10 Moments That Literally Stopped TV Shows

Twin Peaks: The Return remains one of the most unexpected and boundary-pushing seasons of TV ever made, and reached a jaw-dropping peak of imagination with its instantly iconic eighth episode, simply entitled "Part 8."

While no single scene of David Lynch's mystery-thriller series could be called "normal," the first 15 minutes of the episodes at least feel in tonal and stylistic step with everything that came before.

But after Cooper's doppelgänger aka Mr. C (Kyle MacLachlan) is revived, we suddenly cut to black and re-emerge in 1945, where the remaining 40-something minutes of the episode detail the hallucinogenic origins of the evil Killer BOB (Frank Silva).

Between its mesmerising depiction of the first atomic bomb being detonated in New Mexico and what's basically a mini-horror movie featuring the skin-crawlingly creepy woodsmen, it is a show-stopper in every possible sense of the world.

While the season didn't need this lengthy aside by any means - Lynch has always favoured ambiguity, after all - it lends welcome context to one of the most challenging-yet-rewarding single seasons of TV you're ever likely to see.

That Showtime allowed Lynch to pump the breaks for almost an entire episode and take fans on a horrifyingly beautiful rollercoaster ride through time and space is a testament to their trust in his vision.