Inside No. 9 - Series 9 Review (2024)

The final series and the moment may have been prepared for as train journeys, escape rooms and real life partings make up some of the stories in this last run. All episodes are written by Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton and directed by George Kane, Al Campbell and Guillem Morales.

Episode 1: Boo To A Goose

Opening the ninth series, we take a trip on a train carriage with a slew of different folks. These included drag artist Wilma (Pemberton) and friend Cleo (Susan Wokoma), husband and wife duo Gerry (Shearsmith) and Edith (Siobhan Finneran), homeless man Mossy (Charlie Cooper), overzealous detective Raymond (Mark Bonnar), nurse Elena (Philippa Dunne), the paranoid Finn (Joel Fry), and the mysterious Harold (Matthew Kelly). Throughout the episode, it took little for this group of people to turn on each other with a biting commentary on compliance versus defiance leading to a trouble end for this one. 8/10

Episode 2: The Trolley Problem

Anyone hoping for a two hander between Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton in this final series just got their wish with this chilling episode. Pemberton takes on the role of therapist Blake, who thought he was doing a good deed by stopping Shearsmith's Drew from killing himself. However Blake realised that letting Drew into his home was a bad idea when the latter made it clear, he wanted revenge for his own daughter's death. Needless to say that Blake inadvertently played a role in Ellie's (Eleanor Kirby) death, so Drew returned the favour with Blake's son, Robbie (Ethan Joseph-Robert). The ending to this one was particularly dark. 9/10

Episode 3: Mulberry Close

Going a bit suburban, we got a couple named Damon (Shearsmith) and Val (Vinette Robinson) moving into the titular neighbourhood. It wasn't long before the couple stoked the attention of nosy neighbours Kenny (Pemberton), Sheila (Dorothy Atkins) and Larry (Adrian Scarborough) and throughout the viewpoint of a door cam, things descended into chaos. Damon's belligerent behaviour and Val's temporary disappearance had everyone else jump to the wrong conclusion. Add the accidental death of a dog named Popcorn and this episode definitely took a turn and proved the adage about not really knowing your neighbours. 8/10

Episode 4: CTRL/ALT/ESC

I'm actually surprised it took nine series to do an escape room episode but here we go. In this episode, you had Jason (Pemberton) along with his wife, Lynne (Katherine Kelly) and daughters, Millie (Kallie Tant) and Amy (Maddie Evans) in an escape room ran by Doug (Shearsmith). Family issues to one side, we had to see them working to get out of the room and avoid the clutches of Dr Death (Angus Wright). Now the twist of the episode was that the escape room was in Jason's mind and he was actually on life support, edging towards death. However the ending of this episode ended up being a surprisingly heartwarming one. 9/10

Episode 5: Curse Of The Ninth

If there had to be one weak episode in this final series, then it's a good thing it's one that's still very good. It's just not as good as every other episode this series. Anyways you've got a piano tuner named Jonah (Shearsmith) who found himself drawn to a curse in a country house ran by the recently widowed Lillian (Natalie Dormer). Her husband Nathaniel (Eddie Marsen) died before completing his 9th symphony in this Edwardian adventure. He was also buried with his incomplete work and an alliance between Jonah and scheming maid Devonshire (Hayley Shires) quickly exposed Jonah's ruthless side that both Lillian and her lawyer, Dickie (Pemberton) had no problem trying to exploit. However a certain curse (James Swanton) turned out to be true for everyone trying to complete that symphony. 7/10

Episode 6: Plodding On

Did nine series really lead to this? Being the longest running show that Shearsmith and Pemberton have done, the expectations were high for this final episode. At first it seemed like we were getting the real life version to Sardines with the returns of Katherine Parkinson and Anne Reid in the bathroom of a press screening for the final episode. Then we had a moment where it looked like Reece and Steve were actually going to do the On The Buses episode with Robin Askwith after all. Speaking of Reece and Steve, while the former wanted to do a detective series named Plodding On, the latter had signed up to do an Amazon fantasy series that seemingly every British actor auditioned for. While the two of them have a spat, quote their own show and go full tilt meta on each other, the rest of the episode roped in as many past guest actors as they could. The likes of Tim Key, Amanda Abbington, Mark Gatiss, Nick Mohammed, Sian Gibson and Jason Watkins to name but a few get some genuinely funny moments in this final episode. Yes, there's the hints of specials and we do have Inside No. 9: Stage/Fright to look forward to but for now, this was the perfect ending to this splendid series. 9/10.

All episodes of Inside No. 9 are available on BBC iPlayer and Amazon.

Inside No. 9 - Series 8 Review (2022-2023)

On to the penultimate series of the show and it's chock full of surprises, including one of the most different stories ever done. All episodes are written by Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton and directed by George Kane, Jesse Quinones, Barbara Wiltshire and Ian Bevitt.

