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Spooks – I Spy Apocalypse from 2003

The episode begins with the MI5 agents locked down while undergoing a drill about a potential terror incident, overseen by two Home Office officials. As events unfold, it appears that there really has been an attack with a chemical weapon released. The anxiety increases as messages indicate a catastrophe taking place outside, and intensifies when the leader seems contaminated, with the two officials trying to exit, forcing Matthew Macfadyen’s character to opt for either shooting them or permitting their exit and risking contaminating the sealed MI5 offices. This being Spooks, it is unsurprising which one he chooses.

Threads from 1984

Threads had minimal funding but arguably the most terrifying series I have viewed owing to its grim authenticity and bleak government data. Watched it about a month ago following the initial broadcast; I often attended the bar in Sheffield from the programme which emphasised the reality and the glib matter-of-fact official information which was broadcast. Continuing to be utterly horrifying decades on.

Severance – The We We Are (2022)

The first season finale of Severance has to be right up there among intense episodes. 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 shouting to the Innies to reveal their realities. The final climactic moment – “she survives!” – was like an eruption.

Industry – White Mischief from 2024

Installment five in Industry’s third series caused my heart to pound. I was compelled to halt and rise and depart the area multiple times owing to the vast degree of the reckless self-harm I was witnessing. Rishi Ramdani faces serious trouble in his job and domestic life – up to his eyeballs in debt to illegal creditors because of his compulsive gambling, assuming hazardous chances with a gamble on the pound which may result in huge losses for his employer. Naturally, he embarks on a betting frenzy, uses copious drugs and alcohol and experiences wins and losses, gets beaten to a pulp. Whenever you assume the situation cannot deteriorate further, it worsens. There’s hope of redemption at the end of the episode yet he wastes the chance, leading to terrible outcomes in the concluding part of the season. Certainly required a rest afterward!

Peep Show – Holiday from 2007

Peep Show itself isn’t necessarily a stressful show. Yet the installment Holiday features such degrees of awkwardness that it’ll have you standing up the whole episode, riddled with anxiety. The tension escalates when Jeremy and Mark realize needing to deceive regarding the dog they by chance collide with and subsequent attempts to dispose of it. You then spend the rest 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 than the first time I watched the second season finale of The West Wing. The episode starts with the aftermath of the demise (in a car crash) of the president’s private assistant and escalates to a高潮 with a situation in Haiti, and the repercussions of the secrecy about the president’s MS condition, coupled with verification of his aim to run for another term. Wonderful television. Unequaled.

Bodyguard – episode one from 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 spots a Muslim woman going into the loo and senses something is wrong. The bomb diffuser experts are called, board the train, and try to persuade the woman to take off her suicide vest. Anxiety builds to an almost unbearable degree, until, indeed, the vest is disarmed.

The 2001 Buffy episode The Body

Buffy arrives at her residence to discover her mother has died from natural reasons, which is the rarest form of demise in this mystical program. The installment lacks any soundtrack, a sullen tone, and we witness the episode via the perspective of Buffy’s dismay upon uncovering her mother.

The Sopranos – Made in America from 2007

The final scene of the final episode 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. Doesn’t this resemble the season one conclusion? “Think about the small elements.” However, the vibe is oddly threatening. Nearly Twin Peaks-like fear. The family sit in a restaurant. Meadow stops the car. Tony sadly tells Carmela there’s trouble afoot with an additional associate working with the government. Meadow parks the vehicle. Odd persons arrive at the eatery. Stare at Tony(?) Meadow continues to park. Tony puts a record on the jukebox. Meadow parks her car. The bell sounds, an individual enters. It isn’t Meadow, she remains parking. Tony looks up. Keep going. It stops. My heart dropped from my mouth about 20 minutes later.

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

I kept late hours to see this show in the early morning. It was extremely gripping following the introduction of villain Negan locating the survivors, mercilessly mocking his targets and then keeping the death a mystery (ended on a cliffhanger). The point-of-view shot from the victim and the muffled sounds – oh no! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season