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The 2003 Spooks episode I Spy Apocalypse

This installment starts with the intelligence unit restricted while undergoing a drill relating to a hypothetical terrorist attack, supervised by two Home Office agents. As events unfold, it appears that there really has been an attack and a chemical weapon has been unleashed. The suspense builds as messages indicate a catastrophe taking place outside, and gets worse as the superior shows signs of exposure, and the government agents endeavor to depart, forcing Matthew Macfadyen’s character to choose between firing at them or letting them go and potentially infecting the secure MI5 headquarters. Given it’s Spooks, it is unsurprising which one he chooses.

Threads (1984)

Threads had minimal funding but one of the most frightening programmes I have viewed due to its harsh realism and dismal official figures. Viewed it recently following the initial broadcast; I frequently went to the Sheffield pub featured in the show that highlighted the truth and the casual, straightforward government details that were transmitted. Still absolutely terrifying 35 years later.

The 2022 Severance episode The We We Are

The concluding episode of Severance’s debut season has to be right up there among intense episodes. I spent the entire episode quite literally on the edge of my seat, straining every sinew with Dylan to keep his hands on the levers that allowed the Innies to remain active, while shouting to the Innies to get their truths out there. The final climactic moment – “she survives!” – felt like an explosion.

The 2024 Industry episode White Mischief

The fifth episode of Industry’s third season caused my heart to pound. I had to pause and get up and depart the area multiple times owing to the vast degree of the reckless self-harm I observed. Rishi Ramdani is in major difficulty in his job and domestic life – overwhelmed by debt to loan sharks due to his addictive betting, taking such risks with a bet on sterling which may result in huge losses for his employer. Inevitably, he starts a gaming binge, uses copious drugs and alcohol and experiences wins and losses, gets beaten to a pulp. Every time you think the situation cannot deteriorate further, it worsens. There’s hope of redemption at the end of the episode yet he wastes the chance, resulting in dreadful effects in the season finale. Absolutely had to relax following that!

Peep Show – Holiday from 2007

Peep Show is not inherently a tense series. Yet the installment Holiday contains such levels of cringe that it can cause you to stand the whole episode, riddled with anxiety. The tension escalates as Jeremy and Mark discover needing to deceive regarding the dog they unintentionally hit and subsequent attempts to dispose 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 West Wing – The Two Cathedrals (2001)

Nothing I’ve watched has been more intense as when I first saw the second season finale of The West Wing. The installment begins with the consequences of the death (in a traffic accident) of the president’s private assistant and builds to a peak involving a Haitian emergency, and the repercussions of the secrecy regarding the president’s multiple sclerosis diagnosis, along with affirmation of his plan to seek re-election. Wonderful television. Never bettered.

The 2018 Bodyguard premiere episode

The opening of the British series Bodyguard, with the protagonist on a train with his young son, is personally a top tense installment. He spots a Muslim woman going into the loo and senses something is wrong. The bomb squad is alerted, board the train, and attempt to convince the woman to take off her suicide vest. Tension escalates to an almost unbearable degree, until, indeed, the vest is disarmed.

The 2001 Buffy episode The Body

Buffy enters her house to discover her mother has died from natural reasons, which is the rarest form of demise in this paranormal series. The installment lacks any soundtrack, a sullen tone, and we view the installment through the lens of Buffy’s dismay upon uncovering her mother.

The Sopranos – Made in America (2007)

The concluding moment of the last installment of the show was pants-wettingly tense. And if you watched it when it originally aired, you – at the start – didn’t understand the cause. Tony’s adversaries, actual and perceived, were all vanquished. This seems similar to the first season’s finale, right? “Think about the small elements.” But the mood is bizarrely ominous. Approaching Twin Peaks-esque horror. The family gathers in a diner. Meadow parks. Tony gloomily informs Carmela problems are brewing with yet another of his crew working with the government. Meadow parks. Unfamiliar individuals come into the diner. Look at Tony(?) Meadow continues to park. Tony plays a track on the music machine. Meadow parks. The door chimes, a person comes in. It cannot be Meadow, she is still parking. Tony glances upward. Keep going. It stops. My spirit fell around 20 minutes subsequently.

The Walking Dead – The Last Day on Earth from 2016

I kept late hours to see this show in the early morning. It was incredibly tense after the establishment of antagonist Negan finding the group, mercilessly mocking his targets and then leaving the victim unknown (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