Episode 1: The Bones Of St Nicholas

Christmas came a little early for the series and for the second time, we had a Christmas episode air during the festive period. So far, every Christmas episode has been a winner for the show and this happily was no exception. Local vicar Dick (Simon Callow) has resorted to "champing" in order to raise funds for the church in need of repairs. On a spooky Christmas night, he had three guests. There was a husband and wife named Pierce (Shearsmith) and Posy (Shobna Gulati), who in spite of their jolly demeanor and failed Lapland plans were nursing the pain of a deceased child. Then there was Jasper (Pemberton), who had booked the church with his mother, only for that to be a lie. Jasper was far more interested in the jawbone of St Nicholas and had no qualms scaring Pierce and Posy in order to get. However things took something of a very dark turn by the end of this one. 9/10

Episode 2: Mother's Ruin

Now technically this could be seen as the real opener for the eighth series given the gap from the rest of the series and the previous one. In this one we've got brothers, Edward (Shearsmith) and Harry Blackwood (Pemberton). Their parents were East End gangsters who did some bad things but left money behind. Money that Edward wanted more than Harry and because both parents were dead, Edward was willing to resort to necromancy in order to retrieve the missing cash. Then they got interrupted by rival gangsters Frances (Anita Dobson) and Reggie (Phil Daniels), resulting in one of the brothers losing a foot and someone else being dead. The lesson of the episode being that necromancy works but always have a parrot nearby nonetheless. 8/10

Episode 3: Paraskevidekatriaphobia

The title alone for this episode was a mouthful but simply put, it means a fear of Friday the 13th. That's the problem for middle class Gareth (Shearsmith) and it's gotten so bad that his wife Dana (Amanda Abbington) had to resort to an acting troupe doing every bad luck thing to try and snap Gareth out of it. The troupe comprised of Johnny (Pemberton), Sue (Samantha Spiro), Shelley (Moyo Akande) and Bethany (Ayda Kiiza), the granddaughter of Gareth's therapist Dr Rogers (Leon Herbert) to help Gareth get past a school trauma he suffered on that particular day. Add in a subplot involving Dermot O'Leary and a £130,000 win and overall you've got a very good take on this unlucky of days. 7/10

Episode 4: Love Is A Stranger

Online dating can be tricky, huh? It certainly appeared to be that way for Vicky (Claire Rushbrook) as her quest for love seemed to be one disaster after another. First there was Edgar (Matthew Horne) who blew her out and then there was Norman (Shearsmith) who was unbelievably rude towards. Things had looked like they were picking up with Manny (Pemberton) but he had a rather disgruntled wife Polly (Menyee Lai) who threatened Vicky. Then there was Lesley (Frances Barber) but she was interested in getting Vicky on a diet programme than love. Last but not least, there was Jai (Asim Chaudhry) and things looked like thry were going well in that regard. Then the Lonely Hearts Murderer struck again and given the way this episode was going, their identity won't be a shock. 9/10

Episode 5: 3 By 3

Originally we were supposed to get an episode called Hold On Tight. Except we weren't because that doesn't exist but hats off to Shearsmith and Pemberton who committed to the ruse well up until actual transmission. With their complete absence from the actual episode itself we got Lee Mack hosting a new quiz show called 3 By 3, which had three teams of three players and there's a prize. Anyways the emphasis was mainly focused on mother and daughter Margaret (Gemma Page) and Catherine (Saskia Wakefield) as they got the furthest in the game while family secrets spilled out and things escalated. For an experimental episode, I liked it more than Dead Line but it's weaker compared to others from this series. 6/10

Episode 6: The Last Weekend

If this show hadn't been renewed for a ninth and final series, this very well could've been the series finale. Although I loved this episode, I'm glad it wasn't the last one. Anyways, Chazz (Shearsmith) and Joe (Pemberton) have been together for nine years and it's been a fraught relationship, especially with Joe's tumour. A weekend away at an old house run by Mollie (Sheila Reid) was a means of giving the couple a break. During the episode we learned that Chazz had a failed career in a boyband and as a solo artist and vented his failures on aspiring musicians MySpace pages. This would be very relevant when Joe's true motives for being with Chazz for nine years came to light. Revenge might be a dish served cold but milk, honey and oats can lead to a very slow and painful death as Chazz had the misfortune to find out. A very grizzly ending to a strong series. 9/10

All episodes of Inside No. 9 are available on BBC iPlayer and Amazon. 

Inside No. 9 - Series 7 Review (2022)

I'm close to completing my overall reviews for this series and this was a series I think I enjoyed a bit more than others did. As usual all episodes are written by Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton and directed by Al Campbell, Louise Hooper and Kieron J. Walsh.

