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

Spooks – I Spy Apocalypse from 2003

The episode begins with the intelligence unit locked down while undergoing a drill about a potential terror incident, overseen by two Home Office officials. As events unfold, it seems an actual attack has occurred and a chemical agent deployed. The tension ratchets up as incoming communications show a catastrophe taking place outside, and intensifies as the superior shows signs of exposure, with the two officials trying to exit, pushing the protagonist portrayed by Matthew Macfadyen to decide between shooting them or permitting their exit and potentially infecting the secure MI5 headquarters. This being Spooks, the outcome is expected.

Threads from 1984

The production was inexpensive yet among the scariest shows I have viewed owing to its grim authenticity and bleak government data. Viewed it recently following the initial broadcast; I frequently went to the Sheffield pub from the programme that highlighted the truth and the offhand factual official statements which was broadcast. Still absolutely terrifying 35 years later.

Severance – The We We Are from 2022

The concluding episode of Severance’s debut season deserves a top spot in terms of gripping installments. I spent the entire episode literally perched nervously, straining every sinew with Dylan to hold the switches that sustained the Innies’ extended time, while yelling at the Innies to reveal their realities. The ultimate peak – “she is living!” – was like an eruption.

The 2024 Industry episode White Mischief

Installment five in Industry’s third series made my pulse quicken. I needed to stop and stand and exit the space repeatedly because of the sheer scale of the deliberate ruin I was witnessing. Rishi Ramdani is in deep shit at work and home – buried in financial obligations from unscrupulous lenders because of his compulsive gambling, assuming hazardous chances on a wager involving sterling which could lose his company millions. Naturally, he embarks on a betting frenzy, uses copious drugs and alcohol and wins, loses, wins, is brutally attacked. Each instance you believe things cannot decline more, it deteriorates. There is a chance for salvation as the installment closes but he misses the opening, leading to terrible outcomes in the season finale. Certainly required a rest afterward!

The 2007 Peep Show episode Holiday

Peep Show itself isn’t necessarily a stressful show. Yet the installment Holiday features such degrees of awkwardness that it’ll have you standing up the whole episode, permeated with worry. It all ramps up when Jeremy and Mark realize being compelled to falsify about the canine they unintentionally hit and subsequent attempts to dispose of it. You then occupy the remainder of the episode doubting if it can actually be more terrible than burning, and it turns out to be!

The West Wing – The Two Cathedrals from 2001

No other viewing has been as gripping than the first time I watched the second season finale of The West Wing. The installment begins with the consequences of the death (in a traffic accident) of the president’s private assistant and builds to a peak involving a Haitian emergency, and the effects of the withheld information of the president’s MS diagnosis, along with affirmation of his plan to pursue re-election. Superb programming. Unequaled.

The 2018 Bodyguard premiere episode

The beginning of the UK show Bodyguard, with the hero aboard a train with his young son, is for me one of the most intense episodes ever. He notices a Muslim female entering the restroom and knows something is off. The bomb diffuser experts are called, get on the train, and attempt to convince the woman to take off her suicide vest. Tension escalates to a nearly intolerable level, until, finally, the vest is neutralized.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer – The Body (2001)

Buffy comes into her home to find her mum has passed away of natural causes, which is the least common kind of passing in this mystical program. The show features no musical score, a sullen tone, and we witness the episode via the perspective of Buffy’s shock of discovering 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 viewed it when it first premiered, you – initially – were uncertain of the reason. Tony’s foes, genuine and fictional, were all overcome. This seems similar to the first season’s finale, right? “Recall the minor details.” However, the vibe is oddly threatening. Approaching Twin Peaks-esque horror. The family gathers in a diner. Meadow finds a parking spot. Tony gloomily informs Carmela there’s trouble afoot with another member of his team cooperating with the officials. Meadow secures a parking space. Unfamiliar individuals come into the diner. Gaze at Tony(?) Meadow is parking. Tony plays a track on the music machine. Meadow parks her car. The door chimes, a person comes in. It cannot be Meadow, she is still parking. Tony looks up. Don’t stop. It ceases. My spirit fell around 20 minutes subsequently.

The Walking Dead – The Last Day on Earth from 2016

I stayed up to watch this episode in the early morning. It was incredibly tense after the establishment of antagonist Negan finding the group, cruelly taunting his victims and then keeping the death a mystery (finished with an unresolved situation). 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