[TV Review] Inside No.9 (2014)

Warning - Contains mild spoilers for all six series of Inside No. 9.

On Monday night in 1999, as 9.30 pm approached, my Dad said “Oh there’s this new TV show about to start that I think you might like.” That TV show turned out to be The League of Gentlemen (1999) and my Dad was absolutely correct, I loved it. As an avid horror lover who was also only eleven at the time, I was delighted with any horror-adjacent content that could be viewed on TV before my bedtime, and considering the first episode features two people being murdered and their bodies burned, I was in love. 

Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton, two of the writers and stars of The League of Gentlemen, went on to create Psychoville (2009) together, before coming up with the black comedy anthology series Inside No. 9 (2014). Unlike The League of Gentlemen and Psychoville, which followed a strange cast of characters and their intertwining stories, each episode of Inside No. 9 is a self-contained tale. 

While there are strong horror elements running through a lot of the episodes, there’s plenty of hilarious moments and more than one episode that will leave you in tears as the credits roll. The only things each episode has in common are the number nine in some way (usually the address of the episode’s setting), a brass hare statue lurking in the background like some strange version of Where’s Wally?, and usually, a cunning twist in the closing moments. 

With the sixth season airing in June this year, there’s a whopping 37 amazing episodes of Inside No. 9 to choose from. So rather than trying to review them all in one piece, I decided to pick my two favourite episodes from each season to help give you a taste of what makes this anthology series so fantastic. 

Series One - A Quiet Night In (2014)

Inside No. 9 is not afraid to lean into a shtick for an episode, and A Quiet Night In shows just how well that can pay off, with there being almost no dialogue for the entire runtime. Instead, the episode is filled mostly with loud classical music as two burglars, Eddie and Ray, try to rob the unsuspecting Gerald. 

From the minute the security light triggers in Gerald’s back garden and we see Eddie and Ray haplessly rolling around trying to avoid detection, we can tell this pair aren’t the most skilled criminals in the world. 

This is one of the funniest episodes, and it’s a treat watching how Pemberton and Shearsmith keep up the whole no dialogue angle in a way that feels completely natural for the situation but also looks completely ridiculous.

Series One - Tom & Gerri (2014)

Tom is a teacher who doesn’t enjoy his job and dreams of a career in writing. Gerri, his girlfriend, is an aspiring actor, who takes jobs that Tom seems to look down his nose at, though perhaps it’s jealousy that her creative career seems to be working out. 

After losing his wallet one night, Tom becomes friends with Migg, a homeless man who sits outside Tom’s flat, and who Tom had previously noticed because everyone else was ignoring him. Despite his initial hesitance, Tom and Migg soon become friends. And while Migg’s life starts to improve, Tom’s soon starts on a downward spiral that he seems unable to pull himself out of. 

Tom & Gerri is a perfect example of how Inside No. 9 can give you unsettling episodes that don’t have to be outright scary. There’s a niggle in the back of your head for their entire episode as you try to work out what’s really going on, and even when you think you’ve got it, they still manage to pull the rug out from under you.

Series Two - The 12 Days of Christine (2015)

The 12 Days of Christine probably appears on every best episode list ever for Inside No 9, but there’s a reason for that - because it’s hands-down brilliant. The episode starts with Christine, arriving home after a New Year party with Adam. The pair are in fancy dress and are off to a flirtatious start. 

As the episode progresses, we follow Christine’s life on different holidays (Easter, Father’s Day, her birthday) over the years. This episode seems to be a simple story of a couple growing closer together and then further apart, but there are some unsettling elements. Christine randomly finds eggs broken in the kitchen, there’s a strange dinging sound that crops up before each time jump, and there’s the Stranger, a man who keeps appearing in her flat with fogged up glasses and a raincoat on.

This episode has everything you could ask for really. There’s family drama, a bit of spooky mystery when the Stranger is involved, and an emotional ending that will knock you for six.

Series Two - Cold Comfort (2015)

Shown to us through various fixed security cameras, Cold Comfort follows Andy when he starts working at a crisis support line as a volunteer. Initially, Andy is struggling to learn the ropes but soon receives a call from a young girl called Chloe, who seems to have overdosed on pills and dies while on the phone with him.

However, when Chloe phones back a few nights later, Andy learns there’s something more sinister going on. The concept of this episode is really simple, and yet the static shots of the many cameras in the office means you’re constantly scanning for something happening away from the main action. It will also forever change how you hear the lyrics of Take That’s Shine. 

Series Three - The Riddle of the Sphinx (2017)

If you love a twist, then The Riddle of the Sphinx is the episode for you. Nina breaks into the office of university professor and cryptic crossword writer Professor Nigel Squires to steal the answers of his latest crossword to impress her boyfriend. But is that really why she’s there?

Pemberton is a massive cryptic crossword fan, and the giant crossword used in the episode was created by him. It’s delightful to watch the clues get solved (even if I didn’t understand half of the logic behind it) and see the episode unfold along with it. It’s also possibly one of the darkest episodes from all six seasons, which is saying something.