Episode 1: Merrily, Merrily

It took seven series to do but the show finally managed to get Mark Gatiss to appear and there's a sense of completion in that. The premise for this episode involved a reunion between former college friends. Laurence (Shearsmith), Darren (Pemberton) and Callum (Gatiss) are unexpectedly joined by Darren's new girlfriend Donna (Diane Morgan) and soon enough, all four of them are on an uncomfortable boat ride in the middle of nowhere where it became clear that Laurence had an ulterior motive for the reunion. It's a more tragic than sinister one when it's revealed that he wanted to be reunited with his dead wife. By the very end of this episode, it's clear that he got exactly what he wanted. 8/10

Episode 2: Mr King

Another thing I'm surprised about this series was that it also took this long to set a story in a school. It's also one of the most unsettling episodes with one scene involving new teacher Mr Curtis (Shearsmith) forced to have his privates photographed by Mr Edwards (Pemberton) with not so blind cleaner Winnie (Annette Badland) catching an eyeful. Then there's the "Mr King" aspect of it all. Technically there is no title character. At least there wasn't until the last act where the kids of the school decided a sacrifice needed to be made. Let's just say that things didn't end particularly well for Mr Curtis here. 8/10

Episode 3: Nine Lives Kat

Want a little spin on the detective novel genre? Well this one might be for you. We start off with hard boiled cliche of a detective named Katrina (Sophie Okonedo) is trying to solve the case of a missing boy. Only it's revealed that Kat's a fictional character from a burned out author named Ezra (Pemberton) who wanted to replace Kat with a different cliche type of detective - the more eccentric Barnabus (Shearsmith). Then it turned out the missing boy was his stepson after a miscommunication with his wife, Philippa (Robin Weaver). However the twist being that Ezra himself was a creation of an acclaimed writer named Matilda (Siobhan Redmond), whilst good, didn't quite land as well as it should've done. 7/10

Episode 4: Kid/Nap

And this one like the previous one had twists with twists but also like the previous, the landing didn't quite stick. Hedge fund manager Dominic (Shearsmith) found himself in a pickle. His wife Lara (Daisy Haggard) had been kidnapped by two men named Shane (Daniel Mays) and Clifford (Jason Isaac) and he had to pay 1.3 million to get her back. Except he didn't really want to do that and given the nature behind the kidnapping, he might have had a point. Needless to say, Lara wasn't in any real danger because she set up the whole thing, including playing both kidnappers off each other, fooling her own husband and even hostage negotiator DI Ellis (Pemberton). It's not actually a bad episode, just didn't really stick the landing though. 7/10

Episode 5: A Random Act Of Kindness

The best episode of this specific series and all because it involved time travel and the volatile relationship between a mother and son. Helen (Jessica Hynes) was at his wit's end with teenage son Zach (Noah Valentine) and then Bob (Pemberton) came into their lives and seemed to have a positive impact on Zach. When that was threatened, Bob had no choice but to reveal his real connection to Zach and it's a very well done reveal with a positive outcome for mother and son. Shearsmith appeared as a rival scientist named Rudolph, somewhat resentful of the advances that "Bob" had made in terms of curing cancer. I loved this episode. 9/10

Episode 6: Wise Owl

There have been a lot of dark episodes in the series but I genuinely think this might be the darkest thing that Shearsmith and Pemberton have ever written. Half the episode being in animation also didn't help lighten the mood either. The plot focused on a taxidermist named Ronnie (Shearsmith) who relived painful memories of his sister's birthday that ended in a house fire and her death. His mother Dinah (Georgie Glen) desperately wanted Ronnie to talk to a therapist while his father Wilf (Ron Cook) - the "Wise Owl" of the piece had a far more insidious relationship with the traumatised Ronnie. The ending's rather powerful too with Shearsmith giving one of his best performances in the series. Pemberton briefly appeared as Mr Blenkin who wanted to avail of Ronnie's services before changing his mind. 9/10

All episodes of Inside No. 9 are available on BBC iPlayer and Amazon. 

Inside No. 9 - Series 6 Review (2021)

Onto the sixth series of this anthology show and it's certainly a good selection of stories. All episodes are written by Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton and directed by Guillem Morales and Matt Lipsey.

