‘I definitely needed a lie-down after that!’ The most intense television episodes ever

Spooks – I Spy Apocalypse (2003)

The show kicks off with the MI5 agents confined during a training exercise about a potential terror incident, overseen by two Home Office officials. As events unfold, it appears that there really has been an attack and a chemical agent deployed. The tension ratchets up as messages indicate a catastrophe taking place outside, and escalates as the boss appears to be infected, with the two officials trying to exit, compelling the character played by Matthew Macfadyen to opt for either shooting them or letting them go and risking contaminating the sealed MI5 offices. This being Spooks, his decision is predictable.

Threads (1984)

Threads was low budget yet among the scariest shows I’ve ever seen owing to its grim authenticity and bleak government data. Watched it about a month ago after seeing the first airing; I frequently went to the Sheffield pub shown in the series that highlighted the truth and the glib matter-of-fact official information which was broadcast. Continuing to be utterly horrifying 35 years later.

The 2022 Severance episode The We We Are

The concluding episode of Severance’s debut season deserves a top spot as a tense chapter. 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 shouting to the Innies to reveal their realities. The final climactic moment – “she survives!” – felt like an explosion.

Industry – White Mischief (2024)

Episode five of the third series of Industry had my heart racing. I needed to stop and stand and exit the space repeatedly due to the immense extent of the reckless self-harm I observed. Rishi Ramdani is in deep shit at work and home – overwhelmed by debt to illegal creditors because of his compulsive gambling, engaging in dangerous ventures 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. Whenever you assume it can’t get any worse, it does. Redemption seems possible at the end of the episode yet he wastes the chance, with horrifying consequences during the season’s final episode. Certainly required a rest afterward!

Peep Show – Holiday (2007)

The series Peep Show isn’t typically anxiety-inducing. However, the Holiday episode includes such amounts of embarrassment that it’ll have you standing up throughout the entire episode, permeated with worry. The tension escalates as Jeremy and Mark discover needing to deceive regarding the dog they unintentionally hit and following tries to eliminate it. You then spend the rest of the episode doubting if it can actually be more terrible than burning, and it turns out to be!

The 2001 The West Wing episode The Two Cathedrals

No other viewing has been as gripping as when I first saw the concluding episode of The West Wing’s second season. The installment begins with the consequences of the passing (in a road incident) of the president’s personal secretary and escalates to a高潮 with a situation in Haiti, and the effects of the withheld information of the president’s MS diagnosis, coupled with verification of his aim to run for another term. Superb programming. Unequaled.

Bodyguard – episode one (2018)

The beginning of the UK show Bodyguard, with the protagonist on a train alongside his juvenile boy, is personally a top tense installment. He notices a Muslim female going into the loo and senses something is wrong. The bomb squad is alerted, get on the train, and endeavor to coax the woman to discard her bomb jacket. Tension escalates to an almost unbearable degree, until yes, the vest is diffused.

The 2001 Buffy episode The Body

Buffy comes into her home to find her mum has passed away due to natural factors, which is the rarest form of demise in this mystical program. The episode has no background music, a gloomy atmosphere, and we view the installment through the lens of Buffy’s astonishment upon finding her mother.

The Sopranos – Made in America from 2007

The final scene of the final episode 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. Doesn’t this resemble the season one conclusion? “Recall the minor details.” Yet the atmosphere is strangely foreboding. Nearly Twin Peaks-like fear. The family gathers in a diner. Meadow finds a parking spot. Tony gloomily informs Carmela difficulties are arising with another member of his team collaborating with the authorities. Meadow parks. Strange people enter the restaurant. Look at Tony(?) Meadow continues to park. Tony selects a song on the jukebox. Meadow finds a spot. The door chimes, a person comes in. It isn’t Meadow, she remains parking. Tony glances upward. Keep going. It halts. My spirit fell roughly 20 minutes after.

The Walking Dead – The Last Day on Earth from 2016

I stayed up to watch this episode in the early morning. It was incredibly tense after the buildup of bad guy 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 subdued noises – ugh! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season