‘I absolutely had to rest after that!’ Your most gripping TV episodes of all time
Spooks – I Spy Apocalypse from 2003
The show kicks off with the intelligence unit restricted during a training exercise concerning a fictional terrorist event, supervised by two Home Office agents. As things progress, it seems an actual attack has occurred and a chemical agent deployed. The tension ratchets up as messages indicate a crisis unfolding beyond their walls, and escalates as the superior shows signs of exposure, with the two officials trying to exit, compelling the character played by Matthew Macfadyen to decide between shooting them or allowing them to leave and potentially infecting the secure MI5 headquarters. As this is Spooks, his decision is predictable.
The 1984 production Threads
Threads had minimal funding but one of the most frightening programmes I have ever watched because of the stark reality and dismal official figures. Watched it about a month ago after seeing the first airing; I often attended the bar in Sheffield featured in the show which emphasised the reality and the glib matter-of-fact official information that were transmitted. Continuing to be utterly horrifying decades on.
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, straining every sinew with Dylan to keep his hands on the levers that kept the Innies on overtime, while yelling at the Innies to disclose their facts. The final climactic moment – “she survives!” – was like an eruption.
The 2024 Industry episode White Mischief
Episode five of the third series of Industry made my pulse quicken. I was compelled to halt and rise and depart the area multiple times because of the sheer scale of the reckless self-harm I observed. Rishi Ramdani faces serious trouble professionally and personally – up to his eyeballs in debt to illegal creditors owing to his uncontrollable gaming, taking such risks with a gamble on the pound which could lose his company millions. So of course, he goes on a gambling spree, consumes excessive substances and alcohol and wins, loses, wins, is brutally attacked. Every time you think things cannot decline more, it deteriorates. There is a chance for salvation at the end of the episode but he squanders the opportunity, leading to terrible outcomes during the season’s final episode. Certainly required a rest afterward!
The 2007 Peep Show episode Holiday
Peep Show itself isn’t necessarily a stressful show. But the episode Holiday contains such levels of cringe that it’ll have you standing up for the full show, permeated with worry. It all ramps up once Jeremy and Mark find themselves having to lie about the dog they by chance collide with and subsequent attempts to dispose of it. You then occupy the remainder of the episode questioning whether it truly can be worse than incineration, and it turns out to be!
The West Wing – The Two Cathedrals from 2001
No other viewing has been as gripping compared to my initial viewing 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 effects of the withheld information regarding the president’s multiple sclerosis diagnosis, along with affirmation of his plan to pursue re-election. Wonderful television. Unequaled.
Bodyguard – episode one from 2018
The beginning of the UK show Bodyguard, featuring the main character on a train accompanied by his small son, ranks among the most gripping episodes I’ve seen. He notices a Muslim female going into the loo and senses something is wrong. The bomb diffuser experts are called, enter the train, and endeavor to coax the woman to discard her bomb jacket. Suspense rises to a nearly intolerable level, until, indeed, the vest is disarmed.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer – The Body (2001)
Buffy enters her house to discover her mother has died due to natural factors, which is the least common kind of passing in this mystical program. The episode has no background music, a somber mood, and we view the installment through the lens of Buffy’s shock of discovering her mother.
The Sopranos – Made in America (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 first – weren’t sure why. Tony’s enemies, real and imagined, were all vanquished. This seems similar to the first season’s finale, right? “Recall the minor details.” Yet the atmosphere is strangely foreboding. Almost Twin Peaks levels of terror. The clan sits in an eatery. Meadow parks. Tony sorrowfully notifies Carmela problems are brewing with an additional associate working with the government. Meadow secures a parking space. Odd persons arrive at the eatery. Stare at Tony(?) Meadow parks. Tony plays a track on the music machine. Meadow finds a spot. The bell sounds, an individual enters. Can’t be Meadow, she’s still parking. Tony glances upward. Continue. It halts. My heart sank around 20 minutes subsequently.
The Walking Dead – The Last Day on Earth (2016)
I remained awake to view this installment at 2am. It was so intense following the introduction of villain Negan finding the group, mercilessly mocking his targets and then leaving the victim unknown (ended on a cliffhanger). The first-person perspective of the victim and the subdued noises – ugh! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season