Episode 1: Wuthering Heist

If you like your series openers to be rather lyrical like Zanzibar, then this episode will definitely appeal. For me, it's an okay opener follower on a heist in the style of Commedia dell'arte. Our characters include an undercover cop named Columbina (Gemma Whelan) who has infiltrated a diamond robbery gang led by Pantalone (Paterson Joseph). In that gang you also had Hortensia (Rosa Robinson), Scaramouche (Shearsmith), The Doctor (Pemberton), Arlo (Kevin Bishop) and Mario (Dino Kelly). Needless to say, it's a heist that's not quite the success it could've been with various characters reading ahead of script, secret loves and covers blown. Not my favourite of opening episodes but it had its moments. 6/10

Episode 2: Simon Says

We all know that Game Of Thrones had an extremely unsatisfying series finale and for this episode alone, a series titled The Ninth Circle was a very thinly veiled cover for that. The creator, Spencer Maguire (Pemberton) has had to deal with everyone telling him that the seventh season finale was a poor ending for the popular show and worse that, two fans - Gavin (Nick Mohammed) and Simon (Shearsmith) have made it their mission to force Spencer into commissioning a more fan pleasing series finale. It's an idea even Spencer's agent Loretta (Lindsay Duncan) could get on board with but as the episode unfolded, Spencer eventually gained the upper hand from his overzealous admirers. Let's just say that Spencer wasn't above killing for a good idea. 8/10

Episode 3: Lip Service

A lonely man in a hotel room with a woman he hired. Not quite the way this episode played out as it had some good surprises. The lonely man in question being Felix (Pemberton) who hired lip reader Iris (Sian Clifford) to interpret a conversation between his estranged partner and her boss, Dimitri while also avoiding scrutiny from hotel manager, Eric (Shearsmith). It's an episode that touched on loneliness and seemed to hint at a mutual attraction between Felix and Iris. That was until the very last moment when Iris's true motives were revealed and it gave the episode a brutal ending. I wasn't sure of this one at first but I liked it more on further watching. 8/10

Episode 4: Hurry Up And Wait

It's an episode about the making of a real life child disappearance in a drama. You've got James (Shearsmith) playing an extra named The Bobby and when he wasn't inadvertently rubbing the star of the production Adrian Dunbar (as himself) up the wrong way, he was being ignored by production assistant Jo (Bhavna Limbachia) and making false accusations about a family in relation to missing boy Ryan. Or were they false accusations? The family question - Stan (Pemberton), Oona (Pauline McLynn) and their infantalized daughter, Bev (Donna Preston). It's a solid instalment with an ending that might have confirmed James's suspicions after all. 7/10

Episode 5: How Do You Plead?

The best episode of the series and one I thought would've been the finale. It's the supernatural themed episode and they're the ones that I gravitate towards the most. You've got the dying Webster (Derek Jacobi) being assisted by his nurse Bedford (Shearsmith). The men converse between pithy jabs at one another but Webster knew that his time was coming to an end. When midnight approached, the Lift Attendant (Pemberton) was revealed to be the Devil and he was there to collect on a pact he had made with Webster. Needless to say, Webster tried to replace himself with Bedford only for the latter to reveal that he wasn't so good after all. A brilliant episode and after being a voice role in The Devil Of Christmas, it was nice to see Derek Jacobi in live action here. 9/10

Episode 6: Last Night Of The Proms

And for something different. Usually the finales go the supernatural route but for this finale, we got what the title said. A very UKIP style family with husband Mick (Pemberton) and Dawn (Sarah Parish) celebrating the event with the latter's racist father, Ralph (Julian Glover) as well as Dawn's sister, Penny (Debra Gillett) and Penny's liberal but closeted husband, Brian (Shearsmith) and son, Oliver (Jack Wolfe). Add a mysterious man named Yusef (Bamshad Abedi-Amin) into the chaotic mix along with a subplot involving Dawn's heritage, a religious epiphany and of course a character death and this finale ended this series on a decent note. 7/10

All episodes of Inside No. 9 are available on BBC iPlayer and Amazon.

Inside No. 9 - Series 5 Review (2020)

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.

Inside No. 9 - Series 4 Review (2018)

Onto a series, while not my favourite, it certainly had its moments. Those moments also including their first Halloween episode. All episodes are written by Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton and directed by David Kerr, Graham Harper, Jim O'Hanlon and Barbara Wiltshire.

Episode 1: Zanzibar

Anyone call for a Shakespearean style opening episode? Well, it's what we got and all on the ninth floor of the Hotel Zanzibar. You've got a slew of characters. First of all, there's Rory Kinnear playing a set of twins. The first twin being Prince Rico, who has a fetish that got fulfilled by the rather hapless Alice (Marcia Warren) instead of the sex worker he had hired named Red (Tanya Franks). Unbeknownst to Rico, his right hand man Henry (Shearsmith) was plotting to murder him, only for hypnotist Vince (Kevin Eldon) to nearly die instead. Other twin Gus spent most of the episode trying to salvage his relationship with Amber (Hattie Morahan) while the despairing Mr Green (Bill Patterson) attempted to end his life before the sight of his long lost sons gave him pause. There was also Alice's son Robert (Pemberton), a cheery bellhop named Fred (Jaygann Ayeh) and his girlfriend Colette (Helen Monks) to round out the cast. 7/10

