Inside Number 9

[Dr Nowt]

Pemberton set that cryptic crossword as well, it was run in The Guardian the week of transmission.

[Elite]

Pemberton set that cryptic crossword as well, it was run in The Guardian the week of transmission.

Thats brilliant. I am on a complete love in with these two at the moment. To be able to write and perform these episodes with such diverse settings, tone and characters is sheer brilliance.

[stringvest]

i liked the one were no one spoke. great show. 

 

 

they were all like that when I  was a lad

[stringvest]

Just watched that 12 days of Christine - really got me at the end. Then an episode of DIY SOS on Ready or whatever the channel's called.  I've been a blubbering wreck.  Then another DIY SOS came on BBC1 - I had to throw the towel in and put Al Jazeera news on to rediscover my equilibrium.

[Elite]

Just watched that 12 days of Christine - really got me at the end. Then an episode of DIY SOS on Ready or whatever the channel's called. I've been a blubbering wreck. Then another DIY SOS came on BBC1 - I had to throw the towel in and put Al Jazeera news on to rediscover my equilibrium.

You're an old softie at heart. Just calm down the Lallana love in!

[AngryOfTuebrook]

The shoe one was quality. I've enjoyed all of this series. And i still think Morgana Robinson is fit.

Loved all the nods to "The Shining" in the shoe one.

That episode wrong-footed me (so to speak) because I wasn't trying to figure out why he was so obsessed, I just thought of him like the librarian he played in Psychoville and accepted that he was just a bit weird.

[Dr Nowt]

Thats brilliant. I am on a complete love in with these two at the moment. To be able to write and perform these episodes with such diverse settings, tone and characters is sheer brilliance.

 

Same as that mate.  It's hugely refreshing.

[Dr Arthur De Sabre]

Just watched 'Riddle of the Sphynx'

 

Loved it. Seriously, Shearsmith and Pemberton are geniuses, Black Mirror gets a lot of plaudits but this is on par if nor better.

To be fair they have both been in some fucking bollocks programs as well over the last few years, namely Benidorm and the super market thing shearsmith was in, but can't argue with them paying the rent when they still pull out well crafted prvovicative work such as this, and pyschovillr.

[Total Longo]

I haven't slept well the last few nights and i watched The 12 Days of Christine last night, this threw me completely. Most of the episodes i've seen are mainly drama with some clearly amusing lines thrown in. This was straight from beginning to end, and like i say this threw me. I went to bed on a massive downer.  

[The Golden Eel]

To be fair they have both been in some fucking bollocks programs as well over the last few years, namely Benidorm and the super market thing shearsmith was in, but can't argue with them paying the rent when they still pull out well crafted prvovicative work such as this, and pyschovillr.

 

I saw a thing (not comedy) with Shearsmith a few years back where he played an oddball, possibly autistic, detective and it was one of the worst things I've ever seen. He didn't write it though but, my goodness, it was absolute shite.

[skend04]

After all these recommendations I've managed to find a stream on Exodus. Sardines was amusing before turning very dark very quickly.

[skend04]

First 2 seasons are now on Netflix

[AngryOfTuebrook]

After all these recommendations I've managed to find a stream on Exodus. Sardines was amusing before turning very dark very quickly.

Turns out I'd never seen that one.

 

I have now.

 

Fucking hell.

[Carvalho Diablo]

The opener, "Sardines" is the only one I've seen. Wasn't impressed at all tbh, did enjoy the ending though.

 

Perhaps I'll plough ahead.

[Dr Nowt]

Halloween Special commissioned for this year.

 

It’s being broadcast live, apparently.

[Elite]

Halloween Special commissioned for this year.

 

It’s being broadcast live, apparently.

Interesting...

 

I'm going watching League Of Gentlemen live in September so they are used to theatre.

[Sugar Ape]

I went to see them live for the League of Gentlemen too and it was superb. Pissed myself all the way through it. Herr Lipp being the standout.

 

Anyway a reminder that the live Halloween episode is out on Sunday, and a decent article in the Guardian on the best episodes, though I have to say " The Bill " should be in the top ten in my opinion. Cleverest show on TV today by a mile.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2018/oct/24/inside-no-9-halloween-special-10-best-episodes-so-far

 

Inside No 9: the 10 best episodes so far

 

 

Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton’s horrifying anthology series returns on Sunday with a live Halloween special. Here are the finest moments from the first four seasons

 

 

From cryptic crosswords to children’s party games, Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton’s compulsively horrifying anthology series Inside No 9 has converted all sorts of seemingly innocuous subjects into spine-tingling TV, unearthing incest, murder, modern slaveryand more from beneath a host of apparently mundane setups. As well as supplying an endless parade of gob-smacking twists, Inside No 9 sees The League Of Gentlemen duo experiment wildly with the televisual form, telling stories via the medium of CCTV, iambic pentameter and silence.

 

On Sunday, they return with another ambitious premise: a Halloween special that will also be its first live episode. To get warmed up – or, rather, suitably chilled – we look back at the show’s finest moments so far.

