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Spooks – I Spy Apocalypse (2003)

This installment starts with the Spooks team restricted during a training exercise relating to a hypothetical terrorist attack, overseen by two Home Office officials. As the situation develops, it becomes clear a real incident has taken place and a chemical weapon has been unleashed. The suspense builds as messages indicate a catastrophe taking place outside, and escalates when the leader seems contaminated, and the two Home Office officials attempt to leave, pushing the protagonist portrayed by Matthew Macfadyen to decide between shooting them or letting them go and endangering the sterile MI5 environment. This being Spooks, his decision is predictable.

Threads from 1984

The production was inexpensive but arguably the most terrifying series I’ve ever seen because of the stark reality and grim official statistics. Watched it about a month ago following the initial broadcast; I frequently went to the Sheffield pub from the programme which emphasised the reality and the offhand factual official statements that were transmitted. Remaining completely frightening decades on.

Severance – The We We Are (2022)

The season one finale of Severance has to be right up there as a tense chapter. I spent the entire episode 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 ultimate peak – “she is living!” – was like an eruption.

The 2024 Industry episode White Mischief

Installment five in Industry’s third series caused my heart to pound. I needed to stop and stand and exit the space repeatedly because of the sheer scale of the deliberate ruin I observed. Rishi Ramdani is in major difficulty professionally and personally – up to his eyeballs in debt to loan sharks due to his addictive betting, engaging in dangerous ventures on a wager involving sterling which may result in huge losses for his employer. So of course, he goes on a gambling spree, does tons of drugs and drink and experiences wins and losses, gets beaten to a pulp. Whenever you assume it can’t get any worse, it worsens. There is a chance for salvation by the episode’s conclusion but he misses the opening, with horrifying consequences in the season finale. Certainly required a rest afterward!

Peep Show – Holiday (2007)

Peep Show is not inherently a tense series. Yet the installment Holiday features such degrees of awkwardness that it’ll have you standing up the whole episode, filled with nervousness. It all ramps up once Jeremy and Mark find themselves having to lie about the dog they unintentionally hit and subsequent attempts to dispose of it. You then occupy the remainder of the episode 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 than the first time I watched the season two finale to The West Wing. The episode starts with the aftermath of the passing (in a road incident) of the president’s private assistant and builds to a peak involving a Haitian emergency, and the repercussions of the secrecy about the president’s MS condition, along with affirmation of his plan to run for another term. Superb programming. Unequaled.

Bodyguard – episode one (2018)

The start of the British program Bodyguard, with the hero aboard a train alongside his juvenile boy, is for me one of the most intense episodes ever. He observes a woman in Islamic attire going into the loo and knows something is off. The bomb diffuser experts are called, board the train, and try to persuade the woman to discard her bomb jacket. Suspense rises to a nearly intolerable level, until, indeed, the vest is disarmed.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer – The Body from 2001

Buffy arrives at her residence to find her mum has passed away of natural causes, which is the rarest form of demise in this supernatural show. The show features no musical score, a sullen tone, and we witness the episode via the perspective of Buffy’s dismay upon uncovering her mother.

The Sopranos – Made in America from 2007

The concluding moment of the last installment 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 enemies, real and imagined, were all vanquished. This seems similar to the first season’s finale, right? “Remember the little things.” However, the vibe is oddly threatening. Approaching Twin Peaks-esque horror. The family gathers in a diner. 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. Unfamiliar individuals come into the diner. Gaze at Tony(?) Meadow continues to park. Tony puts a record on the jukebox. Meadow parks her car. The door chimes, a person comes in. It cannot be Meadow, she is still parking. Tony raises his gaze. Don’t stop. It stops. My heart sank about 20 minutes later.

The Walking Dead – The Last Day on Earth (2016)

I kept late hours to see this show during the night. It was extremely gripping after the establishment of antagonist Negan finding the group, cruelly taunting his victims and then leaving the victim unknown (concluded with a suspenseful moment). The first-person perspective of the victim and the muffled sounds – ugh! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season