Episode 2: Bernie Clifton's Dressing Room

Easily the best episode of this specific series and for the first half, I wasn't sure I was enjoying this one. What looked like a rehearsal hall turned into the place for a wake but it took quite a while for that reveal. Before then, the episode was focused on a hostile reunion between failed comedy duo, Len (Pemberton) and Tommy (Shearsmith), formerly and as Cheese and Crackers. Len's desperate to revive the act and Tommy's desperate to leave it in the past, like the majority of their old material. As the episode, the contrasts between both Tommy and Len's lives since their last days as a comedy duo are apparent and tragic too. The twist of Len being dead and Tommy attending his wake and talking to Len's daughter, Leanne (Sian Gibson) added a bitter poignancy to the whole affair. 9/10

Episode 3: Once Removed

It's interesting what can happen in the space of forty minutes and because of an exposed affair. Disgruntled May (Monica Dolan) knew her husband Charles (Rufus Jones) was cheating on her with neighbour Natasha (Emilia Fox) and ended up sending a hired killer named Viktor (Shearsmith) towards Natasha and her senile father, Percy (David Caulder), who thinks he's Andrew Lloyd-Webber. Needless to say, they're killed as was the unfortunate estate agent Hugo (Pemberton). Then Viktor ended up dead at May's hands much to the shock of removal man, Spike (Nick Moran). The idea for the episode was good but the ending was a bit too abrupt for me. 7/10

Episode 4: To Have And To Hold

Ah, wedded life. For some it's bliss but for Adrian (Pemberton) and Harriet (Nicola Walker), it's an endurance. With no trust and a dead sex life over an affair the latter had a long time ago, it would've made sense for the pair to go their separate ways but instead, you got a flash of their marriage being saved before a trip down the basement changed the dynamic between the couple. Adrian having the housekeeper Agnes (Magdalena Kurek) prisoner for a decade while fathering a son with her definitely led to the most deserved comeuppance for Adrian. Shearsmith did briefly appear in this along with Miranda Hennessy as newly wed couple Max and Hannah, who were interested in buying Harriet's house. 8/10

Episode 5: And The Winner Is ...

An episode focused on the acting industry with a slew of characters all connected to said industry. In one room, you had the leading character Giles (Pemberton) assemble a jury of his peers to judge a Best Actress Award, going through all eight nominees. The panel included sycophantic writer Clive (Shearsmith), director Gordon (Noel Clarke), theatre actors Rupert (Kenneth Cranham) and Paula (Zoë Wanamaker), film critic June (Fenella Woolgar) and civilian Jackie (Phoebe Sparrow), the latter included for a more general public perspective on the nominees in question. It's a strong episode with various jabs at castings, performances and background with the reveal working well enough. 7/10

Episode 6: Tempting Fate

The fourth series endeth on an episode where the hare had something of a significant role this time. Well, an object like hare that can grant wishes but it's more of a monkey's paw effect than a genie in the bottle. You've got three council contractors - Keith (Pemberton), Nick (Shearsmith) and Maz (Werucha Opia) clearimg out the house of the recently deceased Frank (Nigel Planer) and its not long before all three of them are tempted into making wishes with the hare, fighting among themselves and ignoring the warnings of their wishes coming with a price. Not even Frank turning up alive could stop the trio from suffering the consequences of their actions given the explosive ending to this one. 8/10 

Halloween Special: Dead Line

It's rather impressive it took four full series for a Halloween special for this show to have materialised and so far, it's the only one we've had to boot. Episode wise, it's a strange one that tried to do a few different things but it doesn't quite gel as well as it should have done. On paper a story about poor Arthur (Pemberton) finding Elsie's mobile phone and his interactions with the Reverend Neil (Shearsmith) and dotty Irishwoman Moira O'Keefe (Stephanie Cole) would've been enough to sustain a Halloween special. Instead we've got behind the scenes antics with Shearsmith, Pemberton and Cole all being killed off by ghosts, transmission cuts, appearances on The One Show, clips of A Quiet Night In and even some bits with the cast of Most Haunted and Coronation Street. I admire the ambition of the episode but overall, it didn't really work for me. 6/10

All episodes of Inside No. 9 are available on BBC iPlayer and Amazon.

Inside No. 9 - Series 3 Review (2016-2017)

This might be the strongest series yet with a fine selection of episodes, again written by Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton. Directors for this series are Graham Harper and Guillem Morales.

