‘I definitely needed a lie-down after that!’ Your most gripping television episodes ever
The 2003 Spooks episode I Spy Apocalypse
This installment starts with the MI5 agents confined while undergoing a drill about a potential terror incident, overseen by two Home Office officials. As events unfold, it becomes clear a real incident has taken place and a chemical weapon has been unleashed. The suspense builds as reports reveal a disaster happening externally, and escalates as the boss appears to be infected, and the two Home Office officials attempt to leave, pushing the protagonist portrayed by Matthew Macfadyen to choose between firing at them or letting them go and potentially infecting the secure MI5 headquarters. This being Spooks, his decision is predictable.
The 1984 production Threads
The production was inexpensive but arguably the most terrifying series I’ve ever seen owing to its grim authenticity and dismal official figures. Viewed it recently after seeing the first airing; I frequently went to the Sheffield pub featured in the show that highlighted the truth and the offhand factual official statements which was broadcast. Continuing to be utterly horrifying 35 years later.
Severance – The We We Are from 2022
The season one finale of Severance has to be right up there in terms of gripping installments. I was throughout the episode literally perched nervously, exerting with Dylan to hold the switches that sustained the Innies’ extended time, while shouting to the Innies to disclose their facts. The ultimate peak – “she’s alive!” – resembled a outburst.
The 2024 Industry episode White Mischief
Installment five in Industry’s third series made my pulse quicken. I had to pause and get up and exit the space repeatedly owing to the vast degree of the deliberate ruin I observed. Rishi Ramdani is in deep shit professionally and personally – up to his eyeballs in debt from unscrupulous lenders owing to his uncontrollable gaming, engaging in dangerous ventures with a bet on sterling which could lose his company millions. Inevitably, he starts a gaming binge, consumes excessive substances and alcohol and alternates between success and failure, is severely assaulted. Every time you think things cannot decline more, it does. There is a chance for salvation at the end of the episode but he misses the opening, 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, filled with nervousness. The tension escalates once Jeremy and Mark find themselves needing to deceive regarding the dog they by chance collide with 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 from 2001
No other viewing has been as gripping than the first time I watched 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 personal secretary and builds to a peak involving a Haitian emergency, and the repercussions of the secrecy of the president’s MS diagnosis, along with affirmation of his plan to pursue re-election. Superb programming. Unequaled.
Bodyguard – episode one (2018)
The start of the British program Bodyguard, featuring the main character on a train accompanied by his small son, is for me one of the most intense episodes ever. He notices a Muslim female going into the loo and realizes something is amiss. The explosive disposal specialists are summoned, board the train, and attempt to convince the woman to remove her explosive vest. Suspense rises to a nearly intolerable level, until yes, the vest is diffused.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer – The Body from 2001
Buffy comes into her home to discover her mother has died from natural reasons, which is the most unusual type of death in this paranormal series. The show features no musical score, a sullen tone, and we witness the episode via the perspective of Buffy’s astonishment upon finding her mother.
The 2007 The Sopranos finale Made in America
The final scene of the final episode of the program was incredibly anxious. And for those who saw it during its initial broadcast, you – at the start – didn’t understand the cause. Tony’s enemies, real and imagined, were all overcome. This seems similar to the first season’s finale, right? “Remember the little things.” But the mood is bizarrely ominous. Almost Twin Peaks levels of terror. The clan sits in an eatery. Meadow finds a parking spot. Tony sorrowfully notifies Carmela problems are brewing with another member of his team cooperating with the officials. Meadow secures a parking space. Odd persons arrive at the eatery. Stare at Tony(?) Meadow is parking. Tony puts a record on the jukebox. Meadow parks her car. The bell rings, someone enters the restaurant. It isn’t Meadow, she remains parking. Tony raises his gaze. Don’t stop. It halts. My spirit fell roughly 20 minutes after.
The Walking Dead – The Last Day on Earth (2016)
I stayed up to watch this episode at 2am. It was incredibly tense after the buildup of bad guy Negan discovering the characters, savagely teasing his prey and then leaving the victim unknown (finished with an unresolved situation). The victim’s POV shot and the muffled sounds – oh no! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season
