‘I absolutely had to rest after that!’ Your most intense TV episodes of all time

Spooks – I Spy Apocalypse from 2003

The show kicks off with the Spooks team confined while undergoing a drill relating to a hypothetical terrorist attack, monitored by two government representatives. As things progress, it becomes clear a real incident has taken place and a chemical weapon has been unleashed. The suspense builds as messages indicate a catastrophe taking place outside, and intensifies as the boss appears to be infected, with the two officials trying to exit, pushing the protagonist portrayed by Matthew Macfadyen to choose between firing at them or permitting their exit and endangering the sterile MI5 environment. This being Spooks, it is unsurprising which one he chooses.

Threads from 1984

Threads was low budget but arguably the most terrifying series I have viewed owing to its grim authenticity and dismal official figures. Viewed it recently having watched the original; I used to visit the pub in Sheffield featured in the show that highlighted the truth and the glib matter-of-fact official information that aired. Continuing to be utterly horrifying decades on.

Severance – The We We Are from 2022

The concluding episode of Severance’s debut season ranks highly among intense episodes. I remained for the whole show literally perched nervously, exerting with Dylan to hold the switches that sustained the Innies’ extended time, while shouting to the Innies to disclose their facts. The concluding高潮 – “she’s alive!” – was like an eruption.

Industry – White Mischief from 2024

Episode five of the third series of Industry made my pulse quicken. I needed to stop and stand and leave the room several times because of the sheer scale of the deliberate ruin I observed. Rishi Ramdani is in major difficulty in his job and domestic life – up to his eyeballs in debt from unscrupulous lenders because of his compulsive gambling, engaging in dangerous ventures on a wager involving sterling that might cost his firm millions. Inevitably, he starts a gaming binge, does tons of drugs and drink and alternates between success and failure, is brutally attacked. Each instance you believe things cannot decline more, it worsens. Redemption seems possible at the end of the episode but he misses the opening, resulting in dreadful effects during the season’s final episode. Certainly required a rest afterward!

The 2007 Peep Show episode Holiday

Peep Show itself isn’t necessarily a stressful show. Yet the installment Holiday contains such levels of cringe that it can cause you to stand the whole episode, riddled with anxiety. The situation intensifies once Jeremy and Mark find themselves having to lie about the dog they unintentionally hit and following tries to eliminate it. You subsequently use the rest of the installment questioning whether it truly can be worse than incineration, and it is possible!

The West Wing – The Two Cathedrals from 2001

No other viewing has been as gripping as when I first saw the second season finale of The West Wing. The installment begins with the consequences of the demise (in a car crash) of the president’s personal secretary and builds to a peak with a situation in Haiti, and the fallout from the non-disclosure about the president’s MS condition, with confirmation of his intention to seek re-election. Excellent TV. Unequaled.

Bodyguard – episode one from 2018

The beginning of the UK show Bodyguard, with the hero aboard a train alongside his juvenile boy, is for me one of the most intense episodes ever. He observes a woman in Islamic attire heading to the toilet and realizes something is amiss. The bomb diffuser experts are called, get on the train, and attempt to convince the woman to discard her bomb jacket. Tension escalates to an almost unbearable degree, 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 most unusual type of death in this supernatural show. The show features no musical score, a gloomy atmosphere, and we see the episode through the experience of Buffy’s astonishment upon finding her mother.

The 2007 The Sopranos finale Made in America

The ultimate sequence of the series finale of the program was incredibly anxious. And if you viewed it when it first premiered, you – at the start – didn’t understand the cause. Tony’s foes, genuine and fictional, were all vanquished. Doesn’t this resemble the season one conclusion? “Remember the little things.” However, the vibe is oddly threatening. Approaching Twin Peaks-esque horror. The family sit in a restaurant. Meadow parks. Tony sadly tells Carmela problems are brewing with yet another of his crew collaborating with the authorities. Meadow parks the vehicle. Unfamiliar individuals come into the diner. Stare at Tony(?) Meadow is parking. Tony plays a track on the music machine. Meadow finds a spot. The bell sounds, an individual enters. Can’t be Meadow, she’s still parking. Tony looks up. Keep going. It ceases. My heart dropped from my mouth around 20 minutes subsequently.

The 2016 The Walking Dead episode The Last Day on Earth

I kept late hours to see this show at 2am. It was so intense after the buildup of bad guy Negan finding the group, mercilessly mocking his targets and then leaving the victim unknown (ended on a cliffhanger). The point-of-view shot from the victim and the muffled sounds – argh! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season