Episode 1: The Devil Of Christmas

Opening with a Christmas special and possibly the best Christmas one the series has done but also the most sinister one too. Derek Jacobi has a voice role as director Denis Fulcher being interviewed by an unknown man (Cavan Clerkin). Taking the film within an episode format, we've got Julian (Pemberton), his son Toby (George Bedford), his mother Celia (Rula Lenska) and new wife Kathy (Jessica Raine), the latter also being pregnant. They're staying in an Austrian resort where their guide Klaus (Shearsmith) scares them about the legend of Krampus. It's a legend that's all too true as Toby finds himself being terrorised by Krampus and when it's just Julian and Kathy left at the resort, things took a grisly turn. Now this was of course a film with actors and for the actor playing Kathy, things took a deadlier turn when the true intention of the interview between Fulcher and the unknown interviewer took a very interesting turn. A brilliant but very sinister Christmas episode. 9/10

Episode 2: The Bill 

Technically this episode probably could be the real opener of Series 3 and it's somewhat a low-key one. You've got three Northerners - Malcolm (Pemberton), Archie (Shearsmith) and Kevin (Jason Watkins) along with Southerner Craig (Philip Glenister). It's a simple story, really. They're all dining out at a restaurant that's about to close for the night. The waitress Anya (Ellie White) desperately wants to close up but these four men are too busy fighting over which one will pay the bill. While the fighting intensified, the episode revealed a bit more about each of the men before one of them accidentally killed Anya. Then the episode almost had one of the men scammed out of £200,000 before it's revealed to be an elaborate con. Basically if you loved the BBC show, Hustle,the episode is something of a homage to it. 8/10

Episode 3: The Riddle Of The Sphinx

Arguably the most clever episode of the third series would be this one. At first, it felt like a simply take on Pygmalion, but while this show does enjoy a homage, it very much does it's own thing with the idea. Here you've got a young woman named Nina (Alexandra Roach) who snuck into a University of Cambridge room and soon had Professor Nigel Squires (Pemberton) teaching her the intricacies of the crossword puzzle, all the while having a more vengeful motive in her heart. It turned out that Nina wanted to avenge her brother Simon who killed himself after being humiliated by Squires. On top that, her attempts to poison Squires horribly backfired and when fellow professor Jacob Tyler (Shearsmith) entered the room and the connection between himself and Nina really knocked Squires for six. An absolutely brilliant episode with Shearsmith, Pemberton and Roach all knocking it out of the park. 9/10

Episode 4: Empty Orchestra

A works do karaoke session again was another very simple premise but while this was an episode where no one died (the second time this series), it did however have a bunch of people with little time for each other. Every workplace has that nasty person and this episode, it's Connie (Tamzin Outhwaite). Not only was she openly rude to her deaf colleague Janet (Emily Howlett) but she was sleeping with Greg (Shearsmith), the partner of her best friend, Fran (Sarah Hadland) to boot. Elsewhere you got office joker Duane (Javone Prince) and manager Roger (Pemberton), who's just found out his wife wants a divorce. Throughout the episode, secrets got spilled, a romance blossomed while an affair was exposed. Oh and there was various performances of songs such as Don't You Want Me, Saturday Night, Wham Rap! and one of my favourites, Titanium. It's the weakest episode of the series but considering the high bar, there's lots to enjoy still. 8/10

Episode 5: Diddle Diddle Dumpling

The premise of this episode was something that happened to Steve Pemberton in real life involving finding a single man's shoe. In this episode that scenario alone drives stay at home dad David (Shearsmith) to distraction but more importantly, it's his wife Louise (Keeley Hawes) who bore the brunt of David's obsession with the shoe. Louise's attempt to resolve the issue involved using her co-worker Ted (Matthew Baynton) to claim the missing shoe and it nearly worked. Except David really couldn't let it go and the tragic twist of their daughter, Sally (Rosa Strudwick) having a dead twin brother at least gave some context to David's obsession with an implied fatal outcome for poor Ted. Pemberton had a small role in this one as a family friend named Chris. The Four Seasons formatting of the episode worked really well too. 8/10

Episode 6: Private View

On to the finale and again, it's certainly got that horror tinge to it. A random group of people - critic Maurice (Shearsmith), health inspector Kenneth (Pemberton), Irish dinner lady Jean (Fiona Shaw), visually impaired erotic writer, Patricia (Felicity Kendal), former Big Brother 8 contestant, Carrie (Morgana Robinson) and sarcastic waitress Bea (Montserrat Lombard) make for an unlikely pair of people to be grouped together. They're at a private viewing of deceased artist's Elliot Quinn (Johnny Flynn) work and one by one, each of them meet an unpleasant end before it's revealed that Jean wanted all the organs each of the others had taken from her dead son back. Of course the episode had other ideas as Jean's scheme ended up backfiring on her with her final confrontation with Maurice. Oh and there's a brief cameo from Peter Kay as nurse Neil, who didn't have a happy ending. 9/10

All episodes of Inside No. 9 are available on BBC iPlayer and Amazon.

Inside No. 9 - Series 2 Review (2015)

I'm going through the series quickly enough, so here's a rundown of the second series. All episodes are written by Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton with the fourth and fifth episodes directed by them. The remaining episodes are directed by Guillem Morales and Dan Zeff.

