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Wednesday, 15 November 2023

My 10 favourite episodes of Inside No.9

I have just finished watching Inside No.9—it is brilliant! It’s a British black comedy series, written by Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton, and each episode is a self-contained story, almost all starring one of them or both (usually both).

Ingenuous plots, clever twists, good dialogue, good attention to detail. Also, both Shearsmith and Pemberton have a great range. 

Here are my 10 favourite episodes (in chronological order): 

  • A Quiet Night In: two hapless burglars trying to steal a (postmodernist?) painting whilst the couple in the house argue; almost entirely without dialogue. 
  • The Understudy: about a production of Macbeth, and inspired by Macbeth
  • The 12 Days of Christine: 12 days from 12 years of Christine’s life; great drama and emotion packed into just half an hour. 
  • The Billsimple premise (four men arguing over a bill), simple location (for most of the episode, around a table); the entire plot driven by characters and dialogue. 
  • The Riddle of the Sphinx: one of the most ingenuous episodes in the series; revolving around a cryptic crossword. 
  • Zanzibar: a Shakespeare mash-up; the whole dialogue in iambic pentameter. 
  • Bernie Clifton’s Dressing Room: double-act Cheese and Crackers reuniting after 30 years to perform in front of an audience. 
  • Once Removed: a removal man arriving to help a woman move house, leading to bizarre circumstances that unfold through reverse chronology; one of the cleverest episodes. 
  • Misdirection: a battle of wits between magicians, years after a stolen trick. 
  • Wuthering Heist: a heist film in the style of Commedia dell’arte and inspired by Reservoir Dogs
  • The Bones of St Nicholas: a professor camping in a church that is said to be haunted and contain the bones of St Nicholas. 

All right, I know, that’s actually 11. But you can’t make me get rid of one. 


One of my favourite jokes from Inside No.9

- Jesus! What a blue-cock!

- What’s a blue-cock?

- A tight-fisted wanker.

3 comments:

  1. This sounds like it's worth dipping into. Where is it - Britbox?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If you live in the US, I think it's on BritBox.
      I enjoyed it a lot. Let me know what you think!

      Delete

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