‘I definitely needed a lie-down after that!’ Your most gripping episodes of TV ever
The 2003 Spooks episode I Spy Apocalypse
This installment starts with the intelligence unit confined during a training exercise about a potential terror incident, monitored by two government representatives. As events unfold, it becomes clear a real incident has taken place with a chemical weapon released. The tension ratchets up as reports reveal a crisis unfolding beyond their walls, and intensifies as the superior shows signs of exposure, and the two Home Office officials attempt to leave, pushing the protagonist portrayed by Matthew Macfadyen to opt for either shooting them or permitting their exit and endangering the sterile MI5 environment. This being Spooks, his decision is predictable.
The 1984 production Threads
Threads was low budget but arguably the most terrifying series I’ve ever seen due to its harsh realism and dismal official figures. Saw it not long ago after seeing the first airing; I used to visit the pub in Sheffield from the programme 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 from 2022
The first season finale of Severance ranks highly among intense episodes. I spent the entire episode literally perched nervously, exerting with Dylan to hold the switches that kept the Innies on overtime, while screaming at the Innies to get their truths out there. The final climactic moment – “she survives!” – felt like an explosion.
Industry – White Mischief from 2024
The fifth episode of Industry’s third season had my heart racing. I was compelled to halt and rise and depart the area multiple times because of the sheer scale of the wanton self-destruction I saw. Rishi Ramdani is in major difficulty at work and home – buried in financial obligations from unscrupulous lenders because of his compulsive gambling, 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 experiences wins and losses, is brutally attacked. Whenever you assume the situation cannot deteriorate further, it worsens. There is a chance for salvation at the end of the episode but he squanders the opportunity, resulting in dreadful effects in the concluding part of the season. Definitely needed a lie-down after that!
Peep Show – Holiday (2007)
Peep Show is not inherently a tense series. However, the Holiday episode includes such amounts of embarrassment that it can cause you to stand throughout the entire episode, filled with nervousness. The situation intensifies when Jeremy and Mark realize being compelled to falsify about the canine they accidentally run over and later efforts to get rid of it. You subsequently use the rest of the installment wondering if it might be more awful than cremation, and it can be!
The West Wing – The Two Cathedrals from 2001
No other viewing has been as gripping as when I first saw the season two finale to The West Wing. The installment begins with the consequences of the death (in a traffic accident) of the president’s personal secretary and reaches a crescendo with a situation in Haiti, and the repercussions of the secrecy regarding the president’s multiple sclerosis diagnosis, along with affirmation of his plan to pursue re-election. Wonderful television. Unequaled.
Bodyguard – episode one from 2018
The opening of the British series Bodyguard, with the hero aboard a train with his young son, is for me one of the most intense episodes ever. He spots a Muslim woman going into the loo and realizes something is amiss. The bomb diffuser experts are called, get on the train, and try to persuade the woman to take off her suicide vest. Tension escalates to a practically unendurable point, until, finally, the vest is neutralized.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer – The Body from 2001
Buffy enters her house to realize her mom has deceased from natural reasons, which is the rarest form of demise in this supernatural show. The episode has no background music, a gloomy atmosphere, and we view the installment through the lens of Buffy’s dismay upon uncovering her mother.
The Sopranos – Made in America (2007)
The final scene of the final episode of the series was extremely nerve-wracking. And if you viewed it when it first premiered, you – initially – were uncertain of the reason. Tony’s enemies, real and imagined, had all been defeated. This seems similar to the first season’s finale, right? “Recall the minor details.” But the mood is bizarrely ominous. Nearly Twin Peaks-like fear. The family sit in a restaurant. Meadow parks. Tony gloomily informs Carmela problems are brewing with another member of his team collaborating with the authorities. Meadow parks the vehicle. 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 bell rings, someone enters the restaurant. It isn’t Meadow, she remains parking. Tony looks up. Continue. It halts. My heart dropped from my mouth about 20 minutes later.
The 2016 The Walking Dead episode The Last Day on Earth
I stayed up to watch this episode in the early morning. It was extremely gripping following the introduction of villain Negan finding the group, savagely teasing his prey and then leaving the victim unknown (ended on a cliffhanger). The first-person perspective of the victim and the subdued noises – argh! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season
