‘I definitely needed a lie-down after that!’ Your most gripping television episodes ever
Spooks – I Spy Apocalypse from 2003
The show kicks off with the MI5 agents locked down while undergoing a drill about a potential terror incident, supervised by two Home Office agents. As events unfold, it becomes clear a real incident has taken place and a chemical weapon has been unleashed. The tension ratchets up as incoming communications show a crisis unfolding beyond their walls, and intensifies as the boss appears to be infected, 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 endangering the sterile MI5 environment. As this is Spooks, his decision is predictable.
The 1984 production Threads
The production was inexpensive yet among the scariest shows I’ve ever seen due to its harsh realism and grim official statistics. Watched it about a month ago following the initial broadcast; I often attended the bar in Sheffield featured in the show which underscored the actuality and the glib matter-of-fact official information which was broadcast. Remaining completely frightening after three and a half decades.
Severance – The We We Are from 2022
The first season finale of Severance has to be right up there in terms of gripping installments. I remained for the whole show literally perched nervously, exerting with Dylan to keep his hands on the levers that allowed the Innies to remain active, while yelling at the Innies to disclose their facts. The ultimate peak – “she survives!” – was like an eruption.
Industry – White Mischief from 2024
Episode five of the third series of Industry made my pulse quicken. I had to pause and get up and leave the room several times because of the sheer scale of the wanton self-destruction I saw. Rishi Ramdani is in major difficulty professionally and personally – up to his eyeballs in debt from unscrupulous lenders due to his addictive betting, assuming hazardous chances on a wager involving sterling which may result in huge losses for his employer. Inevitably, he starts a gaming binge, consumes excessive substances and alcohol and wins, loses, wins, is severely assaulted. Every time you think things cannot decline more, it deteriorates. Redemption seems possible by the episode’s conclusion but he squanders the opportunity, resulting in dreadful effects during the season’s final episode. Absolutely had to relax following that!
Peep Show – Holiday from 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 for the full show, riddled with anxiety. The tension escalates as Jeremy and Mark discover having to lie about the dog they unintentionally hit and subsequent attempts to dispose of 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 second season finale of The West Wing. The episode starts with the aftermath of the passing (in a road incident) of the president’s confidential aide and reaches a crescendo with a crisis 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. Wonderful television. Unsurpassed.
The 2018 Bodyguard premiere episode
The beginning of the UK show Bodyguard, with the hero aboard a train accompanied by his small son, is for me one of the most intense episodes ever. He notices a Muslim female heading to the toilet and knows something is off. The bomb squad is alerted, board the train, and endeavor to coax 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 (2001)
Buffy enters her house to find her mum has passed away of natural causes, which is the least common kind of passing in this paranormal series. The show features no musical score, 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 final scene of the final episode of the series was extremely nerve-wracking. And if you viewed it when it first premiered, you – at the start – didn’t understand the cause. Tony’s foes, genuine and fictional, had all been defeated. Surely this has the feel of the season one ending? “Recall the minor details.” But the mood is bizarrely ominous. Approaching Twin Peaks-esque horror. The family sit in a restaurant. Meadow parks. Tony gloomily informs Carmela there’s trouble afoot with another member of his team collaborating with the authorities. Meadow secures a parking space. Odd persons arrive at the eatery. Gaze at Tony(?) Meadow parks. Tony plays a track on the music machine. Meadow parks her car. The bell sounds, an individual enters. It isn’t Meadow, she remains parking. Tony raises his gaze. Continue. It stops. My heart sank around 20 minutes subsequently.
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 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 subdued noises – oh no! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season
