🔗 Share this article ‘I absolutely had to rest after that!’ The most gripping television episodes ever Spooks – I Spy Apocalypse (2003) This installment starts with the Spooks team confined as part of a simulation concerning a fictional terrorist event, overseen by two Home Office officials. As the situation develops, it seems an actual attack has occurred and a chemical weapon has been unleashed. The suspense builds as messages indicate a disaster happening externally, and gets worse when the leader seems contaminated, with the two officials trying to exit, forcing Matthew Macfadyen’s character to decide between shooting them or letting them go and risking contaminating the sealed MI5 offices. This being Spooks, his decision is predictable. Threads from 1984 Threads had minimal funding but one of the most frightening programmes I have ever watched 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 underscored the actuality and the glib matter-of-fact official information that aired. Still absolutely terrifying after three and a half decades. The 2022 Severance episode The We We Are The first season finale of Severance deserves a top spot among intense episodes. I spent the entire episode actually sitting tensely, pushing alongside Dylan to maintain his grip on the controls that allowed the Innies to remain active, while shouting to the Innies to get their truths out there. The final climactic moment – “she survives!” – was like an eruption. Industry – White Mischief from 2024 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 wanton self-destruction I observed. Rishi Ramdani is in deep shit in his job and domestic life – buried in financial obligations to loan sharks due to his addictive betting, taking such risks on a wager involving sterling which could lose his company millions. Inevitably, he starts a gaming binge, does tons of drugs and drink and experiences wins and losses, is severely assaulted. Every time you think the situation cannot deteriorate further, it worsens. There’s hope of redemption as the installment closes but he misses the opening, resulting in dreadful effects in the season finale. Certainly required a rest afterward! Peep Show – Holiday from 2007 Peep Show itself isn’t necessarily a stressful show. However, the Holiday episode features such degrees of awkwardness that it can cause you to stand throughout the entire episode, riddled with anxiety. The tension escalates when Jeremy and Mark realize having to lie about the dog they accidentally run over and subsequent attempts to dispose of it. You subsequently use the rest of the installment doubting if it can actually be more terrible than burning, and it is possible! The West Wing – The Two Cathedrals (2001) Nothing I’ve watched has been more intense as when I first saw the second season finale of The West Wing. The show opens with the fallout 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 regarding the president’s multiple sclerosis diagnosis, along with affirmation of his plan to pursue re-election. Excellent TV. Never bettered. Bodyguard – episode one from 2018 The beginning of the UK show Bodyguard, with the protagonist 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 realizes something is amiss. 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. The 2001 Buffy episode The Body 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 installment lacks any soundtrack, a somber mood, 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 series was extremely nerve-wracking. And if you viewed it when it first premiered, you – at first – weren’t sure why. Tony’s adversaries, actual and perceived, were all vanquished. Surely this has the feel of the season one ending? “Recall the minor details.” Yet the atmosphere is strangely foreboding. Nearly Twin Peaks-like fear. The family gathers in a diner. Meadow finds a parking spot. Tony sorrowfully notifies Carmela problems are brewing with an additional associate collaborating with the authorities. Meadow parks. Odd persons arrive at the eatery. Look at Tony(?) Meadow continues to park. Tony plays a track on the music machine. Meadow parks. The bell rings, someone enters the restaurant. It isn’t Meadow, she remains parking. Tony looks up. Keep going. It ceases. My heart dropped from my mouth roughly 20 minutes after. The Walking Dead – The Last Day on Earth (2016) I remained awake to view this installment at 2am. It was extremely gripping following the introduction of villain Negan discovering the characters, mercilessly mocking his targets and then keeping the death a mystery (ended on a cliffhanger). The first-person perspective of the victim and the muted audio – oh no! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season