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Spooks – I Spy Apocalypse (2003)

The show kicks off with the Spooks team restricted as part of a simulation relating to a hypothetical terrorist attack, supervised by two Home Office agents. As things progress, it seems an actual attack has occurred and a chemical weapon has been unleashed. The tension ratchets up as reports reveal a crisis unfolding beyond their walls, and intensifies as the boss appears to be infected, with the two officials trying to exit, forcing Matthew Macfadyen’s character to choose between firing at them or allowing them to leave and endangering the sterile MI5 environment. Given it’s Spooks, it is unsurprising which one he chooses.

Threads (1984)

Threads had minimal funding yet among the scariest shows I have ever watched owing to its grim authenticity and grim official statistics. Viewed it recently following the initial broadcast; I frequently went to the Sheffield pub featured in the show which emphasised the reality and the glib matter-of-fact official information which was broadcast. Remaining completely frightening decades on.

The 2022 Severance episode The We We Are

The concluding episode of Severance’s debut season ranks highly as a tense chapter. I remained for the whole show literally perched nervously, pushing alongside Dylan to hold the switches that sustained the Innies’ extended time, while shouting to the Innies to reveal their realities. The ultimate peak – “she is living!” – was like an eruption.

The 2024 Industry episode White Mischief

Installment five in Industry’s third series made my pulse quicken. I was compelled to halt and rise and depart the area multiple times due to the immense extent of the deliberate ruin I saw. Rishi Ramdani is in deep shit at work and home – buried in financial obligations from unscrupulous lenders due to his addictive betting, engaging in dangerous ventures on a wager involving sterling that might cost his firm millions. So of course, he goes on a gambling spree, consumes excessive substances and alcohol and alternates between success and failure, is severely assaulted. Each instance you believe it can’t get any worse, it deteriorates. There’s hope of redemption at the end of the episode yet he wastes the chance, leading to terrible outcomes in the season finale. Absolutely had to relax following that!

Peep Show – Holiday (2007)

The series Peep Show isn’t typically anxiety-inducing. Yet the installment Holiday includes such amounts of embarrassment that it can cause you to stand throughout the entire episode, filled with nervousness. The situation intensifies as Jeremy and Mark discover having to lie about the dog they unintentionally hit and following tries to eliminate it. You then spend the rest of the episode doubting if it can actually be more terrible than burning, and it can be!

The West Wing – The Two Cathedrals (2001)

No other viewing has been as gripping as when I first saw the season two finale to The West Wing. The episode starts with the aftermath of the death (in a traffic accident) of the president’s confidential aide and builds to a peak with a situation in Haiti, and the fallout from the non-disclosure of the president’s MS diagnosis, along with affirmation of his plan to run for another term. Excellent TV. Never bettered.

Bodyguard – episode one (2018)

The beginning of the UK show Bodyguard, with the hero aboard a train accompanied by his small son, is personally a top tense installment. He observes a woman in Islamic attire entering the restroom and knows something is off. The explosive disposal specialists are summoned, get on the train, and endeavor to coax the woman to remove her explosive vest. Tension escalates to a practically unendurable point, until, finally, the vest is neutralized.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer – The Body (2001)

Buffy arrives at her residence to find her mum has passed away of natural causes, which is the least common kind of passing in this supernatural show. The show features no musical score, a sullen tone, and we witness the episode via the perspective of Buffy’s shock of discovering her mother.

The 2007 The Sopranos finale Made in America

The ultimate sequence of the series finale of the show was pants-wettingly tense. And if you viewed it when it first premiered, you – at first – weren’t sure why. Tony’s adversaries, actual and perceived, were all vanquished. Surely this has the feel of the season one ending? “Remember the little things.” But the mood is bizarrely ominous. Almost Twin Peaks levels of terror. The family sit in a restaurant. Meadow parks. Tony sorrowfully notifies Carmela problems are brewing with yet another of his crew working with the government. Meadow parks the vehicle. Odd persons arrive at the eatery. Stare at Tony(?) Meadow parks. Tony plays a track on the music machine. Meadow finds a spot. The bell rings, someone enters the restaurant. It isn’t Meadow, she remains parking. Tony raises his gaze. Don’t stop. It ceases. My heart dropped from my mouth around 20 minutes subsequently.

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

I stayed up to watch this episode at 2am. It was incredibly tense after the establishment of antagonist Negan locating the survivors, savagely teasing his prey and then keeping the death a mystery (finished with an unresolved situation). The victim’s POV shot and the muted audio – ugh! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season