Series Three - Empty Orchestra (2017)

Compared to The Riddle of the Sphinx, Empty Orchestra is a very straightforward story following a team of workmates on a night out at a karaoke bar. Everyone is dressed like pop stars, apart from Shearsmith’s Greg, who is dressed as a sumo wrestler for some reason. The team are there to celebrate colleague Roger’s promotion, however, the team is stressed because there’s a rumour that Roger is about to fire one of the team.

As you would expect from an episode based in a karaoke room, there’s plenty of sing-a-long staples on the soundtrack, with the songs helping to tell the story of the episode. Characters take turns singing along while the actions take place in the background or off to the sides, again proving how perfectly Pemberton and Shearsmith construct each story.

Series Four - Bernie Clifton’s Dressing Room (2018)

It’s been a while since we’ve had a cry, so the second episode in the fourth season is here to punch us in the heart again. Featuring mostly Pemberton and Shearsmith riffing off each other, Bernie Clifton’s Dressing Room shows why these two make such a great team. 

Former double-act Cheese and Crackers are meeting up to reunite after 30 years apart to practise their act and see if they’re still relevant enough to perform for an audience. Their old-fashioned antics, especially the wall sketch, are hilarious. And it’s fun watching Shearsmith switch from his stick in the mud digital marketer personality to the more wacky Cheese at the drop of a hat. Just make sure you have your tissues ready.

Series Four - Dead Line (2018)

Dead Line was a standalone Halloween special that aired in 2018, but BBC iPlayer counts it as part of series four, so that’s where I’m including it. Dead Line originally aired live, and while I was worried watching it at a later date might not hit the same spot, I can confirm when my boyfriend watched it for the first time recently, the confused enjoyment was still as high.

While the episode starts off telling a story about a lost telephone in a graveyard, technical difficulties mean that we’re soon viewing the real Pemberton and Shearsmith behind the scenes as they deal with their live episode being pulled off the air. Well-placed tweets from Shearsmith on the night made the whole thing an immersive experience, but even catching up on demand, this episode is gripping and creepy.

Series Five - Death Be Not Proud (2020)

Beattie and Sam have just moved into a new flat when a large crack appears in their wall. In a bid to find out what’s going on, they contact the old owner, who just happens to be David Sowerbutts, who fans of Psychoville will surely recognise.

David recounts the story of his life in the flat to Beattie, including his twisted relationship with his mother Maureen. This episode has ghosts, serial killer references, nods to Stephen King, and the best version of the Soulja Boy’s Crank That dance you’ve ever seen.

Series Five - The Stakeout (2020)

The last episode in season five, The Stakeout features only Pemberton and Shearsmith for the majority of the episode as two policemen on a stakeout in a cemetery. PC Thompson lost his partner in a violent attack, and while he’s getting on well with his new partner, SPC Varney, he’s still hung up on solving what happened to his last partner. 

If you pay attention to everything that happens in this episode, including the clever title, you can probably guess the ending. I love the simplicity of this episode as well, with most of it taken up with Pemberton and Shearsmith’s characters simply chatting before we’re hit with that Inside No. 9 twist we’ve come to know and love.

Series Six - Lip Service (2021)

Felix thinks his wife is cheating on him with her boss. And so he does what any regular person would do, he hires a lip reader, Iris, to spy on her from a hotel room across the street and find out what’s going on. As well as trying to stay hidden from his wife, Felix has to deal with an overzealous hotel manager who thinks Felix is going to use the hotel room to conduct sexual business. 

Iris is very mild-mannered and incredibly talented when it comes to reading lips from a distance, but is she all that she seems? However, it seems that Felix may be hiding things too when we find out that he split up with his wife a little while ago, but needs to know if she was cheating on him or not. Once the twist starts to unravel, you can see what’s coming, but unfortunately, Felix remains clueless until the end.

Series Six - Hurry Up and Wait (2021)

James has landed a role as a policeman in a true-crime drama based around the real-life disappearance of baby Ryan ten years earlier. Filmed in the area where Ryan went missing, James finds himself a little more involved in the real-life aspect of the story than expected. He also finds himself waiting in a caravan of local residents which is doubling as a green room while he prepares for his small role. 

During his time with a local family, James thinks he’s unravelled the mystery of baby Ryan, but it seems like his imagination may have gotten the better of him. I love episodes with a particularly dark twist, and Hurry Up and Wait’s ending was so good I did a little cheer at the reveal.

Overall, Inside No. 9 is an absolutely fantastic piece of television, and I’m excited at the prospect of more seasons to come to see what Pemberton and Shearsmith do next. Inside No. 9 works so well because every single episode is different, allowing the pair to try out different delivery methods and reference different genres, all without blocking themselves into a corner. 

Some episodes work better than others, but the joy of an anthology series is the fact that you know it’s going to be completely different every week, and you never know what to expect. There are episodes told through the style of iambic pentameter, episodes that run backwards, stories that cover every day of the advent calendar, and fourth-wall-breaking narrators. It’s wonderful to see Pemberton and Shearsmith dip into the genres they love and show that they can tell stories in loads of different ways and still have them work amazingly.

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