🔗 Share this article ‘I absolutely had to rest after that!’ The most gripping TV episodes you’ve seen The 2003 Spooks episode I Spy Apocalypse The show kicks off with the Spooks team restricted while undergoing a drill about a potential terror incident, supervised by two Home Office agents. As things progress, it appears that there really has been an attack with a chemical weapon released. The tension ratchets up as reports reveal a catastrophe taking place outside, and escalates when the leader seems contaminated, and the two Home Office officials attempt to leave, pushing the protagonist portrayed by Matthew Macfadyen to decide between shooting them or permitting their exit and potentially infecting the secure MI5 headquarters. As this is Spooks, it is unsurprising which one he chooses. Threads (1984) The production was inexpensive yet among the scariest shows I’ve ever seen due to its harsh realism and bleak government data. Viewed it recently following the initial broadcast; I used to visit the pub in Sheffield shown in the series that highlighted the truth and the offhand factual official statements which was broadcast. Continuing to be utterly horrifying after three and a half decades. The 2022 Severance episode The We We Are The first season finale of Severance deserves a top spot in terms of gripping installments. I remained for the whole show quite literally on the edge of my seat, pushing alongside Dylan to hold the switches that sustained the Innies’ extended time, while screaming at the Innies to get their truths out there. The ultimate peak – “she is living!” – felt like an explosion. Industry – White Mischief from 2024 Episode five of the third series of Industry made my pulse quicken. I was compelled to halt and rise and exit the space repeatedly due to the immense extent of the reckless self-harm I saw. Rishi Ramdani is in major difficulty in his job and domestic life – overwhelmed by debt to loan sharks owing to his uncontrollable gaming, taking such risks on a wager involving sterling that might cost his firm millions. Naturally, he embarks on a betting frenzy, does tons of drugs and drink and wins, loses, wins, is severely assaulted. Each instance you believe things cannot decline more, it worsens. There’s hope of redemption as the installment closes yet he wastes the chance, resulting in dreadful effects during the season’s final episode. Definitely needed a lie-down after that! The 2007 Peep Show episode Holiday Peep Show itself isn’t necessarily a stressful show. However, the Holiday episode features such degrees of awkwardness that it will make you rise for the full show, filled with nervousness. The situation intensifies when Jeremy and Mark realize having to lie about the dog they unintentionally hit and subsequent attempts to dispose 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) Nothing I’ve watched has been more intense than the first time I watched 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 with a crisis in Haiti, and the repercussions of the secrecy about the president’s MS condition, coupled with verification of his aim to pursue re-election. Wonderful television. Unsurpassed. Bodyguard – episode one (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 heading to the toilet and realizes something is amiss. The explosive disposal specialists are summoned, get on the train, and endeavor to coax the woman to remove her explosive vest. Suspense rises to a practically unendurable point, until yes, the vest is diffused. Buffy the Vampire Slayer – The Body (2001) Buffy comes into her home to realize her mom has deceased from natural reasons, which is the most unusual type of death in this paranormal series. The show features no musical score, a gloomy atmosphere, and we see the episode through the experience of Buffy’s dismay upon uncovering her mother. The Sopranos – Made in America from 2007 The concluding moment of the last installment of the show was pants-wettingly tense. And if you watched it when it originally aired, you – at first – weren’t sure why. Tony’s adversaries, actual and perceived, were all overcome. Doesn’t this resemble the season one conclusion? “Think about the small elements.” But the mood is bizarrely ominous. Almost Twin Peaks levels of terror. The family gathers in a diner. Meadow stops the car. Tony sorrowfully notifies Carmela there’s trouble afoot with another member of his team working with the government. Meadow parks the vehicle. Strange people enter the restaurant. Gaze at Tony(?) Meadow parks. Tony puts a record on the jukebox. Meadow parks her car. The door chimes, a person comes in. It cannot be Meadow, she is still parking. Tony raises his gaze. Don’t stop. It ceases. My heart dropped from my mouth roughly 20 minutes after. The Walking Dead – The Last Day on Earth from 2016 I remained awake to view this installment at 2am. It was extremely gripping after the establishment of antagonist Negan locating the survivors, savagely teasing his prey and then keeping the death a mystery (ended on a cliffhanger). The first-person perspective of the victim and the muffled sounds – ugh! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season