🔗 Share this article

Spooks – I Spy Apocalypse (2003)

The episode begins with the Spooks team confined while undergoing a drill relating to a hypothetical terrorist attack, supervised by two Home Office agents. As the situation develops, it appears that there really has been an attack and a chemical weapon has been unleashed. The anxiety increases as messages indicate a disaster happening externally, and gets worse as the superior shows signs of exposure, and the two Home Office officials attempt to leave, pushing the protagonist portrayed by Matthew Macfadyen to choose between firing at them or permitting their exit and endangering the sterile MI5 environment. As this is Spooks, it is unsurprising which one he chooses.

Threads from 1984

The production was inexpensive but one of the most frightening programmes I have ever watched because of the stark reality and dismal official figures. Saw it not long ago following the initial broadcast; I used to visit the pub in Sheffield featured in the show which emphasised the reality and the glib matter-of-fact official information that were transmitted. Continuing to be utterly horrifying after three and a half decades.

Severance – The We We Are (2022)

The season one finale of Severance ranks highly as a tense chapter. I was throughout the episode literally perched nervously, exerting with Dylan to keep his hands on the levers that kept the Innies on overtime, while shouting to 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 caused my heart to pound. I needed to stop and stand and depart the area multiple times due to the immense extent of the wanton self-destruction I was witnessing. Rishi Ramdani is in major difficulty in his job and domestic life – up to his eyeballs in debt from unscrupulous lenders owing to his uncontrollable gaming, engaging in dangerous ventures with a bet on sterling that might cost his firm millions. So of course, he goes on a gambling spree, does tons of drugs and drink and experiences wins and losses, gets beaten to a pulp. Whenever you assume things cannot decline more, it worsens. Redemption seems possible as the installment closes yet he wastes the chance, with horrifying consequences in the concluding part of the season. Definitely needed a lie-down after that!

The 2007 Peep Show episode Holiday

Peep Show itself isn’t necessarily a stressful show. However, the Holiday episode includes such amounts of embarrassment that it will make you rise throughout the entire 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 subsequently use the rest of the installment doubting if it can actually be more terrible than burning, and it is possible!

The 2001 The West Wing episode The Two Cathedrals

Nothing I have seen has been as tense as when I first saw the season two finale to The West Wing. The show opens with the fallout of the passing (in a road incident) of the president’s personal secretary and builds to a peak with a situation in Haiti, and the repercussions of the secrecy regarding the president’s multiple sclerosis diagnosis, along with affirmation of his plan to pursue re-election. Superb programming. Unsurpassed.

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 entering the restroom and knows something is off. The bomb diffuser experts are called, board the train, and endeavor to coax the woman to discard her bomb jacket. Tension escalates to a practically unendurable point, until, indeed, the vest is disarmed.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer – The Body (2001)

Buffy comes into her home to find her mum has passed away from natural reasons, which is the least common kind of passing in this paranormal series. The episode has no background music, a somber mood, and we witness the episode via the perspective of Buffy’s shock of discovering her mother.

The Sopranos – Made in America (2007)

The ultimate sequence of the series finale of the program was incredibly anxious. And if you viewed it when it first premiered, you – at the start – didn’t understand the cause. Tony’s adversaries, actual and perceived, were all overcome. Doesn’t this resemble the season one conclusion? “Recall the minor details.” Yet the atmosphere is strangely foreboding. Approaching Twin Peaks-esque horror. The family sit in a restaurant. Meadow finds a parking spot. Tony sadly tells Carmela problems are brewing with an additional associate collaborating with the authorities. Meadow secures a parking space. Strange people enter the restaurant. Stare at Tony(?) Meadow continues to park. Tony plays a track on the music machine. Meadow finds a spot. The door chimes, a person comes in. It cannot be Meadow, she is still parking. Tony raises his gaze. Don’t stop. It ceases. My heart dropped from my mouth about 20 minutes later.

The Walking Dead – The Last Day on Earth from 2016

I stayed up to watch this episode during the night. It was incredibly tense after the establishment of antagonist Negan discovering the characters, savagely teasing his prey then not knowing who he killed (concluded with a suspenseful moment). 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