‘I absolutely had to rest after that!’ The most nerve-wracking episodes of TV of all time

Spooks – I Spy Apocalypse (2003)

The episode begins with the intelligence unit locked down during a training exercise about a potential terror incident, supervised by two Home Office agents. As the situation develops, it seems an actual attack has occurred and a chemical weapon has been unleashed. The anxiety increases as messages indicate a crisis unfolding beyond their walls, and gets worse as the boss appears to be infected, with the two officials trying to exit, pushing the protagonist portrayed by Matthew Macfadyen to choose between firing at them or permitting their exit and risking contaminating the sealed MI5 offices. This being Spooks, the outcome is expected.

Threads from 1984

The production was inexpensive but arguably the most terrifying series I’ve ever seen owing to its grim authenticity and grim official statistics. Viewed it recently after seeing the first airing; I often attended the bar in Sheffield shown in the series which emphasised the reality and the casual, straightforward government details that were transmitted. Continuing to be utterly horrifying after three and a half decades.

Severance – The We We Are (2022)

The first season finale of Severance deserves a top spot among intense episodes. I spent the entire episode quite literally on the edge of my seat, pushing alongside Dylan to maintain his grip on the controls that kept the Innies on overtime, while screaming at the Innies to get their truths out there. The ultimate peak – “she survives!” – resembled a outburst.

Industry – White Mischief from 2024

Episode five of the third series of Industry made my pulse quicken. I had to pause and get up and depart the area multiple times because of the sheer scale of the wanton self-destruction I was witnessing. Rishi Ramdani is in major difficulty at work and home – up to his eyeballs in debt to loan sharks because of his compulsive gambling, assuming hazardous chances with a bet on sterling which could lose his company millions. Naturally, he embarks on a betting frenzy, uses copious drugs and alcohol and wins, loses, wins, gets beaten to a pulp. Each instance you believe things cannot decline more, it worsens. There’s hope of redemption at the end of the episode but he misses the opening, resulting in dreadful effects in the season finale. Definitely needed a lie-down after that!

Peep Show – Holiday (2007)

Peep Show is not inherently a tense series. But the episode Holiday includes such amounts of embarrassment that it’ll have you standing up the whole episode, permeated with worry. The situation intensifies as Jeremy and Mark discover needing to deceive regarding the dog they unintentionally hit and following tries to eliminate it. You then spend the rest of the episode doubting if it can actually be more terrible than burning, and it can be!

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 death (in a traffic accident) of the president’s confidential aide and escalates to a高潮 with a crisis in Haiti, and the effects of the withheld information about the president’s MS condition, with confirmation of his intention to pursue re-election. Wonderful television. Never bettered.

Bodyguard – episode one (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 observes a woman in Islamic attire entering the restroom and knows something is off. The bomb diffuser experts are called, get on the train, and endeavor to coax the woman to take off her suicide vest. Suspense rises to an almost unbearable degree, until yes, the vest is diffused.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer – The Body (2001)

Buffy comes into her home to find her mum has passed away due to natural factors, which is the rarest form of demise in this supernatural show. The show features no musical score, a somber mood, and we view the installment through the lens 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 – initially – were uncertain of the reason. Tony’s enemies, real and imagined, were all overcome. Doesn’t this resemble the season one conclusion? “Recall the minor details.” Yet the atmosphere is strangely foreboding. Approaching Twin Peaks-esque horror. The clan sits in an eatery. Meadow stops the car. Tony gloomily informs Carmela difficulties are arising with an additional associate working with the government. Meadow parks. Strange people enter the restaurant. Stare at Tony(?) Meadow parks. Tony puts a record on the jukebox. Meadow parks. The bell sounds, an individual enters. It isn’t Meadow, she remains parking. Tony glances upward. Don’t stop. It ceases. My heart sank about 20 minutes later.

The 2016 The Walking Dead episode The Last Day on Earth

I stayed up to watch this episode in the early morning. It was so intense after the buildup of bad guy Negan locating the survivors, cruelly taunting his victims and then keeping the death a mystery (concluded with a suspenseful moment). The first-person perspective of the victim and the subdued noises – oh no! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season