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Spooks – I Spy Apocalypse from 2003

The show kicks off with the Spooks team restricted as part of a simulation about a potential terror incident, monitored by two government representatives. As things progress, it seems an actual attack has occurred and a chemical weapon has been unleashed. The suspense builds as messages indicate a crisis unfolding beyond their walls, and intensifies as the boss appears to be infected, and the two Home Office officials attempt to leave, forcing Matthew Macfadyen’s character to opt for either shooting them or permitting their exit and endangering the sterile MI5 environment. As this is Spooks, it is unsurprising which one he chooses.

The 1984 production Threads

The production was inexpensive yet among the scariest shows I have viewed owing to its grim authenticity and bleak government data. Watched it about a month ago following the initial broadcast; I often attended the bar in Sheffield from the programme which emphasised the reality and the offhand factual official statements which was broadcast. Remaining completely frightening decades on.

The 2022 Severance episode The We We Are

The season one finale of Severance has to be right up there in terms of gripping installments. I spent the entire episode actually sitting tensely, exerting with Dylan to keep his hands on the levers that allowed the Innies to remain active, while shouting to the Innies to get their truths out there. The ultimate peak – “she is living!” – was like an eruption.

The 2024 Industry episode White Mischief

Episode five of the third series of Industry made my pulse quicken. I needed to stop and stand and exit the space repeatedly owing to the vast degree of the deliberate ruin I was witnessing. Rishi Ramdani is in major difficulty at work and home – buried in financial obligations to illegal creditors due to his addictive betting, taking such risks 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. Whenever you assume the situation cannot deteriorate further, it does. There’s hope of redemption at the end of the episode but he misses the opening, leading to terrible outcomes in the season finale. Certainly required a rest afterward!

Peep Show – Holiday from 2007

Peep Show is not inherently a tense series. Yet the installment Holiday features such degrees of awkwardness that it can cause you to stand the whole episode, riddled with anxiety. It all ramps up as Jeremy and Mark discover needing to deceive regarding the dog they by chance collide with and later efforts to get rid of 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 (2001)

Nothing I’ve watched has been more intense compared to my initial viewing the concluding episode of The West Wing’s second season. The episode starts with the aftermath of the death (in a traffic accident) of the president’s private assistant and builds to a peak involving a Haitian emergency, and the repercussions of the secrecy about the president’s MS condition, coupled with verification of his aim to pursue re-election. Excellent TV. Unequaled.

Bodyguard – episode one (2018)

The opening of the British series Bodyguard, featuring the main character on a train alongside his juvenile boy, ranks among the most gripping episodes I’ve seen. He observes a woman in Islamic attire heading to the toilet and senses something is wrong. The bomb diffuser experts are called, enter 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 enters her house to realize her mom has deceased due to natural factors, which is the rarest form of demise in this paranormal series. The show features no musical score, a somber mood, and we witness the episode via the perspective of Buffy’s dismay upon uncovering her mother.

The Sopranos – Made in America from 2007

The concluding moment of the last installment of the program was incredibly anxious. And if you watched it when it originally aired, you – at the start – didn’t understand the cause. Tony’s foes, genuine and fictional, were all vanquished. Surely this has the feel of the season one ending? “Remember the little things.” However, the vibe is oddly threatening. Almost Twin Peaks levels of terror. The family sit in a restaurant. Meadow parks. Tony gloomily informs Carmela there’s trouble afoot with yet another of his crew cooperating with the officials. 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 parks her car. The bell rings, someone enters the restaurant. It cannot be Meadow, she is still parking. Tony glances upward. Continue. It ceases. My heart sank around 20 minutes subsequently.

The Walking Dead – The Last Day on Earth from 2016

I remained awake to view this installment in the early morning. It was extremely gripping after the establishment of antagonist Negan discovering the characters, savagely teasing his prey and then keeping the death a mystery (finished with an unresolved situation). The first-person perspective of the victim and the muted audio – argh! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season