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Spooks – I Spy Apocalypse (2003)

The show kicks off with the MI5 agents confined as part of a simulation about a potential terror incident, overseen by two Home Office officials. As events unfold, it appears that there really has been an attack with a chemical weapon released. The anxiety increases as reports reveal a catastrophe taking place outside, and escalates when the leader seems contaminated, and the two Home Office officials attempt to leave, forcing Matthew Macfadyen’s character to opt for either shooting them or allowing them to leave and potentially infecting the secure MI5 headquarters. This being Spooks, it is unsurprising which one he chooses.

Threads from 1984

The production was inexpensive yet among the scariest shows I have viewed due to its harsh realism and bleak government data. Saw it not long ago after seeing the first airing; I frequently went to the Sheffield pub shown in the series that highlighted the truth and the glib matter-of-fact official information which was broadcast. Continuing to be utterly horrifying 35 years later.

Severance – The We We Are from 2022

The season one finale of Severance deserves a top spot as a tense chapter. I was throughout the episode literally perched nervously, 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 final climactic moment – “she is living!” – resembled a outburst.

Industry – White Mischief (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 due to the immense extent of the reckless self-harm I was witnessing. Rishi Ramdani is in major difficulty professionally and personally – up to his eyeballs in debt from unscrupulous lenders because of his compulsive gambling, taking such risks with a bet on sterling which could lose his company millions. So of course, he goes on a gambling spree, uses copious drugs and alcohol and alternates between success and failure, 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, with horrifying consequences in the concluding part of the season. Absolutely had to relax following 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 will make you rise the whole episode, permeated with worry. The tension escalates as Jeremy and Mark discover being compelled to falsify about the canine they unintentionally hit and subsequent attempts to dispose of it. You subsequently use the rest of the installment questioning whether it truly can be worse than incineration, and it is possible!

The 2001 The West Wing episode The Two Cathedrals

Nothing I have seen has been as tense than the first time I watched the concluding episode of The West Wing’s second season. The show opens with the fallout of the demise (in a car crash) of the president’s personal secretary 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 seek re-election. Superb programming. Unsurpassed.

Bodyguard – episode one from 2018

The opening of the British series Bodyguard, with the hero aboard a train alongside his juvenile boy, is personally a top tense installment. He spots a Muslim woman heading to the toilet and senses something is wrong. The bomb squad is alerted, get on the train, and try to persuade the woman to take off her suicide vest. Suspense rises to an almost unbearable degree, until, indeed, the vest is disarmed.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer – The Body (2001)

Buffy arrives at her residence to discover her mother has died from natural reasons, which is the rarest form of demise in this paranormal series. The show features no musical score, a sullen tone, and we see the episode through the experience of Buffy’s astonishment upon finding her mother.

The Sopranos – Made in America (2007)

The ultimate sequence of the series finale of the series was extremely nerve-wracking. And if you viewed it when it first premiered, 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.” However, the vibe is oddly threatening. Almost Twin Peaks levels of terror. The family sit in a restaurant. Meadow finds a parking spot. Tony sorrowfully notifies Carmela problems are brewing with an additional associate working with the government. Meadow secures a parking space. Strange people enter the restaurant. Stare at Tony(?) Meadow is parking. Tony plays a track on the music machine. Meadow finds a spot. The bell rings, someone enters the restaurant. Can’t be Meadow, she’s still parking. Tony looks up. Continue. It halts. My spirit fell about 20 minutes later.

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

I stayed up to watch this episode during the night. It was so intense after the buildup of bad guy Negan finding the group, mercilessly mocking his targets and then leaving the victim unknown (concluded with a suspenseful moment). The first-person perspective of the victim and the muffled sounds – oh no! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season