‘I absolutely had to rest after that!’ The most gripping television episodes of all time
The 2003 Spooks episode I Spy Apocalypse
The show kicks off with the Spooks team confined as part of a simulation relating to a hypothetical terrorist attack, monitored by two government representatives. As the situation develops, it becomes clear a real incident has taken place with a chemical weapon released. The anxiety increases as incoming communications show a disaster happening externally, and intensifies as the superior shows signs of exposure, and the government agents endeavor to depart, compelling the character played by Matthew Macfadyen 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.
The 1984 production Threads
Threads had minimal funding yet among the scariest shows I’ve ever seen owing to its grim authenticity and grim official statistics. Viewed it recently having watched the original; I used to visit the pub in Sheffield shown in the series which emphasised the reality and the casual, straightforward government details that aired. Remaining completely frightening after three and a half decades.
Severance – The We We Are (2022)
The concluding episode of Severance’s debut season ranks highly in terms of gripping installments. I remained for the whole show actually sitting tensely, exerting with Dylan to keep his hands on the levers that kept the Innies on overtime, while screaming at the Innies to disclose their facts. The final climactic moment – “she survives!” – was like an eruption.
The 2024 Industry episode White Mischief
Episode five of the third series of Industry had my heart racing. I needed to stop and stand and exit the space repeatedly owing to the vast degree of the wanton self-destruction I was witnessing. Rishi Ramdani is in major difficulty in his job and domestic life – overwhelmed by debt to loan sharks owing to his uncontrollable gaming, assuming hazardous chances with a bet on sterling which may result in huge losses for his employer. So of course, he goes on a gambling spree, consumes excessive substances and alcohol and alternates between success and failure, is brutally attacked. Whenever you assume it can’t get any worse, it does. There’s hope of redemption by the episode’s conclusion but he squanders the opportunity, leading to terrible outcomes during the season’s final episode. Absolutely had to relax following that!
The 2007 Peep Show episode Holiday
Peep Show is not inherently a tense series. Yet the installment Holiday contains such levels of cringe that it’ll have you standing up the whole episode, permeated with worry. The tension escalates once Jeremy and Mark find themselves being compelled to falsify about the canine they accidentally run over and later efforts to get rid of it. You then spend the rest of the episode questioning whether it truly can be worse than incineration, and it can be!
The West Wing – The Two Cathedrals (2001)
Nothing I have seen has been as tense as when I first saw the second season finale of The West Wing. The episode starts with the aftermath of the passing (in a road incident) of the president’s private assistant and reaches a crescendo with a crisis in Haiti, and the effects of the withheld information about the president’s MS condition, with confirmation of his intention to pursue re-election. Superb programming. Unequaled.
The 2018 Bodyguard premiere episode
The opening of the British series Bodyguard, with the hero aboard a train accompanied by his small son, is for me one of the most intense episodes ever. He spots a Muslim woman heading to the toilet and realizes something is amiss. The bomb squad is alerted, enter the train, and try to persuade the woman to take off her suicide vest. Suspense rises to a practically unendurable point, until yes, the vest is diffused.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer – The Body from 2001
Buffy comes into her home to realize her mom has deceased due to natural factors, which is the rarest form of demise in this supernatural show. The episode has no background music, a gloomy atmosphere, and we see the episode through the experience of Buffy’s astonishment upon finding her mother.
The 2007 The Sopranos finale Made in America
The ultimate sequence of the series finale of the series was extremely nerve-wracking. And for those who saw it during its initial broadcast, you – initially – were uncertain of the reason. Tony’s enemies, real and imagined, had all been defeated. Surely this has the feel of the season one ending? “Recall the minor details.” Yet the atmosphere is strangely foreboding. 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 an additional associate working with the government. Meadow secures a parking space. Strange people enter the restaurant. Gaze at Tony(?) Meadow parks. Tony selects a song on the jukebox. Meadow parks her car. The bell rings, someone enters the restaurant. It isn’t Meadow, she remains parking. Tony looks up. Keep going. It halts. My heart dropped from my mouth about 20 minutes later.
The Walking Dead – The Last Day on Earth from 2016
I kept late hours to see this show at 2am. It was so intense following the introduction of villain Negan finding the group, savagely teasing his prey then not knowing who he killed (finished with an unresolved situation). The first-person perspective of the victim and the muffled sounds – argh! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season
