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Spooks – I Spy Apocalypse from 2003

The show kicks off with the Spooks team locked down while undergoing a drill about a potential terror incident, overseen by two Home Office officials. As the situation develops, it becomes clear a real incident has taken place and a chemical agent deployed. The anxiety increases as reports reveal a catastrophe taking place outside, and intensifies as the superior shows signs of exposure, and the government agents endeavor to depart, compelling the character played by Matthew Macfadyen to opt for either shooting them or allowing them to leave and potentially infecting the secure MI5 headquarters. This being Spooks, the outcome is expected.

The 1984 production Threads

The production was inexpensive but one of the most frightening programmes I’ve ever seen owing to its grim authenticity and grim official statistics. Watched it about a month ago having watched the original; I frequently went to the Sheffield pub from the programme which underscored the actuality and the casual, straightforward government details which was broadcast. Still absolutely terrifying decades on.

Severance – The We We Are (2022)

The first season finale of Severance ranks highly in terms of gripping installments. I spent the entire episode quite literally on the edge of my seat, pushing alongside Dylan to maintain his grip on the controls that allowed the Innies to remain active, while screaming at the Innies to disclose their facts. The concluding高潮 – “she’s alive!” – resembled a outburst.

Industry – White Mischief from 2024

Installment five in Industry’s third series had my heart racing. I was compelled to halt and rise and depart the area multiple times due to the immense extent of the wanton self-destruction I saw. Rishi Ramdani is in deep shit in his job and domestic life – overwhelmed by debt to illegal creditors due to his addictive betting, taking such risks 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 wins, loses, wins, gets beaten to a pulp. Each instance you believe things cannot decline more, it deteriorates. There’s hope of redemption by the episode’s conclusion but he squanders the opportunity, leading to terrible outcomes in the season finale. Absolutely had to relax following that!

The 2007 Peep Show episode Holiday

Peep Show is not inherently a tense series. But the episode Holiday includes such amounts of embarrassment that it’ll have you standing up for the full show, filled with nervousness. The tension escalates as Jeremy and Mark discover having to lie about the dog they accidentally run over and later efforts to get rid of it. You then spend the rest of the episode doubting if it can actually be more terrible than burning, and it can be!

The West Wing – The Two Cathedrals from 2001

Nothing I’ve watched has been more intense compared to my initial viewing the second season finale of The West Wing. The episode starts with the aftermath 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 effects of the withheld information regarding the president’s multiple sclerosis diagnosis, coupled with verification of his aim to seek re-election. Superb programming. Never bettered.

Bodyguard – episode one (2018)

The start of the British program Bodyguard, with the protagonist on a train with his young son, is for me one of the most intense episodes ever. He observes a woman in Islamic attire heading to the toilet and senses something is wrong. The bomb squad is alerted, get on the train, and endeavor to coax the woman to remove her explosive vest. Tension escalates to an almost unbearable degree, until, finally, the vest is neutralized.

The 2001 Buffy episode The Body

Buffy enters her house to find her mum has passed away due to natural factors, which is the rarest form of demise in this mystical program. The episode has no background music, a somber mood, and we witness the episode via the perspective of Buffy’s dismay upon uncovering her mother.

The 2007 The Sopranos finale Made in America

The concluding moment of the last installment of the program was incredibly anxious. And if you watched it when it originally aired, you – at the start – didn’t understand the cause. Tony’s adversaries, actual and perceived, were all overcome. Surely this has the feel of the season one ending? “Think about the small elements.” However, the vibe is oddly threatening. Almost Twin Peaks levels of terror. The clan sits in an eatery. Meadow finds a parking spot. Tony sorrowfully notifies Carmela there’s trouble afoot with another member of his team working with the government. Meadow parks. Odd persons arrive at the eatery. Gaze at Tony(?) Meadow parks. Tony plays a track on the music machine. Meadow parks. The door chimes, a person comes in. Can’t be Meadow, she’s still parking. Tony raises his gaze. Keep going. It ceases. My spirit fell roughly 20 minutes after.

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

I kept late hours to see this show in the early morning. It was incredibly tense following the introduction of villain Negan discovering the characters, cruelly taunting his victims and then keeping the death a mystery (finished with an unresolved situation). The first-person perspective of the victim and the muffled sounds – oh no! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season