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Spooks – I Spy Apocalypse from 2003

This installment starts with the MI5 agents confined during a training exercise relating to a hypothetical terrorist attack, overseen by two Home Office officials. As events unfold, it seems an actual attack has occurred with a chemical weapon released. The suspense builds as messages indicate a crisis unfolding beyond their walls, and gets worse as the superior shows signs of exposure, and the two Home Office officials attempt to leave, compelling the character played by Matthew Macfadyen to opt for either shooting them or permitting their exit and risking contaminating the sealed MI5 offices. Given it’s Spooks, his decision is predictable.

Threads (1984)

The production was inexpensive yet among the scariest shows I have viewed due to its harsh realism and grim official statistics. Watched it about a month ago after seeing the first airing; I often attended the bar in Sheffield featured in the show that highlighted the truth and the offhand factual official statements that aired. Continuing to be utterly horrifying after three and a half decades.

Severance – The We We Are from 2022

The concluding episode of Severance’s debut season ranks highly in terms of gripping installments. I spent the entire episode literally perched nervously, pushing alongside Dylan to hold the switches that sustained the Innies’ extended time, while screaming at the Innies to reveal their realities. The final climactic moment – “she is living!” – resembled a outburst.

Industry – White Mischief from 2024

The fifth episode of Industry’s third season made my pulse quicken. I needed to stop and stand and exit the space repeatedly owing to the vast degree of the reckless self-harm I saw. Rishi Ramdani faces serious trouble in his job and domestic life – up to his eyeballs in debt to illegal creditors because of his compulsive gambling, engaging in dangerous ventures with a bet on sterling which may result in huge losses for his employer. Inevitably, he starts a gaming binge, does tons of drugs and drink and wins, loses, wins, gets beaten to a pulp. Each instance you believe the situation cannot deteriorate further, it worsens. Redemption seems possible at the end of the episode but he squanders the opportunity, leading to terrible outcomes in the concluding part of the season. Definitely needed a lie-down after that!

Peep Show – Holiday from 2007

Peep Show is not inherently a tense series. Yet the installment Holiday includes such amounts of embarrassment that it’ll have you standing up throughout the entire episode, permeated with worry. It all ramps up when Jeremy and Mark realize having to lie about the dog they accidentally run over and later efforts to get rid of it. You then occupy the remainder of the episode questioning whether it truly can be worse than incineration, and it can be!

The West Wing – The Two Cathedrals from 2001

Nothing I’ve watched has been more intense compared to my initial viewing the concluding episode of The West Wing’s second season. The show opens with the fallout of the passing (in a road incident) of the president’s confidential aide and reaches a crescendo involving a Haitian emergency, and the fallout from the non-disclosure of the president’s MS diagnosis, along with affirmation of his plan to seek re-election. Wonderful television. Never bettered.

Bodyguard – episode one (2018)

The beginning of the UK show Bodyguard, featuring the main character on a train with his young son, 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 squad is alerted, get on the train, and try to persuade the woman to discard her bomb jacket. Tension escalates to an almost unbearable degree, until yes, the vest is diffused.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer – The Body from 2001

Buffy enters her house to discover her mother has died due to natural factors, which is the most unusual type of death in this supernatural show. The installment lacks any soundtrack, a sullen tone, and we view the installment through the lens of Buffy’s dismay upon uncovering her mother.

The Sopranos – Made in America from 2007

The final scene of the final episode of the program was incredibly anxious. And if you viewed it when it first premiered, you – initially – were uncertain of the reason. Tony’s adversaries, actual and perceived, were all overcome. Doesn’t this resemble the season one conclusion? “Recall the minor details.” But the mood is bizarrely ominous. Approaching Twin Peaks-esque horror. The clan sits in an eatery. Meadow parks. Tony sorrowfully notifies Carmela problems are brewing with an additional associate working with the government. Meadow parks. Odd persons arrive at the eatery. Gaze at Tony(?) Meadow is parking. Tony plays a track on the music machine. Meadow parks her car. The bell sounds, an individual enters. Can’t be Meadow, she’s still parking. Tony looks up. Don’t stop. It ceases. My heart sank roughly 20 minutes after.

The Walking Dead – The Last Day on Earth (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, cruelly taunting his victims and then keeping the death a mystery (finished with an unresolved situation). The victim’s POV shot and the muffled sounds – oh no! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season