Inside No. 9 is a show created by Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith, who are best known for being the co-creators of ‘The League of Gentlemen,’ a comedy sketch show along with Mark Gatiss and Jeremy Dyson.
Inside No.9, which is an anthology series, is also written by the two and they often feature either as protagonists or in the supporting role. They describe the show as a series made entirely of bottle episodes. tvtropes.org defines a ‘bottle episode’ as an episode that is “designed to take up as little money as possible.” They are usually set in a single location, feature only the main cast and are very dialogue-heavy.
Therefore, as the name might suggest each episode of ‘Inside No.9’ takes place inside a 9-number location such as the 9th floor of a hotel, the 9th cubicle in an office and even inside a 9-number shoe.
For me, Inside No.9 was a show I was always intrigued by but was never hooked on to. But finally, in 2021, I decided once and for all that I must view the show. And I did. And it was fantastic. Pemberton and Shearsmith make the most out of the anthology format by never sticking to a particular genre or theme. The show is fairly deceptive and is able to create so much intrigue amongst its audience by throwing curve balls left and right.
Every single time you sit down to watch an episode you are constantly guessing where the show will go next, thus, keeping you, the audience, on the edge of your seats, the entire time. I can’t tell how many times my body just tenses up from the anticipation and it is so much fun when that happens. I love the feeling of being scared but you don’t know what yet.
I believe the show acts as a vehicle for both Shearsmith and Pemberton to not only explore different stories as writers but also perform different types of characters in each episode. Both of them as performers, hit it right out of the park in each episode and when they do take a back seat as performers, their writing shines through even more with the special guests they rope in for each episode.
The show was recently the recipient of the British Academy Television Awards in the Best Scripted Comedy category for its fifth season and also won 2018’s Writers Guild of Great Britain Awards in the Best TV Situation Comedy category.
I have pondered quite often that each episode of this show feels like the greatest pilot episode of a show that starts off so sure of itself but in the end is an overwhelming disappointment.
The show, like most shows, falters here and there but even the lowest-rated episode on the internet, in my opinion, is very entertaining to watch. Since I watched the show backwards from the fifth season to the first season, I can attest to the fact that not only can you literally start the show from wherever but also the show’s quality was great the entire time and has only gotten better as the show has progressed.
Here’s my five favourite episodes of all time from Inside No. 9–
- Sardines (So1 Eo1)
In this episode family members, co-workers and friends of the newly engaged, Rebecca and Jeremy, play a team-building game of sardines. The entirety of the episode takes place inside a cupboard which is inside a room which is inside a mansion numbered 9. The rules of the game are simple, each person must look for the place where most of the guests are hiding until there are no more people to guess.
As each person is added to the tiny story space, the more you understand why that particular room is so loathed by most of the people at the party.
This is the first ever episode of the series and it truly encapsulates both the comedic sensibilities and the lurking macabre feeling present in each and every episode.
- La Couchette (So2 Eo1)
On board a train destined for France, passengers inside the 9th compartment in a sleeper coach, find that one of the passengers amongst them has passed on. This is a wonderful episode and another great start to another season.
- Private View (So3 E06)
A group of perfect strangers- an art critic, a dinner lady, an author of soft-core porn literature, a health and safety inspector and an ex-contestant of Big Brother, are invited to a private viewing of an art exhibition at ‘Nine-A place for Art.’
While they innocently interact with each other admiring the art and guessing why they were each invited to the viewing, they realise that what they thought was an art piece, was actually the body of a freshly murdered person. As they find themselves locked inside the venue, they separate into groups to find an exit but are murdered one by one instead.
This episode was really funny and very campy and had great performances from- Fionna Shaw, Morgana Robinson and Felicity Kendal.
- To Have and to Hold (So4 E04)
A middle-aged couple, Adrian and Harriet, celebrating their 20th anniversary, find themselves in a so-called rut. Adrian isn’t making enough money as a photographer and he doesn’t trust his wife to go work at her last place of employment because of an affair with a co-worker.
They each try to work out their differences. But one morning as Harriet, surprises Adrian with an impromptu trip to France, for his birthday, things take a drastic turn.
In this episode, we see the dynamic between a husband and a wife and the insecurities in their imperfect relationship brought on to them by the husband’s profession as a wedding photographer.
- The Referee’s a W***er (So5 Eo1)
This episode became one of my favourites almost instantly, when I finished watching it, I felt like crying out of pure happiness. The entire episode played itself inside the referees’ locker room at the Rovers Vs United football game and was about match officials trying to make sure that the last match of the season runs smoothly.
But chaos is at hand when the referees find out that one of their contemporaries has accepted a bribe. One of the reasons why I liked this episode is because as someone who is not interested in football and doesn’t understand the passion that envelops people who are die-hard supporters of a certain team, this episode was interesting from the start till the end.
I like Inside No.9 for multiple reasons, each episode is only 30 minutes long and it is the right kind of thrilling and suspenseful content that I have been looking for, ever since horror movies no longer scare me as much. Another great thing about the show is that it has something for everyone- there are episodes about family dramas, demons, mental illnesses, loss, grief and much more.
