‘I truly required a break after that!’ The most gripping television episodes of all time
Spooks – I Spy Apocalypse (2003)
The episode begins with the intelligence unit confined during a training exercise relating to a hypothetical terrorist attack, overseen by two Home Office officials. As things progress, it appears that there really has been an attack and a chemical agent deployed. The suspense builds as reports reveal a crisis unfolding beyond their walls, and intensifies as the boss appears to be infected, with the two officials trying to exit, forcing Matthew Macfadyen’s character to opt for either shooting them or allowing them to leave and potentially infecting the secure MI5 headquarters. Given it’s Spooks, it is unsurprising which one he chooses.
Threads (1984)
Threads had minimal funding yet among the scariest shows I’ve ever seen because of the stark reality and grim official statistics. Watched it about a month ago having watched the original; I often attended the bar in Sheffield from the programme that highlighted the truth and the offhand factual official statements that aired. Remaining completely frightening after three and a half decades.
Severance – The We We Are (2022)
The season one finale of Severance has to be right up there as a tense chapter. I was throughout the episode actually sitting tensely, pushing alongside Dylan to keep his hands on the levers that kept the Innies on overtime, while screaming at the Innies to disclose their facts. The ultimate peak – “she survives!” – was like an eruption.
Industry – White Mischief from 2024
The fifth episode of Industry’s third season had my heart racing. I needed to stop and stand and exit the space repeatedly due to the immense extent of the deliberate ruin I saw. Rishi Ramdani is in deep shit professionally and personally – overwhelmed by debt to loan sharks because of his compulsive gambling, assuming hazardous chances with a gamble on the pound that might cost his firm millions. Inevitably, he starts a gaming binge, consumes excessive substances and alcohol and experiences wins and losses, gets beaten to a pulp. Every time you think the situation cannot deteriorate further, it does. There is a chance for salvation as the installment closes but he squanders the opportunity, leading to terrible outcomes during the season’s final episode. Absolutely had to relax following that!
Peep Show – Holiday (2007)
Peep Show is not inherently a tense series. Yet the installment Holiday features such degrees of awkwardness that it’ll have you standing up throughout the entire episode, permeated with worry. It all ramps up when Jeremy and Mark realize needing to deceive regarding the dog they unintentionally hit and following tries to eliminate it. You then spend the rest of the episode wondering if it might be more awful than cremation, and it is possible!
The West Wing – The Two Cathedrals (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 show opens with the fallout of the passing (in a road incident) of the president’s confidential aide and reaches a crescendo involving a Haitian emergency, and the effects of the withheld information regarding the president’s multiple sclerosis diagnosis, along with affirmation of his plan to run for another term. Wonderful television. Unequaled.
Bodyguard – episode one (2018)
The opening of the British series Bodyguard, with the hero aboard a train with his young son, is personally a top tense installment. He notices a Muslim female entering the restroom and senses something is wrong. The bomb diffuser experts are called, board the train, and try to persuade the woman to take off her suicide vest. Suspense rises to a nearly intolerable level, until, finally, the vest is neutralized.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer – The Body (2001)
Buffy arrives at her residence to discover her mother has died due to natural factors, which is the most unusual type of death in this mystical program. The installment lacks any soundtrack, a gloomy atmosphere, and we view the installment through the lens of Buffy’s shock of discovering her mother.
The Sopranos – Made in America (2007)
The concluding moment of the last installment of the show was pants-wettingly tense. And if you viewed it when it first premiered, you – at first – weren’t sure why. Tony’s enemies, real and imagined, had all been defeated. Surely this has the feel of the season one ending? “Think about the small elements.” Yet the atmosphere is strangely foreboding. Approaching Twin Peaks-esque horror. The clan sits in an eatery. Meadow finds a parking spot. Tony sorrowfully notifies Carmela there’s trouble afoot with an additional associate collaborating with the authorities. Meadow parks. Unfamiliar individuals come into the diner. Gaze at Tony(?) Meadow is parking. Tony plays a track on the music machine. Meadow parks. The door chimes, a person comes in. It cannot be Meadow, she is still parking. Tony glances upward. Keep going. It halts. My heart dropped from my mouth around 20 minutes subsequently.
The Walking Dead – The Last Day on Earth (2016)
I remained awake to view this installment in the early morning. It was extremely gripping after the establishment of antagonist Negan locating the survivors, mercilessly mocking his targets and then keeping the death a mystery (finished with an unresolved situation). The point-of-view shot from the victim and the muted audio – ugh! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season
