Originally published October 26, 2016. Updated April 16, 2018.
Inside No. 9
Created by Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith
Starring Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith
SYNOPSIS:
From the warped minds of The League of Gentlemen’s Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith comes a dark anthology series dealing in various twisted tales. Some scary, some sad, and some just plain weird, but all take place Inside No. 9.
Of course being an anthology series, I won’t discuss the plots in detail and will refrain from spoilers;, instead I’ll try to explain why this series is easily one of the most innovative and interesting shows to air on a mainstream broadcaster like the BBC.
All episodes feature different stories, with the only linking factor being that they take place within a house, room or flat listed as No.9. The episodes jump around with regards to tone which gives the series the feeling of freshness with each new episode, with a new story and new characters every time. It also helps when a particular story falls flat, because if you hate one episode, a much better one will be on the week after. These are just a few of what I feel are the strongest episodes.
A Quiet Night In is easily one of the best episodes, a hilarious silent slapstick comedy about a pair of bumbling burglars; brilliantly executed with many great sight gags.
The 12 Lives of Christine is another brilliant episode, a sombre drama about an ordinary woman experiencing some increasingly disturbing visions. Initially beginning as a dark ghost story, the eventual payoff is one that one of surprising poignancy.
Cold Comfort is a brilliantly twisted look at suicide helpline, in which one unlucky volunteer is subjected to demented mind games by a manipulative caller. This episode is also a technical marvel, entirely filmed from webcams and security cameras and presented in a split screen fashion that you’ll find your eyes darting about hoping to catch something amiss.
There are more brilliant episodes, but to list them all would be spoiling too much in my view. While most episodes are excellent, being a great mixture of the scary, funny and dramatic, some episodes are quite weak.
The worst episode is easily Last Breath, a dull uninteresting drama, which wastes a potentially brilliant story looking at celebrity culture and death, on some unfunny shenanigans involving a balloon. It’s not even that dark in tone, which for this show is very unusual and renders the whole episode very dull and lifeless. However, this episode is a rare misstep in an otherwise excellent series.
The series’ rotating cast are often what make or break an episode, and thankfully with each episode, the cast are on top form.
Pemberton and Shearsmith are only regular actors to appear in the series, with every episode featuring at least one of them in a role. Although regardless of what sort of character they play they are always on top form, whether it be an ordinary person caught up in odd circumstances, or as a creepy old man who seems to have stepped out from a haunted painting.
To pick a standout performance from the guest actors would be difficult, but I would have to say that Sheridan Smith, who takes the title role in the previously mentioned 12 Days of Christine, coming across as a likeable and sympathetic protagonist who is confronted with some truly sinister and heartbreaking goings on in her life.
The only weak actor in the whole series is the impish pain in the backside that is Jack Whitehall, who appears in the otherwise good La Couchette, immediately lowering the quality of the episode every time he opens his mouth.
All in all, Inside No. 9 is yet another terrific instalment in the recent anthology boom we seem to be enjoying. With a varied cast of excellent actors, (and one irritating comedian), some brilliantly twisted stories from the warped minds of Shearsmith and Pemberton, this series is well worth taking a peek inside.
Graeme Robertson