 

10 Cold Comfort

Series 2, episode 4

 

 

Told exclusively through the medium of CCTV, this episode is set at a crisis support helpline – a place where the office politics are a lot more disturbing than the distressing phone calls it receives. Jane Horrocks is a sarky co-worker, while Shearsmith plays the horrible boss. But is either one the crank caller driving newbie Andy to despair?

 

9 A Quiet Night In

Series 1, episode 2

 

 

Drawing on silent-movie-based gurning and comedy crime caper pratfalls, this almost dialogue-free episode follows two burglars as they attempt to steal a painting from an ultra-modern house while its inhabitants remain inside. Violent, surprising and impeccably choreographed, this miraculously funny instalment is a technical marvel.

 

8 To Have and to Hold

Series 4, episode 4

 

 

Shearsmith and Pemberton are experts when it comes to inserting the disturbing into the domestic – this tale of a wedding photographer who loses interest in his wife (primetime drama queen Nicola Walker) holds its nerve right until the end, before dramatically excavating the horror that exists beneath the couple’s comfortable lives.

 

7 Zanzibar

Series 4, episode 1

 

 

Even the show’s bleakest episodes are shot through with humour, but every now and then Shearsmith and Pemberton produce something lighter and brighter. Set in a hotel where guests interact in iambic pentameter, this homage to Shakespearean comedy is one of the show’s most straightforwardly humorous – and conceptually brilliant – episodes. This being Inside No 9, however, death and despair still feature prominently.

 

6 Tempting Fate

Series 4, episode 6

 

On occasion, Inside No 9 mines more traditional horror territory, relocating the tropes of the supernatural to run-of-the-mill settings. Taking place in a hoarder’s flat, the final episode of the most recent series takes some paranormal perennials – a spooky statue; a grainy VHS; three wishes that backfire spectacularly – and watches as three cleaners attempt to outsmart an ancient curse.

 

5 Bernie Clifton’s Dressing Room

Series 4, episode 2

 

There is nothing overtly horrifying about this instalment, the story of an ageing comic who reunites with his erstwhile partner for a one-off show. Instead, the episode is buffered by a gentle hum of sadness. At rehearsals, the duo reckon with the turbulent history of their friendship – but the real reason behind their attempted reconciliation is heartbreaking.

 

4 The Devil of Christmas

Series 3, episode 1

 

 

Filmed entirely on mid-century camera equipment, this impeccably styled drama-within-a-drama tracks a director as he provides voiceover commentary for a shonky seasonal horror he made in the 70s. But the reason why he has decided to return to this particular work only makes sense in the final few seconds, when the footage’s terrifying denouement is revealed.

 

3 Sardines

Series 1, episode 1

 

 

The idea behind Inside No 9 was sparked by a single-setting, real-time episode of Shearsmith and Pemberton’s previous comedy-horror series, Psychoville (which was in turn inspired by Alfred Hitchcock’s Rope). The show’s debut outing sticks to that premise, centring on a claustrophobic party game that involves the entire cast hiding in a wardrobe. Tim Key is on top form as a pallid and oleaginous guest who is not all he seems.

 

2 The Riddle of the Sphinx

Series 3, episode 3

 

 

A Cambridge don and master cryptic-crossword-setter is accosted by a young woman who works in Greggs and wants to learn the tricks of the puzzle trade. That is the initial premise, anyway – a series of increasingly wild left turns mean this episode ends up focusing less on nerdy word games and more on cannibalism, pufferfish poison and incest.

 

1 The 12 Days of Christine

Series 2, episode 2

 

 

The show’s most spectacular episode stars Sheridan Smith as Christine, a woman whose life has been punctuated by inexplicably spooky events. As the real reason behind the story’s fragmented chronology and odd occurrences slowly dawns, the episode morphs into a goosebump-inducing – and devastating – piece of drama.

[The Golden Eel]

1. Riddle of the Sphinx

2. The Devil of Christmas

3. Bernie Clifton's Dressing Room

 

I think those would be my top 3

[Bob]

Sardines is wonderful, riddle of the Sphinx is really cleverly done, and the Sheridan smith one is definitely a great piece of telly.

 

the best thing about that list is that it means I’ve not see them all, which I thought I had.

[Dr Nowt]

Saw them live last month too.  

 

They truly are something else.

 

Bernie Clifton’s Dressing Room probably tops the lot for me but Riddle Of The Sphinx pushes it close.

 

 

[Thoth]

3 Riddle of the Sphinx 

2 The trial of Elizabeth Gadge

1 Bernie Clifton’s dressing room

[Sugar Ape]

[Dr Nowt]

Not looked forward to television this much in a long time.

 

Keep thinking about the Mr Jelly segment in their Psychoville Halloween special and how creepy those kids were,

especially in the photo.

[Sugar Ape]

Tonight at ten, ladies. Set your alarms.

[Aventus]

1 hour ago, Sugar Ape said:

Tonight at ten, ladies. Set your alarms.

I had actually forgotten about this until I saw this post, so you've done me a favour there. 

 

Nice one