‘I absolutely had to rest after that!’ Your most gripping television episodes of all time
Spooks – I Spy Apocalypse (2003)
The show kicks off with the Spooks team locked down as part of a simulation about a potential terror incident, supervised by two Home Office agents. As the situation develops, it becomes clear a real incident has taken place and a chemical weapon has been unleashed. The anxiety increases as messages indicate a disaster happening externally, and gets worse as the superior shows signs of exposure, and the two Home Office officials attempt to leave, compelling the character played by Matthew Macfadyen to decide between shooting them or permitting their exit and endangering the sterile MI5 environment. This being Spooks, it is unsurprising which one he chooses.
The 1984 production Threads
Threads had minimal funding but one of the most frightening programmes I have viewed owing to its grim authenticity and dismal official figures. Saw it not long ago following the initial broadcast; I used to visit the pub in Sheffield shown in the series that highlighted the truth 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 season one finale of Severance ranks highly in terms of gripping installments. I remained for the whole show actually sitting tensely, pushing alongside Dylan to maintain his grip on the controls that allowed the Innies to remain active, while yelling at the Innies to get their truths out there. The ultimate peak – “she is living!” – was like an eruption.
Industry – White Mischief (2024)
Episode five of the third series of Industry made my pulse quicken. I was compelled to halt and rise and depart the area multiple times because of the sheer scale of the reckless self-harm I was witnessing. Rishi Ramdani is in deep shit at work and home – up to his eyeballs in debt to illegal creditors owing to his uncontrollable gaming, taking such risks on a wager involving 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 by the episode’s conclusion yet he wastes the chance, resulting in dreadful effects in the concluding part of the season. Absolutely had to relax following that!
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, permeated with worry. It all ramps up when Jeremy and Mark realize needing to deceive regarding the dog they unintentionally hit and later efforts to get rid of it. You subsequently use the rest of the installment 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 compared to my initial viewing the concluding episode of The West Wing’s second season. The installment begins with the consequences of the death (in a traffic accident) of the president’s personal secretary and builds to a peak with a crisis in Haiti, and the effects of the withheld information about the president’s MS condition, along with affirmation of his plan to run for another term. Wonderful television. Unequaled.
Bodyguard – episode one from 2018
The opening of the British series Bodyguard, featuring the main character on a train accompanied by his small son, ranks among the most gripping episodes I’ve seen. He spots a Muslim woman entering the restroom and knows something is off. The bomb squad is alerted, get on the train, and attempt to convince the woman to remove her explosive vest. Suspense rises to a nearly intolerable level, until, indeed, the vest is disarmed.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer – The Body from 2001
Buffy enters her house to find her mum has passed away from natural reasons, which is the most unusual type of death in this supernatural show. The installment lacks any soundtrack, a sullen tone, and we view the installment through the lens 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 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. This seems similar to the first season’s finale, right? “Recall the minor details.” But the mood is bizarrely ominous. Nearly Twin Peaks-like fear. The family gathers in a diner. Meadow stops the car. Tony sadly tells Carmela problems are brewing with an additional associate cooperating with the officials. Meadow parks the vehicle. Odd persons arrive at the eatery. Stare at Tony(?) Meadow continues to park. Tony selects a song on the jukebox. Meadow parks. The door chimes, a person comes in. It cannot be Meadow, she is still parking. Tony raises his gaze. Continue. It ceases. My heart sank about 20 minutes later.
The Walking Dead – The Last Day on Earth from 2016
I kept late hours to see this show in the early morning. It was so intense after the establishment of antagonist Negan finding the group, cruelly taunting his victims and then keeping the death a mystery (finished with an unresolved situation). The point-of-view shot from the victim and the subdued noises – oh no! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season