Episode 1: La Couchette

Series 2 opened with an episode that also took in a confined space, just like the first series. This time it's a sleeper carriage with a slew of different passengers. There's a husband and wife named Les (Mark Benton) and Kath (Julie Hesmondhalgh) who are heading to their daughter's wedding along with Australian backpacker Shona (Jessica Gunning) and her posh boy lover Hugo (Jack Whitehall). Shearsmith played the English doctor Maxwell while Pemberton appears as a drunken German named Jorg. Add a dead body in the carriage, an overambitious main character and another character being revealed as someone else and this made for a good opening episode. 7/10

Episode 2: The 12 Days Of Christine

And now for a Christmas episode during a series rather than as a special. Well, not fully Christmas though it does factor into it quite a bit. Shoe saleswoman Christine (Sheridan Smith) met Adam (Tom Riley) and the two of them fell in love. As the episode progressed we saw the highs and lows of Christine and Adam's relationship, including having a son named Jack and various characters including her parents (Michele Dotrice and Paul Copley), gay best friend Bobby (Pemberton) and roommate Fung (Stacy Liu). The twist of the episode involved Christine being in a car crash with an unknown stranger (Shearsmith) watching her life flash by her certainly added a bitterness along with the use of Time To Say Goodbye. Sheridan Smith gave an incredible performance here. 9/10

Episode 3: The Trial Of Elizabeth Gage

After eight contemporary episodes, the show finally delved into a period setting and it's a Witch Trial in 17th Century England. The unfortunate Elizabeth Gage (Ruth Sheen) finds herself accused of witchcraft and all because her daughter, Sarah Nutter (Sinead Matthews) and Thomas (Jim Howick) wanted the extra space in their home. Sir Andrew Pike (David Warner) - a man clearly too kinky to torture held the trial with the help of Witch Hunters Mr Warren (Shearsmith) and Mr Clark (Pemberton). The former was overzealous in his methods to get Elizabeth to confess her guilt while the latter erred on the side of cautious. By the end of the episode, one of them was proven right and both of them paid the price for their obligations to their duties. A fantastic episode overall. 9/10

Episode 4: Cold Comfort

The director debut for Shearsmith and Pemberton on this series and it's a good one to do. A crisis hotline named Comfort Support Line should've been the perfect place for Andy (Pemberton) to help troubled people but instead, it brought him absolute hell. Mainly because of a troublesome caller named Chloe, whose actions caused the death of another caller while driving Andy mad as things further along. Throughout the episode we met other workers such as Joanne (Nikki Amuku-Bird), Liz (Jane Horrocks) and new worker, Michael (Tony Way). However it's the boss, George (Shearsmith) that proved to be the biggest thorn for Andy, especially when rumbled as the voice behind Chloe, leaving behind more carnage in his wake. 8/10

Episode 5: Nana's Party

Time for a birthday party. The nana of the piece being Maggie (Elsie Kelly) who has turned 79. Her daughter - the right uptight Angela (Claire Skinner) has decided to throw her mother a party, constantly fretting and exasperated by her husband, Jim (Pemberton) being more fixated on pulling a prank on Pat (Shearsmith) than helpimg out. Pat also happened to be married to Angela's sister, Carol (Lorraine Ashbourne) and throughout the episode, Carol revelled in revealing home truths about her crumbling marriage while also taking apart Angela and Jim's. There's also two near death experiences, an amusing birthday card and a stripper (Christopher Whitlow) who give Maggie quite a memorable birthday. 7/10

Episode 6: Séance Time

Ah, yes, for the second series finale, let's have an episode focused on a séance. It was an interesting idea as we opened with the unwitting Tina (Sophie McShera) being led by Hives (Shearsmith) towards Madame Talbot (Allison Steadman), only just things to go awry and a blue demon (Dan Starkey) to show up and terrify poor Tina. Except, it wasn't a real séance but a bit for a hidden camera show named Scaredy Cam. Hives was really the presenter Terry trying to revive a dead show and Madame Talbot and the blue demon were just actors named Anne and Clive respectively. Along with the director Gemma (Cariad Lloyd) and makeup artist, Amanda (Alice Lowe), a hit show was nearly on their hands. That was until Pete (Pemberton) accidentally killed the blue demon and Terry found himself haunted by a creepy voice of a dead child, ending this episode on a rather creepy note. 9/10

All episodes of Inside No. 9 are available on BBC iPlayer and Amazon.

Inside No. 9 - Series 1 Review (2014)

I've been wanting to do this for a while but here we go. I've watched this show on and off for years and now I'm going to do a review of each series. All episodes were written by Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton and directed by David Kerr.

