‘I definitely needed a lie-down after that!’ The most gripping television episodes of all time
Spooks – I Spy Apocalypse from 2003
The show kicks off with the MI5 agents locked down while undergoing a drill about a potential terror incident, supervised by two Home Office agents. As things progress, it seems an actual attack has occurred and a chemical weapon has been unleashed. The tension ratchets up as reports reveal a crisis unfolding beyond their walls, and intensifies when the leader seems contaminated, and the two Home Office officials attempt to leave, pushing the protagonist portrayed by Matthew Macfadyen to opt for either shooting them or allowing them to leave and endangering the sterile MI5 environment. As this is Spooks, it is unsurprising which one he chooses.
Threads from 1984
The production was inexpensive but one of the most frightening programmes I’ve ever seen due to its harsh realism and bleak government data. Viewed it recently following the initial broadcast; I often attended the bar in Sheffield shown in the series that highlighted the truth and the offhand factual official statements which was broadcast. Continuing to be utterly horrifying decades on.
Severance – The We We Are from 2022
The season one finale of Severance deserves a top spot as a tense chapter. I was throughout the episode literally perched nervously, straining every sinew with Dylan to maintain his grip on the controls that allowed the Innies to remain active, while yelling at the Innies to reveal their realities. The concluding高潮 – “she is living!” – felt like an explosion.
The 2024 Industry episode White Mischief
The fifth episode of Industry’s third season caused my heart to pound. I was compelled to halt and rise and exit the space repeatedly because of the sheer scale of the deliberate ruin I saw. Rishi Ramdani faces serious trouble in his job and domestic life – buried in financial obligations to loan sharks because of his compulsive gambling, engaging in dangerous ventures with a bet on sterling which could lose his company millions. Inevitably, he starts a gaming binge, uses copious drugs and alcohol and wins, loses, wins, gets beaten to a pulp. Whenever you assume things cannot decline more, it worsens. There’s hope of redemption as the installment closes but he misses the opening, with horrifying consequences in the concluding part of the season. Certainly required a rest afterward!
Peep Show – Holiday (2007)
Peep Show itself isn’t necessarily a stressful show. But the episode Holiday includes such amounts of embarrassment that it will make you rise for the full show, riddled with anxiety. It all ramps up once Jeremy and Mark find themselves having to lie about the dog they accidentally run over and subsequent attempts to dispose of it. You then spend the rest of the episode questioning whether it truly can be worse than incineration, and it is possible!
The West Wing – The Two Cathedrals from 2001
Nothing I have seen has been as tense than the first time I watched the concluding episode of The West Wing’s second season. The episode starts with the aftermath of the passing (in a road incident) of the president’s private assistant and escalates to a高潮 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. Excellent TV. Never bettered.
Bodyguard – episode one (2018)
The start of the British program Bodyguard, with the hero aboard 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 knows something is off. The bomb squad is alerted, enter the train, and attempt to convince the woman to discard her bomb jacket. Anxiety builds to a practically unendurable point, until, indeed, the vest is disarmed.
The 2001 Buffy episode The Body
Buffy comes into her home to realize her mom has deceased due to natural factors, which is the most unusual type of death in this mystical program. The installment lacks any soundtrack, a somber mood, and we see the episode through the experience 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 if you watched it when it originally aired, you – at first – weren’t sure why. Tony’s adversaries, actual and perceived, were all overcome. Surely this has the feel of the season one ending? “Remember the little things.” But the mood is bizarrely ominous. Almost Twin Peaks levels of terror. The family sit in a restaurant. Meadow stops the car. Tony gloomily informs Carmela there’s trouble afoot with another member of his team collaborating with the authorities. Meadow parks the vehicle. Odd persons arrive at the eatery. Look at Tony(?) Meadow continues to park. Tony plays a track on the music machine. Meadow parks. The bell sounds, an individual enters. It cannot be Meadow, she is still parking. Tony glances upward. Continue. It stops. My heart dropped from my mouth about 20 minutes later.
The 2016 The Walking Dead episode The Last Day on Earth
I kept late hours to see this show during the night. It was extremely gripping after the buildup of bad guy Negan locating the survivors, savagely teasing his prey and then leaving the victim unknown (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
