things progress, it appears that there really has been an attack and a chemical agent deployed. The anxiety increases as reports reveal a catastrophe taking place outside, and escalates as the superior shows signs of exposure, with the two officials trying to exit, pushing the protagonist portrayed by Matthew Macfadyen to choose between firing at them or permitting their exit and endangering the sterile MI5 environment. This being Spooks, it is unsurprising which one he chooses.

Threads (1984)

Threads had minimal funding but arguably the most terrifying series I’ve ever seen because of the stark reality and dismal official figures. Saw it not long ago having watched the original; I often attended the bar in Sheffield from the programme which underscored the actuality and the glib matter-of-fact official information which was broadcast. Continuing to be utterly horrifying decades on.

Severance – The We We Are (2022)

The concluding episode of Severance’s debut season has to be right up there in terms of gripping installments. I was throughout the episode literally perched nervously, exerting with Dylan to keep his hands on the levers that allowed the Innies to remain active, while screaming at the Innies to disclose their facts. The concluding高潮 – “she’s alive!” – felt like an explosion.

The 2024 Industry episode White Mischief

Installment five in Industry’s third series had my heart racing. I had to pause and get up and depart the area multiple times due to the immense extent of the deliberate ruin I was witnessing. Rishi Ramdani is in deep shit in his job and domestic life – up to his eyeballs in debt to illegal creditors because of his compulsive gambling, taking such risks on a wager involving sterling that might cost his firm millions. Inevitably, he starts a gaming binge, consumes excessive substances and alcohol and wins, loses, wins, gets beaten to a pulp. Whenever you assume things cannot decline more, it worsens. There’s hope of redemption as the installment closes but he squanders the opportunity, with horrifying consequences during the season’s final episode. Absolutely had to relax following that!

Peep Show – Holiday (2007)

The series Peep Show isn’t typically anxiety-inducing. But the episode Holiday features such degrees of awkwardness that it’ll have you standing up the whole episode, riddled with anxiety. The situation intensifies when Jeremy and Mark realize having to lie about the dog they by chance collide with and subsequent attempts to dispose 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 West Wing – The Two Cathedrals (2001)

Nothing I have seen has been as tense compared to my initial viewing 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 private assistant and reaches a crescendo with a situation in Haiti, and the repercussions of the secrecy of the president’s MS diagnosis, with confirmation of his intention to pursue re-election. Superb programming. Unequaled.

Bodyguard – episode one (2018)

The opening of the British series Bodyguard, with the protagonist on a train with his young son, is for me one of the most intense episodes ever. He observes a woman in Islamic attire entering the restroom and knows something is off. The bomb squad is alerted, enter the train, and attempt to convince the woman to remove her explosive vest. Tension escalates to a nearly intolerable level, until yes, the vest is diffused.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer – The Body (2001)

Buffy arrives at her residence to realize her mom has deceased due to natural factors, which is the least common kind of passing in this mystical program. The show features no musical score, a gloomy atmosphere, and we see the episode through the experience of Buffy’s dismay upon uncovering her mother.

The Sopranos – Made in America from 2007

The concluding moment of the last installment of the series was extremely nerve-wracking. And for those who saw it during its initial broadcast, you – initially – were uncertain of the reason. Tony’s foes, genuine and fictional, were all overcome. This seems similar to the first season’s finale, right? “Remember the little things.” Yet the atmosphere is strangely foreboding. Approaching Twin Peaks-esque horror. The family gathers in a diner. Meadow stops the car. Tony sorrowfully notifies Carmela difficulties are arising with an additional associate working with the government. Meadow parks. Strange people enter the restaurant. Stare at Tony(?) Meadow is parking. Tony plays a track on the music machine. Meadow finds a spot. The door chimes, a person comes in. It isn’t Meadow, she remains parking. Tony raises his gaze. Don’t stop. It stops. My heart dropped from my mouth around 20 minutes subsequently.

The 2016 The Walking Dead episode The Last Day on Earth

I remained awake to view this installment during the night. It was so intense after the establishment of antagonist Negan discovering the characters, cruelly taunting his victims and then keeping the death a mystery (ended on a cliffhanger). The first-person perspective of the victim and the muted audio – oh no! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season