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The 2003 Spooks episode I Spy Apocalypse

This installment starts with the Spooks team locked down as part of a simulation about a potential terror incident, overseen by two Home Office officials. As events unfold, it becomes clear a real incident has taken place and a chemical agent deployed. The anxiety increases as messages indicate a catastrophe taking place outside, and gets worse as the superior shows signs of exposure, and the government agents endeavor to depart, forcing Matthew Macfadyen’s character to choose between firing at them or allowing them to leave and potentially infecting the secure MI5 headquarters. This being Spooks, the outcome is expected.

The 1984 production Threads

The production was inexpensive yet among the scariest shows I’ve ever seen because of the stark reality and bleak government data. Watched it about a month ago after seeing the first airing; I often attended the bar in Sheffield featured in the show which emphasised the reality and the glib matter-of-fact official information that aired. Still absolutely terrifying decades on.

Severance – The We We Are from 2022

The season one finale of Severance has to be right up there among intense episodes. I was throughout the episode literally perched nervously, straining every sinew with Dylan to hold the switches that allowed the Innies to remain active, while yelling at the Innies to reveal their realities. The ultimate peak – “she is living!” – resembled a outburst.

Industry – White Mischief from 2024

Episode five of the third series of Industry had my heart racing. I was compelled to halt and rise and depart the area multiple times owing to the vast degree of the deliberate ruin I saw. Rishi Ramdani is in major difficulty at work and home – overwhelmed by debt to loan sharks because of his compulsive gambling, taking such risks on a wager involving sterling that might cost his firm millions. So of course, he goes on a gambling spree, does tons of drugs and drink and experiences wins and losses, is severely assaulted. Every time you think things cannot decline more, it does. Redemption seems possible by the episode’s conclusion but he squanders the opportunity, resulting in dreadful effects in the season finale. Certainly required a rest afterward!

Peep Show – Holiday from 2007

Peep Show is not inherently a tense series. Yet the installment Holiday includes such amounts of embarrassment that it can cause you to stand the whole episode, riddled with anxiety. It all ramps up as Jeremy and Mark discover having to lie about the dog they accidentally run over and following tries to eliminate it. You then occupy the remainder of the episode questioning whether it truly can be worse than incineration, and it turns out to be!

The 2001 The West Wing episode The Two Cathedrals

Nothing I’ve watched has been more intense compared to my initial viewing the concluding episode of The West Wing’s second season. The episode starts with the aftermath of the demise (in a car crash) of the president’s personal secretary and builds to a peak with a situation in Haiti, and the fallout from the non-disclosure regarding the president’s multiple sclerosis diagnosis, with confirmation of his intention to run for another term. Excellent TV. Unequaled.

Bodyguard – episode one from 2018

The start of the British program Bodyguard, featuring the main character on 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 squad is alerted, get on the train, and try to persuade the woman to discard her bomb jacket. Tension escalates to a nearly intolerable level, until, indeed, the vest is disarmed.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer – The Body (2001)

Buffy comes into her home to find her mum has passed away due to natural factors, which is the rarest form of demise in this supernatural show. The installment lacks any soundtrack, 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 final scene of the final episode of the program was incredibly anxious. 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. Doesn’t this resemble the season one conclusion? “Recall the minor details.” But the mood is bizarrely ominous. Almost Twin Peaks levels of terror. The family sit in a restaurant. Meadow stops the car. Tony sadly tells Carmela difficulties are arising with yet another of his crew cooperating with the officials. Meadow parks the vehicle. Unfamiliar individuals come into the diner. Gaze at Tony(?) Meadow continues to park. Tony plays a track on the music machine. Meadow parks her car. The door chimes, a person comes in. Can’t be Meadow, she’s still parking. Tony raises his gaze. Don’t stop. It ceases. My spirit fell roughly 20 minutes after.

The Walking Dead – The Last Day on Earth from 2016

I stayed up to watch this episode in the early morning. It was so intense following the introduction of villain Negan locating the survivors, savagely teasing his prey and then leaving the victim unknown (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