Without further ado, this specific series of Inside No. 9 by far was the best series of the show. As usual, all episodes are written by Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton and directed by Matt Lipsey, Guillem Morales and Steve Pemberton himself.
Episode 1: The Referee's A W***er
Series 5 opened with an episode focusing on a sport that I have no interest in but did it so brilliantly nonetheless. Martin (David Morrissey) had one match between United and Rovers left and then he would be able to retire on a high note. Except everything came crashing down around, notably his clandestine relationship with footballer Calvin (Dipo Ola) being revealed while there was plenty of fighting amongst other characters in the changing rooms. Characters including the annoyingly pedantic Brendan (Shearsmith), the cheating Oggy (Pemberton), vain footballer Phil (Ralf Little) and mascot Mitch (Steve Spears). It's an episode that certainly heated up off the pitch than on the pitch with Martin's retirement in disgrace. 8/10
Episode 2: Death Be Not Proud
Did anyone want a new episode of Psychoville? Because that's exactly what this episode and if you loved everything involving David Sowerbutts (Pemberton) and his deceased mother, Maureen (Shearsmith), you'll love this episode. I certainly did. Young couple Beattie (Jenna Coleman) and Sam (Kadiff Kirwan) have bought the Sowerbutts home and after a few spooky incidents, Beattie wanted to leave. Instead she met David and listened to him tell everything that happened after the events of Psychoville instead, including a twisted love story him and Emily (Sarah Solemani). Of course, even in death, Maureen was still a menace and the way things ended for Beattie were unexpected on first viewing but made more sense since then. One of my favourite episodes from the series. 9/10
Episode 3: Love's Great Adventure
Another Christmas episode within the series itself and one that felt very much like a kitchen sink drama than anything else. That's not a criticism by the way. With this episode, you've got an ordinary couple named Trevor (Pemberton) and Julie (Debbie Rush) doing their best to get through another Christmas with daughter Mia (Gaby French) and grandchild Connor (Olly Hudson-Croker). Then there's their son, Patrick (Bobby Schofield) - an addict who's also Connor's dad and who has messed with the wrong crowd. Off screen there's an indication that Julie might have sorted Patrick's problem out. Reece Shearsmith has a small role as family friend, Alex who was both Mia's driving instructor and was mourning the loss of his wife, Sandra. It's a very grounded episode in the series. 8/10
Episode 4: Misdirection
Back to one of the most crafty of episodes, this one really does prove that karma can and will eventually catch up to someone. Neville Griffin (Shearsmith) desperately wanted to be a famous magician and had no problem killing fellow magician Willy Wando (Pemberton) and taking his secrets in order to achieve his goal. A decade passed and Neville met Gabriel (Fionn Whitehead) - a student journalist and wannabe magician himself. At first it seemed like Gabriel's attempts of pulling the wool over Neville were rookie mistakes before it transpired that he was the grandson of Willy Wando and trying to get revenge for his grandfather's death. While Neville ended up getting his just desserts, it was ultimately his unfortunate wife, Jennie (Jill Halfpenny) who really paid the heavy price. 9/10
Episode 5: Thinking Out Loud
If there was an episode of this series (and there's definitely a few) that could be an absolute masterclass in writing, it's got to be one. At first,it just seemed like we were getting a series of unrelated vignettes here. You had politically incorrect Bill (Phil Davis) trying his hand at video dating, housewife Nadia (Maxine Peake) revelling in the neighbours getting a divorce, serial killer Galen (Pemberton) talking about murdering his parents, influencer Angel (Ioanna Kimbook) setting her followers on a troll, blind singer Diana (Sandra Gayer), unseen therapist (Sara Kestleman) and the dying Aidan (Shearsmith). All separate characters until the reveal that most of them were split personalities of Nadia who then went on to murder her abusive father, which happened to be Bill. An exceptional episode with every single performance a standout. 9/10
Episode 6: The Stakeout
Keeping the tradition of every other finale so far, we're back to a supernatural tale but it's under the guise of both a police stakeout and an examination of the tropes surrounding police dramas. There's the grizzled PC Thompson (Pemberton) who recently lost his partner DS Dobson (Malik Ibheis) and landed a new one named SPC Varney (Shearsmith). Between games of fortunately/unfortunately, a potential drugs bust and both men learning about each other, there was one trope that Thompson should've brushed up on. It's a good testament to the show that they managed to wait five seasons before tackling a vampire story and it's very well done. A fantastic end to the best series so far. 9/10
All episodes of Inside No. 9 are available on BBC iPlayer and Amazon.
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