‘I absolutely had to rest after that!’ The most gripping episodes of TV of all time
The 2003 Spooks episode I Spy Apocalypse
The episode begins with the Spooks team confined while undergoing a drill concerning a fictional terrorist event, supervised by two Home Office agents. As events unfold, it becomes clear a real incident has taken place and a chemical weapon has been unleashed. The anxiety increases as messages indicate a crisis unfolding beyond their walls, and gets worse when the leader seems contaminated, and the government agents endeavor to depart, pushing the protagonist portrayed by Matthew Macfadyen to decide between shooting them or letting them go and endangering the sterile MI5 environment. As this is Spooks, the outcome is expected.
Threads from 1984
The production was inexpensive but arguably the most terrifying series 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 from the programme which underscored the actuality and the offhand factual official statements that were transmitted. Still absolutely terrifying 35 years later.
Severance – The We We Are (2022)
The concluding episode of Severance’s debut season deserves a top spot in terms of gripping installments. I spent the entire episode literally perched nervously, exerting with Dylan to maintain his grip on the controls that kept the Innies on overtime, while shouting to the Innies to get their truths out there. The final climactic moment – “she is living!” – was like an eruption.
The 2024 Industry episode White Mischief
The fifth episode of Industry’s third season caused my heart to pound. I needed to stop and stand and leave the room several times owing to the vast degree of the deliberate ruin I was witnessing. Rishi Ramdani is in deep shit at work and home – buried in financial obligations to illegal creditors owing to his uncontrollable gaming, taking such risks with a gamble on the pound that might cost his firm millions. Inevitably, he starts a gaming binge, uses copious drugs and alcohol and alternates between success and failure, gets beaten to a pulp. Each instance you believe it can’t get any worse, it does. Redemption seems possible as the installment closes but he squanders the opportunity, resulting in dreadful effects in the season finale. Definitely needed a lie-down after that!
Peep Show – Holiday (2007)
The series Peep Show isn’t typically anxiety-inducing. But the episode Holiday includes such amounts of embarrassment that it’ll have you standing up the whole episode, filled with nervousness. The tension escalates when Jeremy and Mark realize having to lie about the dog they unintentionally hit and later efforts to get rid of it. You then spend the rest of the episode wondering if it might be more awful than cremation, and it is possible!
The West Wing – The Two Cathedrals (2001)
No other viewing has been as gripping compared to my initial viewing the concluding episode of The West Wing’s second season. The show opens with the fallout of the passing (in a road incident) of the president’s confidential aide 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. Superb programming. Never bettered.
Bodyguard – episode one from 2018
The start of the British program Bodyguard, with the protagonist on a train accompanied by his small son, is for me one of the most intense episodes ever. He observes a woman in Islamic attire heading to the toilet and realizes something is amiss. The bomb squad is alerted, board the train, and try to persuade the woman to take off her suicide vest. Suspense rises to a nearly intolerable level, until, finally, the vest is neutralized.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer – The Body (2001)
Buffy enters her house to find her mum has passed away of natural causes, which is the least common kind of passing in this paranormal series. The show features no musical score, a gloomy atmosphere, and we witness the episode via the perspective of Buffy’s astonishment upon finding her mother.
The 2007 The Sopranos finale Made in America
The concluding moment of the last installment of the show was pants-wettingly tense. And for those who saw it during its initial broadcast, you – at first – weren’t sure why. Tony’s foes, genuine and fictional, had all been defeated. This seems similar to the first season’s finale, right? “Remember the little things.” Yet the atmosphere is strangely foreboding. Almost Twin Peaks levels of terror. The family gathers in a diner. Meadow stops the car. Tony gloomily informs Carmela there’s trouble afoot with an additional associate cooperating with the officials. Meadow parks. Odd persons arrive at the eatery. Look 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. Keep going. It halts. My heart dropped from my mouth about 20 minutes later.
The 2016 The Walking Dead episode The Last Day on Earth
I stayed up to watch this episode during the night. It was so intense after the establishment of antagonist Negan discovering the characters, cruelly taunting his victims and then leaving the victim unknown (concluded with a suspenseful moment). The point-of-view shot from the victim and the subdued noises – argh! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season
