🔗 Share this article

The 2003 Spooks episode I Spy Apocalypse

The show kicks off with the MI5 agents locked down while undergoing a drill concerning a fictional terrorist event, overseen by two Home Office officials. As the situation develops, it appears that there really has been an attack with a chemical weapon released. The anxiety increases as incoming communications show a disaster happening externally, and gets worse as the boss appears to be infected, and the government agents endeavor to depart, forcing Matthew Macfadyen’s character to choose between firing at them or letting them go and risking contaminating the sealed MI5 offices. This being Spooks, the outcome is expected.

Threads (1984)

Threads was low budget yet among the scariest shows I have viewed due to its harsh realism and dismal official figures. Watched it about a month ago following the initial broadcast; I often attended the bar in Sheffield from the programme that highlighted the truth and the offhand factual official statements that aired. Remaining completely frightening decades on.

Severance – The We We Are (2022)

The concluding episode of Severance’s debut season deserves a top spot among intense episodes. I remained for the whole show actually sitting tensely, straining every sinew with Dylan to hold the switches that kept the Innies on overtime, while yelling at the Innies to disclose their facts. The concluding高潮 – “she survives!” – felt like an explosion.

Industry – White Mischief from 2024

Installment five in Industry’s third series caused my heart to pound. I was compelled to halt and rise and exit the space repeatedly due to the immense extent of the wanton self-destruction I saw. Rishi Ramdani faces serious trouble at work and home – overwhelmed by debt to loan sharks because of his compulsive gambling, engaging in dangerous ventures with a bet on sterling that might cost his firm millions. Naturally, he embarks on a betting frenzy, uses copious drugs and alcohol and wins, loses, wins, is brutally attacked. Whenever you assume the situation cannot deteriorate further, it deteriorates. There is a chance for salvation by the episode’s conclusion yet he wastes the chance, with horrifying consequences in the concluding part of the season. Definitely needed a lie-down after that!

Peep Show – Holiday from 2007

The series Peep Show isn’t typically anxiety-inducing. However, the Holiday episode includes such amounts of embarrassment that it will make you rise for the full show, permeated with worry. It all ramps up once Jeremy and Mark find themselves needing to deceive regarding the dog they accidentally run over 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 West Wing – The Two Cathedrals from 2001

No other viewing has been as gripping compared to my initial viewing 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 reaches a crescendo with a situation in Haiti, and the repercussions of the secrecy about the president’s MS condition, coupled with verification of his aim to run for another term. Wonderful television. Unequaled.

Bodyguard – episode one from 2018

The beginning of the UK show Bodyguard, with the protagonist on a train alongside his juvenile boy, ranks among the most gripping episodes I’ve seen. He notices a Muslim female heading to the toilet and knows something is off. The explosive disposal specialists are summoned, board the train, and endeavor to coax the woman to take off her suicide vest. Tension escalates to an almost unbearable degree, 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 due to natural factors, which is the most unusual type of death in this mystical program. The installment lacks any soundtrack, a gloomy atmosphere, and we see the episode through the experience of Buffy’s shock of discovering her mother.

The Sopranos – Made in America (2007)

The final scene of the final episode of the series was extremely nerve-wracking. And if you watched it when it originally aired, you – initially – were uncertain of the reason. Tony’s enemies, real and imagined, had all been defeated. Surely this has the feel of the season one ending? “Recall the minor details.” Yet the atmosphere is strangely foreboding. Nearly Twin Peaks-like fear. The family gathers in a diner. Meadow parks. Tony sadly tells Carmela problems are brewing with yet another of his crew working with the government. Meadow parks. Strange people enter the restaurant. Look at Tony(?) Meadow parks. Tony selects a song on the jukebox. Meadow parks her car. The door chimes, a person comes in. It isn’t Meadow, she remains parking. Tony looks up. Don’t stop. It ceases. My heart dropped from my mouth around 20 minutes subsequently.

The 2016 The Walking Dead episode The Last Day on Earth

I kept late hours to see this show at 2am. It was extremely gripping following the introduction of villain Negan locating the survivors, mercilessly mocking his targets and then keeping the death a mystery (ended on a cliffhanger). The point-of-view shot from the victim and the muted audio – ugh! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season