‘I truly required a break after that!’ The most intense episodes of TV of all time

The 2003 Spooks episode I Spy Apocalypse

The episode begins with the intelligence unit restricted while undergoing a drill about a potential terror incident, supervised by two Home Office agents. As the situation develops, it seems an actual attack has occurred and a chemical weapon has been unleashed. The tension ratchets up as incoming communications show a crisis unfolding beyond their walls, and gets worse as the boss appears to be infected, with the two officials trying to exit, forcing Matthew Macfadyen’s character to decide between shooting them or allowing them to leave and potentially infecting the secure MI5 headquarters. Given it’s Spooks, it is unsurprising which one he chooses.

Threads (1984)

Threads had minimal funding yet among the scariest shows I have ever watched owing to its grim authenticity and bleak government data. Saw it not long ago after seeing the first airing; I used to visit the pub in Sheffield featured in the show which emphasised the reality and the glib matter-of-fact official information which was broadcast. Continuing to be utterly horrifying after three and a half decades.

Severance – The We We Are from 2022

The first season finale of Severance deserves a top spot in terms of gripping installments. I spent the entire episode quite literally on the edge of my seat, exerting with Dylan to hold the switches that kept the Innies on overtime, while yelling at the Innies to reveal their realities. The concluding高潮 – “she is living!” – felt like an explosion.

Industry – White Mischief (2024)

Episode five of the third series of Industry caused my heart to pound. I needed to stop and stand and leave the room several times owing to the vast degree of the reckless self-harm I was witnessing. Rishi Ramdani is in deep shit professionally and personally – buried in financial obligations to illegal creditors because of his compulsive gambling, engaging in dangerous ventures with a bet on sterling that might cost his firm millions. So of course, he goes on a gambling spree, uses copious drugs and alcohol and alternates between success and failure, is brutally attacked. Each instance you believe the situation cannot deteriorate further, it does. There is a chance for salvation by the episode’s conclusion 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 (2007)

Peep Show is not inherently a tense series. Yet the installment Holiday includes such amounts of embarrassment that it can cause you to stand throughout the entire episode, permeated with worry. It all ramps up when Jeremy and Mark realize being compelled to falsify about the canine they unintentionally hit and later efforts to get rid of it. You subsequently use the rest of the installment 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 compared to my initial viewing the second season finale of The West Wing. The show opens with the fallout of the demise (in a car crash) of the president’s confidential aide and escalates to a高潮 with a situation in Haiti, and the fallout from the non-disclosure regarding the president’s multiple sclerosis diagnosis, coupled with verification of his aim to run for another term. Superb programming. Unequaled.

Bodyguard – episode one from 2018

The opening of the British series Bodyguard, featuring the main character on a train accompanied by his small son, ranks among the most gripping episodes I’ve seen. He observes a woman in Islamic attire heading to the toilet and senses something is wrong. The bomb squad is alerted, board the train, and attempt to convince 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 (2001)

Buffy arrives at her residence to discover her mother has died from natural reasons, which is the most unusual type of death in this mystical program. The episode has no background music, a somber mood, and we view the installment through the lens of Buffy’s dismay upon uncovering her mother.

The 2007 The Sopranos finale Made in America

The final scene of the final episode of the show was pants-wettingly tense. And if you viewed it when it first premiered, you – at first – weren’t sure why. Tony’s adversaries, actual and perceived, had all been defeated. This seems similar to the first season’s finale, right? “Remember the little things.” But the mood is bizarrely ominous. Approaching Twin Peaks-esque horror. The family gathers in a diner. Meadow parks. Tony sorrowfully notifies Carmela problems are brewing with another member of his team collaborating with the authorities. Meadow parks. Unfamiliar individuals come into the diner. Look at Tony(?) Meadow parks. Tony plays a track on the music machine. Meadow parks her car. The bell rings, someone enters the restaurant. Can’t be Meadow, she’s still parking. Tony looks up. Keep going. It stops. My heart sank 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 following the introduction of villain Negan finding the group, savagely teasing his prey and then keeping the death a mystery (finished with an unresolved situation). The first-person perspective of the victim and the muffled sounds – oh no! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season