‘I truly required a break after that!’ The most intense TV episodes of all time

Spooks – I Spy Apocalypse (2003)

The show kicks off with the MI5 agents restricted during a training exercise relating to a hypothetical terrorist attack, overseen by two Home Office officials. As events unfold, it appears that there really has been an attack 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 allowing them to leave and risking contaminating the sealed MI5 offices. As this is Spooks, his decision is predictable.

Threads (1984)

Threads was low budget but one of the most frightening programmes I have ever watched because of the stark reality and dismal official figures. Viewed it recently after seeing the first airing; I often attended the bar in Sheffield from the programme that highlighted the truth and the offhand factual official statements that were transmitted. Continuing to be utterly horrifying decades on.

Severance – The We We Are (2022)

The concluding episode of Severance’s debut season deserves a top spot among intense episodes. I was throughout the episode actually sitting tensely, pushing alongside Dylan to maintain his grip on the controls that sustained the Innies’ extended time, while screaming at the Innies to disclose their facts. The final climactic moment – “she is living!” – felt like an explosion.

Industry – White Mischief from 2024

The fifth episode of Industry’s third season had my heart racing. I needed to stop and stand and depart the area multiple times owing to the vast degree of the deliberate ruin I observed. Rishi Ramdani is in deep shit at work and home – overwhelmed by debt from unscrupulous lenders because of his compulsive gambling, engaging in dangerous ventures 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 wins, loses, wins, is severely assaulted. Each instance you believe it can’t get any worse, it deteriorates. Redemption seems possible as the installment closes yet he wastes the chance, resulting in dreadful effects in the season finale. Definitely needed a lie-down after that!

The 2007 Peep Show episode Holiday

The series Peep Show isn’t typically anxiety-inducing. However, the Holiday episode features such degrees of awkwardness that it will make you rise throughout the entire episode, filled with nervousness. The tension escalates once Jeremy and Mark find themselves being compelled to falsify about the canine they accidentally run over and subsequent attempts to dispose of it. You then spend the rest of the episode questioning whether it truly can be worse than incineration, and it turns out to be!

The West Wing – The Two Cathedrals (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 demise (in a car crash) of the president’s private assistant and builds to a peak involving a Haitian emergency, and the repercussions of the secrecy regarding the president’s multiple sclerosis diagnosis, along with affirmation of his plan to pursue re-election. Excellent TV. Unsurpassed.

Bodyguard – episode one (2018)

The opening of the British series Bodyguard, with the hero aboard a train with his young son, is personally a top tense installment. He spots a Muslim woman going into the loo and senses something is wrong. The bomb squad is alerted, get on the train, and try to persuade the woman to discard her bomb jacket. Suspense rises to a practically unendurable point, until, finally, the vest is neutralized.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer – The Body (2001)

Buffy comes into her home to discover her mother has died of natural causes, which is the rarest form of demise in this paranormal series. 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 if you watched it when it originally aired, you – initially – were uncertain of the reason. Tony’s enemies, real and imagined, were all overcome. 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 parks. Tony sadly tells Carmela there’s trouble afoot with yet another of his crew cooperating with the officials. Meadow parks the vehicle. Odd persons arrive at the eatery. Gaze at Tony(?) Meadow parks. Tony puts a record on the jukebox. Meadow parks her car. The bell sounds, an individual enters. It cannot be Meadow, she is still parking. Tony raises his gaze. Don’t stop. It stops. My heart dropped from my mouth roughly 20 minutes after.

The 2016 The Walking Dead episode The Last Day on Earth

I kept late hours to see this show at 2am. It was extremely gripping following the introduction of villain Negan locating the survivors, savagely teasing his prey and then keeping the death a mystery (finished with an unresolved situation). The point-of-view shot from the victim and the muffled sounds – argh! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season