‘I definitely needed a lie-down after that!’ Your most intense television episodes ever

Spooks – I Spy Apocalypse (2003)

This installment starts with the MI5 agents locked down as part of a simulation 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 disaster happening externally, and gets worse as the superior shows signs of exposure, and the government agents endeavor to depart, pushing the protagonist portrayed by Matthew Macfadyen to decide between shooting them or permitting their exit and endangering the sterile MI5 environment. This being Spooks, it is unsurprising which one he chooses.

Threads (1984)

Threads was low budget but one of the most frightening programmes I’ve ever seen due to its harsh realism and dismal official figures. Watched it about a month ago following the initial broadcast; I used to visit the pub in Sheffield from the programme which underscored the actuality and the casual, straightforward government details that were transmitted. Continuing to be utterly horrifying 35 years later.

Severance – The We We Are from 2022

The first season finale of Severance deserves a top spot in terms of gripping installments. I spent the entire episode literally perched nervously, 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 final climactic moment – “she is living!” – was like an eruption.

Industry – White Mischief (2024)

Episode five of the third series of Industry had my heart racing. I was compelled to halt and rise and exit the space repeatedly owing to the vast degree of the wanton self-destruction I observed. Rishi Ramdani is in major difficulty in his job and domestic life – overwhelmed by debt to illegal creditors due to his addictive betting, taking such risks with a bet on sterling that might cost his firm millions. Naturally, he embarks on a betting frenzy, uses copious drugs and alcohol and alternates between success and failure, is brutally attacked. Every time you think things cannot decline more, it deteriorates. Redemption seems possible by the episode’s conclusion but he squanders the opportunity, with horrifying consequences in the concluding part of the season. Definitely needed a lie-down after that!

The 2007 Peep Show episode Holiday

Peep Show itself isn’t necessarily a stressful show. But the episode Holiday features such degrees of awkwardness that it’ll have you standing up throughout the entire episode, permeated with worry. It all ramps up as Jeremy and Mark discover 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 questioning whether it truly can be worse than incineration, and it is possible!

The West Wing – The Two Cathedrals from 2001

Nothing I’ve watched has been more intense as when I first saw the season two finale to The West Wing. The installment begins with the consequences of the demise (in a car crash) of the president’s private assistant and builds to a peak with a situation in Haiti, and the fallout from the non-disclosure of the president’s MS diagnosis, coupled with verification of his aim to run for another term. 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, is personally a top tense installment. He observes a woman in Islamic attire heading to the toilet and knows something is off. The explosive disposal specialists are summoned, get on the train, and attempt to convince the woman to take off her suicide vest. Suspense rises to an almost unbearable degree, until yes, the vest is diffused.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer – The Body (2001)

Buffy comes into her home to find her mum has passed away due to natural factors, which is the rarest form of demise in this paranormal series. The episode has no background music, 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 show was pants-wettingly tense. 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. Doesn’t this resemble the season one conclusion? “Recall the minor details.” But the mood is bizarrely ominous. Nearly Twin Peaks-like fear. The family sit in a restaurant. Meadow stops the car. Tony gloomily informs Carmela difficulties are arising with yet another of his crew cooperating with the officials. Meadow parks. Strange people enter the restaurant. Look at Tony(?) Meadow continues to park. Tony puts a record on the jukebox. Meadow finds a spot. The door chimes, a person comes in. It cannot be Meadow, she is still parking. Tony looks up. Keep going. It halts. My heart sank roughly 20 minutes after.

The Walking Dead – The Last Day on Earth from 2016

I kept late hours to see this show at 2am. It was extremely gripping after the buildup of bad guy Negan discovering the characters, savagely teasing his prey and then leaving the victim unknown (finished with an unresolved situation). The victim’s POV shot and the muffled sounds – argh! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season