‘I definitely needed a lie-down after that!’ The most intense television episodes ever
The 2003 Spooks episode I Spy Apocalypse
The episode begins with the intelligence unit restricted as part of a simulation concerning a fictional terrorist event, supervised by two Home Office agents. As events unfold, it seems an actual attack has occurred and a chemical agent deployed. The suspense builds as messages indicate a crisis unfolding beyond their walls, and gets worse when the leader seems contaminated, with the two officials trying to exit, pushing the protagonist portrayed by Matthew Macfadyen to choose between firing at them or letting them go and risking contaminating the sealed MI5 offices. As this is Spooks, the outcome is expected.
The 1984 production Threads
Threads had minimal funding yet among the scariest shows I have viewed because of the stark reality and dismal official figures. Saw it not long ago having watched the original; I often attended the bar in Sheffield featured in the show that highlighted the truth and the glib matter-of-fact official information that aired. Continuing to be utterly horrifying 35 years later.
Severance – The We We Are from 2022
The concluding episode of Severance’s debut season has to be right up there as a tense chapter. I spent the entire episode quite literally on the edge of my seat, pushing alongside Dylan to hold the switches that sustained the Innies’ extended time, while screaming at the Innies to get their truths out there. The final climactic moment – “she’s alive!” – felt like an explosion.
The 2024 Industry episode White Mischief
The fifth episode of Industry’s third season made my pulse quicken. I was compelled to halt and rise and exit the space repeatedly due to the immense extent of the wanton self-destruction I observed. Rishi Ramdani is in major difficulty at work and home – overwhelmed by debt to illegal creditors because of his compulsive gambling, taking such risks with a gamble on the pound which could lose his company millions. Inevitably, he starts a gaming binge, consumes excessive substances and alcohol and alternates between success and failure, is brutally attacked. Whenever you assume it can’t get any worse, it worsens. There’s hope of redemption as the installment closes but he squanders the opportunity, leading to terrible outcomes in the concluding part of the season. Absolutely had to relax following that!
The 2007 Peep Show episode Holiday
Peep Show itself isn’t necessarily a stressful show. But the episode Holiday features such degrees of awkwardness that it’ll have you standing up throughout the entire episode, riddled with anxiety. The tension escalates when Jeremy and Mark realize needing to deceive regarding the dog they accidentally run over and following tries to eliminate it. You subsequently use the rest of the installment questioning whether it truly can be worse than incineration, and it is possible!
The West Wing – The Two Cathedrals (2001)
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 demise (in a car crash) 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. Excellent TV. Unequaled.
Bodyguard – episode one from 2018
The start of the British program Bodyguard, featuring the main character on a train with his young son, is for me one of the most intense episodes ever. He spots a Muslim woman entering the restroom and realizes something is amiss. The bomb diffuser experts are called, enter the train, and endeavor to coax the woman to discard her bomb jacket. Anxiety builds to a practically unendurable point, until, indeed, the vest is disarmed.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer – The Body from 2001
Buffy enters her house to discover her mother has died of natural causes, which is the rarest form of demise in this paranormal series. The show features no musical score, a gloomy atmosphere, and we see the episode through the experience 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 viewed it when it first premiered, you – at the start – didn’t understand the cause. Tony’s enemies, real and imagined, were all vanquished. Surely this has the feel of the season one ending? “Remember the little things.” However, the vibe is oddly threatening. Nearly Twin Peaks-like fear. The clan sits in an eatery. Meadow stops the car. Tony sorrowfully notifies Carmela there’s trouble afoot with an additional associate working with the government. Meadow secures a parking space. Strange people enter the restaurant. Gaze at Tony(?) Meadow parks. Tony puts a record on the jukebox. Meadow parks her car. The bell sounds, an individual enters. Can’t be Meadow, she’s still parking. Tony looks up. Continue. It halts. My spirit fell around 20 minutes subsequently.
The 2016 The Walking Dead episode The Last Day on Earth
I remained awake to view this installment during the night. It was so intense after the establishment of antagonist Negan finding the group, savagely teasing his prey and then keeping the death a mystery (concluded with a suspenseful moment). The point-of-view shot from the victim and the subdued noises – oh no! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season
