‘I definitely needed a lie-down after that!’ Your most nerve-wracking episodes of TV ever

Spooks – I Spy Apocalypse (2003)

The episode begins with the MI5 agents locked down as part of a simulation relating to a hypothetical terrorist attack, overseen by two Home Office officials. As things progress, it seems an actual attack has occurred and a chemical agent deployed. The suspense builds as reports reveal a crisis unfolding beyond their walls, and escalates when the leader seems contaminated, with the two officials trying to exit, pushing the protagonist portrayed by Matthew Macfadyen to decide between shooting them or allowing them to leave and risking contaminating the sealed MI5 offices. Given it’s Spooks, the outcome is expected.

Threads (1984)

Threads was low budget but one of the most frightening programmes I have viewed due to its harsh realism and bleak government data. Watched it about a month ago having watched the original; I often attended the bar in Sheffield featured in the show which emphasised the reality and the glib matter-of-fact official information which was broadcast. Remaining completely frightening decades on.

Severance – The We We Are (2022)

The first season finale of Severance deserves a top spot as a tense chapter. I spent the entire episode literally perched nervously, straining every sinew with Dylan to keep his hands on the levers that allowed the Innies to remain active, while yelling at the Innies to get their truths out there. The concluding高潮 – “she survives!” – felt like an explosion.

Industry – White Mischief (2024)

The fifth episode of Industry’s third season made my pulse quicken. I had to pause and get up and exit the space repeatedly owing to the vast degree of the wanton self-destruction I observed. Rishi Ramdani is in major difficulty professionally and personally – overwhelmed by debt to illegal creditors because of his compulsive gambling, assuming hazardous chances with a bet on sterling which could lose his company millions. Inevitably, he starts a gaming binge, consumes excessive substances and alcohol and experiences wins and losses, gets beaten to a pulp. Whenever you assume it can’t get any worse, it does. There’s hope of redemption as the installment closes but he squanders the opportunity, leading to terrible outcomes in the season finale. Certainly required a rest afterward!

The 2007 Peep Show episode Holiday

Peep Show is not inherently a tense series. Yet the installment Holiday contains such levels of cringe that it’ll have you standing up throughout the entire episode, filled with nervousness. It all ramps up as Jeremy and Mark discover needing to deceive regarding the dog they by chance collide with and following tries to eliminate it. You then spend the rest of the episode wondering if it might be more awful than cremation, and it can be!

The West Wing – The Two Cathedrals from 2001

Nothing I have seen has been as tense than the first time I watched the second season finale of The West Wing. The installment begins with the consequences of the passing (in a road incident) of the president’s private assistant and builds to a peak with a crisis in Haiti, and the repercussions of the secrecy of the president’s MS diagnosis, coupled with verification of his aim to run for another term. Wonderful television. Never bettered.

Bodyguard – episode one from 2018

The start of the British program Bodyguard, featuring the main character on a train alongside his juvenile boy, is personally a top tense installment. He spots a Muslim woman going into the loo and realizes something is amiss. The bomb squad is alerted, enter the train, and attempt to convince the woman to remove her explosive vest. Suspense rises to a practically unendurable point, until, indeed, the vest is disarmed.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer – The Body from 2001

Buffy comes into her home to discover her mother has died due to natural factors, which is the rarest form of demise in this mystical program. The show features no musical score, a sullen tone, and we witness the episode via the perspective of Buffy’s astonishment upon finding her mother.

The Sopranos – Made in America (2007)

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 adversaries, actual and perceived, had all been defeated. Surely this has the feel of the season one ending? “Think about the small elements.” But the mood is bizarrely ominous. Almost Twin Peaks levels of terror. The family sit in a restaurant. Meadow stops the car. Tony gloomily informs Carmela difficulties are arising with another member of his team collaborating with the authorities. Meadow parks the vehicle. Strange people enter the restaurant. Look at Tony(?) Meadow parks. Tony puts a record on the jukebox. Meadow finds a spot. The door chimes, a person comes in. Can’t be Meadow, she’s still parking. Tony raises his gaze. Keep going. It halts. My heart dropped from my mouth about 20 minutes later.

The Walking Dead – The Last Day on Earth from 2016

I kept late hours to see this show at 2am. It was incredibly tense after the buildup of bad guy Negan finding the group, cruelly taunting his victims and then leaving the victim unknown (ended on a cliffhanger). The victim’s POV shot and the muffled sounds – ugh! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season