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Spooks – I Spy Apocalypse (2003)

The episode begins with the intelligence unit restricted during a training exercise about a potential terror incident, overseen by two Home Office officials. As events unfold, it becomes clear a real incident has taken place with a chemical weapon released. The suspense builds as reports reveal a disaster happening externally, and escalates as the boss appears to be infected, with the two officials trying to exit, pushing the protagonist portrayed by Matthew Macfadyen to decide between shooting them or allowing them to leave and potentially infecting the secure MI5 headquarters. As this is Spooks, the outcome is expected.

Threads from 1984

Threads had minimal funding but one of the most frightening programmes I have viewed because of the stark reality and bleak government data. Viewed it recently after seeing the first airing; I frequently went to the Sheffield pub shown in the series that highlighted the truth and the glib matter-of-fact official information which was broadcast. Still absolutely terrifying after three and a half decades.

Severance – The We We Are (2022)

The first season finale of Severance deserves a top spot in terms of gripping installments. I was throughout the episode literally perched nervously, pushing alongside Dylan to hold the switches that sustained the Innies’ extended time, while yelling at the Innies to disclose their facts. The final climactic moment – “she’s alive!” – resembled a outburst.

Industry – White Mischief from 2024

The fifth episode of Industry’s third season caused my heart to pound. I had to pause and get up and exit the space repeatedly due to the immense extent of the reckless self-harm I saw. Rishi Ramdani is in major difficulty in his job and domestic life – overwhelmed by debt to loan sharks owing to his uncontrollable gaming, engaging in dangerous ventures with a gamble on the pound that might cost his firm millions. So of course, he goes on a gambling spree, does tons of drugs and drink and alternates between success and failure, gets beaten to a pulp. Each instance you believe it can’t get any worse, it does. There’s hope of redemption at the end of the episode but he misses the opening, with horrifying consequences in the concluding part of the season. Absolutely had to relax following that!

Peep Show – Holiday from 2007

The series Peep Show isn’t typically anxiety-inducing. But the episode Holiday includes such amounts of embarrassment that it will make you rise the whole episode, riddled with anxiety. The situation intensifies once Jeremy and Mark find themselves being compelled to falsify about the canine they unintentionally hit and subsequent attempts to dispose of it. You then spend the rest of the episode wondering if it might be more awful than cremation, and it turns out to be!

The 2001 The West Wing episode The Two Cathedrals

Nothing I have seen has been as tense than the first time I watched the season two finale to The West Wing. The episode starts with the aftermath of the passing (in a road incident) of the president’s confidential aide and builds to a peak with a situation in Haiti, and the effects of the withheld information about the president’s MS condition, along with affirmation of his plan to seek re-election. Superb programming. Unequaled.

Bodyguard – episode one from 2018

The start of the British program Bodyguard, featuring the main character on a train with his young son, ranks among the most gripping episodes I’ve seen. He observes a woman in Islamic attire heading to the toilet and realizes something is amiss. The explosive disposal specialists are summoned, get on the train, and try to persuade the woman to discard her bomb jacket. Tension escalates to a nearly intolerable level, until yes, the vest is diffused.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer – The Body (2001)

Buffy comes into her home to realize her mom has deceased from natural reasons, which is the least common kind of passing in this mystical program. The episode has no background music, a somber mood, and we see the episode through the experience of Buffy’s dismay upon uncovering her mother.

The Sopranos – Made in America from 2007

The ultimate sequence of the series finale of the program was incredibly anxious. And for those who saw it during its initial broadcast, you – at the start – didn’t understand the cause. Tony’s enemies, real and imagined, were all vanquished. This seems similar to the first season’s finale, right? “Remember the little things.” But the mood is bizarrely ominous. Almost Twin Peaks levels of terror. The clan sits in an eatery. Meadow finds a parking spot. Tony sorrowfully notifies Carmela problems are brewing with another member of his team working with the government. Meadow secures a parking space. Unfamiliar individuals come into the diner. Gaze at Tony(?) Meadow parks. Tony selects a song on the jukebox. Meadow parks. The bell sounds, an individual enters. It cannot be Meadow, she is still parking. Tony raises his gaze. Continue. It ceases. My heart sank around 20 minutes subsequently.

The Walking Dead – The Last Day on Earth (2016)

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, mercilessly mocking his targets 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