Episode 1: Sardines

The very first episode where Shearsmith and Pemberton play a couple named Carl and Stuart. It's an episode where the cast, comprising of Rebecca (Katherine Parkinson), Lee (Luke Pasqualino), Geraldine (Anne Reid), Rachel (Ophelia Lovibond), Mark (Julian Rhind-Tutt), Elizabeth (Anna Chancellor), Jeremy (Ben Willbond), Stinky John (Marc Wootten) and Andrew (Timothy West) are all playing the titular game. Or at the very least, they were trying to between family sniping, exes at the engagement party, sibling rivalry and oh yeah, someone adding a little fire into the mix. It's a good start to the series where the number nine factors into each episode as does a hare. 7/10

Episode 2: A Quiet Night In

Now this episode sold me on the premise of this anthology show more than the first one. It's effectively a silent episode for the most part. If you exclude the use of classical music, an episode of EastEnders playing in the background, a barking dog and some actual dialogue at the end. Shearsmith and Pemberton are a bunch of hapless burglars named Ray and Eddie who break into a posh house owned by Gerald (Denis Lawson) and Sabrina (Oona Chaplin). They're a mismatched bickering couple who both meet their ends in different ways as the episode took some interesting twists. Notably with the addition of Paul (Kayvan Novak) who's seemingly harmless demeanor was a smokescreen for a more sinister motive. Such a clever episode with perfectly judged slapstick moments. 9/10

Episode 3: Tom & Gerri

A homage to the iconic cat and mouse duo? Not really but it's got a couple named Tom (Shearsmith) and Gerri (Gemma Arterton). He's a teacher with aspirations of being a writer while she's a struggling actor, who managed to get a part playing D-Day Doris. For the most part, they're a happy pair until the presence of homeless man Migg (Pemberton) disrupts everything. At first Tom seemed openly disdainful of Migg until the latter proved to be useful for his creative juices. However the more creative Tom got, the more he lost the run of himself. It didn't long for the roles to reverse between both Tom and Migg and neither Gerri, nor Tom's co-worker, Stevie (Conleith Hill) could get through to him. As for Migg, his upturn also came crashing as the episode ended on an unpleasant note for him. 8/10

Episode 4: Last Gasp

By far, the weakest episode of the first series. That doesn't mean it bad as such, it's just that it didn't really grip me either. First of all, if you're going to do a singer attending the birthday of a sick child, wouldn't it make sense for the character to be younger? Tamsin (Lucy Hutchinson) got a visit from Frankie J. Parsons (David Bedella) but he seems more like a singer who would appeal to parents Graham (Pemberton) and Jan (Sophie Thompson) than Tamsin herself. Anyways Frankie died early in the episode after blowing up a balloon for Tamsin. The rest of the episode then focused on Graham and Frankie's people - Si (Adam Deacon) and Sally (Tamsin Greg) arguing over selling Frankie's "last gasp" to the highest online bidder. That was until Tamsin derailed their plans. This is the only episode in the series not to feature Reece Shearsmith. 6/10

Episode 5: The Understudy

For the penultimate episode of the first series, how about something wicked this way comes? An episode in five acts, focusing on the production of Macbeth and specifically an understudy named Jim (Shearsmith) who wants his big acting break but not as much as his overly ambitious fellow understudy and girlfriend Laura (Lyndsey Marshall), who seemed desperate to make Jim a star. When the initial star Tony (Pemberton) got taken out of the equation and rendered paralysed and company manager Felicity (Julia Davis) ousted for sexual harassment, it seemed like Laura was going overboard as Lady Macbeth. The twist involving seemingly harmless dresser Kirstie (Rosie Cavaliero) was nicely done as Laura had a far more tragic fate between acts while Jim realised the true cost of his new found success. 9/10

Episode 6: The Harrowing

The last episode of the first series, only turned out to be the best one of the bunch. A thing I noticed with this show is that I tend to gravitate towards the overtly gothic and supernatural episodes the most. This episode was the most gothic and supernatural of the first series and it's an excellent way note to end on. You've got the weird sibling duo of Hector (Shearsmith) and Tabitha (Helen McCrory) who hire a school girl named Katy (Aimee-Ffion Edwards) to housesit while they attend an event. A spooky house that's perpetually cold, a hotspot dead zone and has a frail old man named Andras (Sean Buckley) confined to a bed. Where the episode worked was the twist involving Katy's friend, Michelle (Poppy Rush) being in a cult with Hector and Tabitha and Andras being a dying vessel for the mischievous Castiel. As for Katy, this episode ended on a horrifying note for her. This is also the only episode not to feature Steve Pemberton. 9/10

Webisode: The Inventors

Released shortly during the first series had aired, this was written by Ed Hime and directed by Martin Stirling. A little over ten minutes long, the webisode focused on two brothers played by Tom Verral and Dan Renton Skinner. Both men lost their mother in the Great Storm of 1987 and we're determined to get a working time machine to save her. It's a story told through cinema graphs and it's divering enough but essentially not a must see. 5/10

All episodes of Inside No. 9 are available on BBC iPlayer and Amazon.