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The 2003 Spooks episode I Spy Apocalypse

The episode begins with the Spooks team locked down during a training exercise relating to a hypothetical terrorist attack, supervised by two Home Office agents. As the situation develops, it seems an actual attack has occurred and a chemical agent deployed. The anxiety increases as incoming communications show a disaster happening externally, 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 potentially infecting the secure MI5 headquarters. This being Spooks, his decision is predictable.

Threads from 1984

Threads was low budget but arguably the most terrifying series I have viewed due to its harsh realism and bleak government data. Saw it not long ago after seeing the first airing; I used to visit the pub in Sheffield featured in the show which underscored the actuality and the glib matter-of-fact official information that aired. Remaining completely frightening decades on.

Severance – The We We Are from 2022

The concluding episode of Severance’s debut season has to be right up there as a tense chapter. I was throughout the episode literally perched nervously, exerting with Dylan to maintain his grip on the controls that kept the Innies on overtime, while screaming at the Innies to reveal their realities. The concluding高潮 – “she is living!” – was like an eruption.

The 2024 Industry episode White Mischief

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 due to the immense extent of the deliberate ruin I observed. Rishi Ramdani is in deep shit at work and home – buried in financial obligations to loan sharks because of his compulsive gambling, taking such risks with a bet on sterling which may result in huge losses for his employer. 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 the situation cannot deteriorate further, it worsens. There is a chance for salvation by the episode’s conclusion yet he wastes the chance, with horrifying consequences during the season’s final episode. Absolutely had to relax following that!

The 2007 Peep Show episode Holiday

Peep Show itself isn’t necessarily a stressful show. But the episode Holiday features such degrees of awkwardness that it will make you rise the whole episode, riddled with anxiety. It all ramps up as Jeremy and Mark discover being compelled to falsify about the canine they accidentally run over and following tries to eliminate it. You then spend the rest of the episode doubting if it can actually be more terrible than burning, and it is possible!

The West Wing – The Two Cathedrals from 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 episode starts with the aftermath of the death (in a traffic accident) of the president’s personal secretary and builds to a peak with a crisis in Haiti, and the repercussions of the secrecy of the president’s MS diagnosis, with confirmation of his intention to pursue re-election. Superb programming. Unequaled.

Bodyguard – episode one (2018)

The opening of the British series Bodyguard, featuring the main character on a train alongside his juvenile boy, is for me one of the most intense episodes ever. He spots a Muslim woman going into the loo and realizes something is amiss. The bomb squad is alerted, get on the train, and attempt to convince the woman to remove her explosive vest. Anxiety builds to a nearly intolerable level, until yes, the vest is diffused.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer – The Body (2001)

Buffy enters her house to realize her mom has deceased from natural reasons, which is the most unusual type of death in this supernatural show. The show features no musical score, a somber mood, and we view the installment through the lens of Buffy’s dismay upon uncovering her mother.

The Sopranos – Made in America (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 – initially – were uncertain of the reason. Tony’s foes, genuine and fictional, were all vanquished. This seems similar to the first season’s finale, right? “Think about the small elements.” Yet the atmosphere is strangely foreboding. Almost Twin Peaks levels of terror. The clan sits in an eatery. Meadow finds a parking spot. Tony sorrowfully notifies Carmela problems are brewing with yet another of his crew collaborating with the authorities. Meadow parks. Strange people enter the restaurant. Stare at Tony(?) Meadow parks. Tony puts a record on the jukebox. Meadow parks her car. The door chimes, a person comes in. It isn’t Meadow, she remains parking. Tony glances upward. Continue. It ceases. My spirit fell 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 extremely gripping after the buildup of bad guy Negan locating the survivors, savagely teasing his prey and then leaving the victim unknown (finished with an unresolved situation). The victim’s POV shot and the subdued noises – oh no! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season