‘I truly required a break after that!’ Your most gripping episodes of TV you’ve seen

Spooks – I Spy Apocalypse from 2003

The show kicks off with the Spooks team confined as part of a simulation about a potential terror incident, overseen by two Home Office officials. As events unfold, it seems an actual attack has occurred and a chemical weapon has been unleashed. The anxiety increases as messages indicate a catastrophe taking place outside, and escalates as the superior shows signs of exposure, and the government agents endeavor to depart, pushing the protagonist portrayed by Matthew Macfadyen to decide between shooting them or permitting their exit and risking contaminating the sealed MI5 offices. Given it’s Spooks, his decision is predictable.

The 1984 production Threads

Threads had minimal funding but one of the most frightening programmes I have ever watched owing to its grim authenticity and dismal official figures. Viewed it recently after seeing the first airing; I often attended the bar in Sheffield shown in the series that highlighted the truth and the glib matter-of-fact official information which was broadcast. Remaining completely frightening 35 years later.

Severance – The We We Are from 2022

The first season finale of Severance has to be right up there in terms of gripping installments. I remained for the whole show actually sitting tensely, exerting with Dylan to keep his hands on the levers that allowed the Innies to remain active, while screaming at the Innies to disclose their facts. The ultimate peak – “she’s alive!” – resembled a outburst.

Industry – White Mischief from 2024

Episode five of the third series of Industry made my pulse quicken. I had to pause and get up and depart the area multiple times owing to the vast degree of the reckless self-harm I observed. 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 gamble on the pound which could lose his company millions. Inevitably, he starts a gaming binge, consumes excessive substances and alcohol and experiences wins and losses, is brutally attacked. Every time you think it can’t get any worse, it does. There is a chance for salvation by the episode’s conclusion but he misses the opening, with horrifying consequences in the concluding part of the season. Definitely needed a lie-down after that!

The 2007 Peep Show episode Holiday

Peep Show is not inherently a tense series. But the episode Holiday contains such levels of cringe that it’ll have you standing up the whole episode, permeated with worry. 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 is possible!

The West Wing – The Two Cathedrals (2001)

No other viewing has been as gripping compared to my initial viewing the second season finale of The West Wing. The episode starts with the aftermath of the death (in a traffic accident) of the president’s personal secretary and reaches a crescendo involving a Haitian emergency, and the fallout from the non-disclosure regarding the president’s multiple sclerosis diagnosis, with confirmation of his intention to pursue re-election. Excellent TV. Unequaled.

The 2018 Bodyguard premiere episode

The opening of the British series Bodyguard, with the hero aboard a train alongside his juvenile boy, ranks among the most gripping episodes I’ve seen. He spots a Muslim woman heading to the toilet and senses something is wrong. The explosive disposal specialists are summoned, get on the train, and endeavor to coax the woman to discard her bomb jacket. Suspense rises to an almost unbearable degree, until yes, the vest is diffused.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer – The Body from 2001

Buffy enters her house to discover her mother has died due to natural factors, 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 dismay upon uncovering her mother.

The 2007 The Sopranos finale Made in America

The concluding moment of the last installment of the series was extremely nerve-wracking. And if you watched it when it originally aired, you – at the start – didn’t understand the cause. Tony’s enemies, real and imagined, were all vanquished. This seems similar to the first season’s finale, right? “Remember the little things.” Yet the atmosphere is strangely foreboding. Nearly Twin Peaks-like fear. The family gathers in a diner. Meadow parks. Tony gloomily informs 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 parks. The door chimes, a person comes in. It isn’t Meadow, she remains parking. Tony raises his gaze. Keep going. It ceases. My spirit fell around 20 minutes subsequently.

The Walking Dead – The Last Day on Earth from 2016

I kept late hours to see this show at 2am. It was extremely gripping following the introduction of villain Negan discovering the characters, mercilessly mocking his targets then not knowing who he killed (finished with an unresolved situation). The victim’s POV shot and the muffled sounds – oh no! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season