‘I absolutely had to rest after that!’ Your most nerve-wracking television episodes of all time
Spooks – I Spy Apocalypse (2003)
The episode begins with the intelligence unit confined while undergoing a drill concerning a fictional terrorist event, supervised by two Home Office agents. As things progress, it becomes clear a real incident has taken place and a chemical agent deployed. The tension ratchets up as incoming communications show a crisis unfolding beyond their walls, and intensifies as the boss appears to be infected, and the two Home Office officials attempt to leave, compelling the character played by Matthew Macfadyen to opt for either shooting them or allowing them to leave and risking contaminating the sealed MI5 offices. As this is Spooks, it is unsurprising which one he chooses.
The 1984 production Threads
Threads was low budget but one of the most frightening programmes I have ever watched owing to its grim authenticity and grim official statistics. Watched it about a month ago having watched the original; I often attended the bar in Sheffield from the programme which emphasised the reality and the casual, straightforward government details which was broadcast. Remaining completely frightening decades on.
Severance – The We We Are from 2022
The season one finale of Severance ranks highly as a tense chapter. I remained for the whole show literally perched nervously, exerting with Dylan to hold the switches that sustained the Innies’ extended time, while yelling at the Innies to get their truths out there. The ultimate peak – “she survives!” – felt like an explosion.
Industry – White Mischief (2024)
The fifth episode of Industry’s third season made my pulse quicken. I needed to stop and stand and leave the room several times because of the sheer scale of the deliberate ruin I observed. Rishi Ramdani is in deep shit at work and home – up to his eyeballs in debt to illegal creditors owing to his uncontrollable gaming, taking such risks with a bet on sterling that might cost his firm millions. So of course, he goes on a gambling spree, consumes excessive substances and alcohol and experiences wins and losses, is brutally attacked. Whenever you assume it can’t get any worse, it deteriorates. There’s hope of redemption at the end of the episode but he misses the opening, with horrifying consequences in the season finale. Definitely needed a lie-down after that!
Peep Show – Holiday from 2007
The series Peep Show isn’t typically anxiety-inducing. Yet the installment Holiday features such degrees of awkwardness that it will make you rise the whole episode, filled with nervousness. It all ramps up as Jeremy and Mark discover having to lie about the dog they unintentionally hit and later efforts to get rid 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 season two finale to The West Wing. The episode starts with the aftermath of the demise (in a car crash) of the president’s personal secretary and escalates to a高潮 with a crisis in Haiti, and the repercussions of the secrecy of the president’s MS diagnosis, coupled with verification of his aim to pursue re-election. Excellent TV. Unequaled.
Bodyguard – episode one (2018)
The beginning of the UK show Bodyguard, with the hero aboard a train alongside his juvenile boy, is personally a top tense installment. He observes a woman in Islamic attire heading to the toilet and knows something is off. The bomb diffuser experts are called, enter the train, and attempt to convince the woman to take off her suicide 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 of natural causes, which is the rarest form of demise in this supernatural show. The installment lacks any soundtrack, a somber mood, and we see the episode through the experience of Buffy’s astonishment upon finding her mother.
The Sopranos – Made in America (2007)
The concluding moment of the last installment of the series was extremely nerve-wracking. And if you viewed it when it first premiered, you – at first – weren’t sure why. Tony’s foes, genuine and fictional, had all been defeated. Doesn’t this resemble the season one conclusion? “Think about the small elements.” However, the vibe is oddly threatening. Nearly Twin Peaks-like fear. The clan sits in an eatery. Meadow stops the car. Tony gloomily informs Carmela there’s trouble afoot with yet another of his crew collaborating with the authorities. Meadow secures a parking space. Strange people enter the restaurant. Look at Tony(?) Meadow parks. Tony selects a song on the jukebox. Meadow parks her car. The bell sounds, an individual enters. Can’t be Meadow, she’s still parking. Tony raises his gaze. Keep going. It stops. My spirit fell about 20 minutes later.
The 2016 The Walking Dead episode The Last Day on Earth
I stayed up to watch this episode at 2am. It was so intense after the buildup of bad guy Negan discovering the characters, savagely teasing his prey and then keeping the death a mystery (ended on a cliffhanger). The point-of-view shot from the victim and the muffled sounds – argh! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season
