0Written by ROSSHEPBURN91
Well, the trailer for series 5 has been shared and there is news that the show has been commissioned for a 6th series. Inside No.9 is the TV show that keeps on giving. And now with more shows being announced, it’s not going to go away anytime soon. I love this show. Being a fan of The League Of Gentlemen and what the boys get up to outside of the sketch show, they have shown that their writing has gone from strength to strength. And Inside No.9 is the best example of perfect short story/anthology writing. The amount of attention to details that go into each episode go from screamingly funny to hauntingly terrifying. Yup, all and all is what consider to be a perfect TV show.
So to celebrate the recent news of Inside No.9, I decided to make my list of my Top 9 Inside No.9 episodes. To get me back into the mood of watching the show, as well as sharing with you a place to start and watch if you haven’t seen it yet. With that being said…Let’s get started!
9. The Bill – S3 E2
Out of the episodes that will be mentioned on this list, I consider this episode to be the funniest episode out of all of them, well it’s the episode I laugh at the most anyway. The setup is simple. 4 unlikely and unlikable friends meet up for dinner, by the end of the night and the restaurant beginning to close they ultimately have to pay the bill. Who decides between them, turns into the unbearable nightmare of 4 guys trying to pay a bill. One of the things that makes this episode so funny is the hilarious and over the top realistic depictions of what happens between a group of people in their own heightened ways when it comes to paying a bill in a restaurant. It’s ridiculous to watch but also believable to find yourself relating to the situation. And just when you think the situation calms down and sorts itself out, your then uppercutted with a gag that puts the whole problem back on track. Arguably the one episode that has the best gags and laughs. Trying to pay for dinner has never been more stressful and more hysterical
8. Empty Orchestra – S3 E4
Now, let’s be honest. Not all the episodes of Inside No.9 are smash hit episodes. In Fact some come along and don’t just hit the same mark that other episodes have been able to achieve. In this case Empty Orchestra is one of those episodes for a lot of fans of Inside No.9…And I don’t know why, because I friggin love this episode. A work night out set in a Karaoke booth, no scary surprises, no horrifying twists and no horrifically evil characters. Just a sweet and simple story with characters as likeable and as real as you can expect in a workplace. This episode is a fresh relief from the episode previous where nothing dark or menacing happens throughout. You can watch a well structured story that involves bad people get what’s coming to them and a sweet love story finding its legs. For the low ratings this episode gets it baffles me. It’s an episode so good in fact that Steve Pemberton one of the writers and actors of No.9 later admitted that this is favourite episode of the show. If it’s good enough for him, then it deserves a place on my list. A karaoke story as sweet as real that makes you wish this was a work night out you were on.
7. Private View – S3 E6
You may have gathered that Series 3 was my favourite series of No.9. And the last episode seals the deal of a fantastic series. Inspired by the horror films of the 70’s and the stories of Agatha Christie, Private View follows guests invited to an art exhibition that gradually get picked off one by one. The result is a scary whodunnit episode involving a series of graphically comic deaths and the poorly named Kenneth Williams (my favourite character in the whole of Inside No.9). One of the things going into this episode as a fan of the league and knowing all you know about them, this episode follows a lot of plot points similar to the horror film “The abominable Doctor Phibes”. A horror film that the guys of League have admitted to being one of their favorite horror films ever made. So the similarities in the homage of this episode are a sweet watch for fans of both the league and the film. It’s a perfect go all out final episode of series 3, plus when the episode starts with the murder of Peter Kay, you cant compete with an intro like that. Strap yourself into a private viewing of the last art exhibition these folk will ever see.
6. Cold Comfort – S2 E4
Now one of the amazing things about this show is that they will challenge themselves with the limitations with storytelling. Resulting with some interesting film making choices and visual styles. The best example of this is Cold Comfort. The episode follows a team of people who work in a call center mirroring the good Samaritans. With a proper screen in the center and 3 small screens on the right hand side, you are watching every single screen to get any visual clues that can go along with the story. But unfortunately for you, you never see it coming. The performances in this episode sell the unusual visual style with incredible realistic portrayals of people working in a call center, as well as coping with the pressures of hearing someone contemplate suicide and then follow it up with something minor that anyone would get worried about. It’s shows how someone’s actions over the phone follow consequences that can be worse for anyone on the other line. This is the episode that will keep you guessing when you watch it. But you will never figure out what happens until its too late…Love it.
5. DeadLine – Halloween Special
So when the lads of No.9 were given the challenge of doing a live episode special, they could not pass that challenge up. Under the wraps, they conceived and came up with an idea that would be a massive challenge but if it all paid off well it would be an amazing watching experience. And you know what…They did it. Deadline follows what you think is going to be another brilliant and scary episode for halloween but ultimately turns up the mayhem and leaves you speechless at how brilliant this live special pulled this off. I won’t go into further details about it, because i want you to watch and see how brilliant this episode was done. But my only regret that I didn’t watch this on the 28/10/18. Because watching it live would have made it twice as good as it is.
4. Seance Time – S2 E6
One of the best examples of the scares that No.9 can produce can be best shown in the episode known as Seance Time. A television crew that films a hidden camera reality prank show called “Scardy cam”, fakes a seance for people to get scared out of their wits and filmed for laughs. The host is problematic and troubled diva who by his last stunt lead to the dissolvement of his previous career, is desperate to make sure that they get the best of reactions to go ahead so he can rejuvenate his career. The thing that sells this episode for me is the opening seance where you are introduced to when the episode starts. It’s an amazingly tense atmospheric and scary moment to watch. But that only adds to the horror for what happens later on in the episode. So watching this episode, hold hands with someone next to you and don’t break the circle.
3. A Quiet Night In – S1 E2
When doing a show that has little to no dialogue throughout the entire episode manages to be hilarious and clever without having to say a word, you know you are in for a fantastic piece of television. A Quiet Night In follows to criminals trying to steal a painting from a fancy estate house. While trying to be discreet and hiding in plain sight throughout the house. The visual gags that makes this episode is the strongest visual gag heavy show you will ever watch. Followed by moments that you will shout out loud getting caught up in the story, A Quiet Night In sells the diversity and anthology format that No.9 were perfecting at. You don’t need to say much to get a hilarious story across
2. Tom And Gerri – S1 E3
When you watch a Tv show and find yourself applauding the episode when it’s finished, you have found your new favourite thing to watch ever. Or at least that’s what I thought at the end of this episode. Tom And Gerri follows a couple living in a flat. Tom accidentally be friends a homeless man who shares a similar interest of Author Charles Bukowski as Tom admits that his biggest writing influence. The more they converse the more that the homeless “Mig” keeps draining the money and life out of Tom, to the point he quits his job and just drinks for days on end wasting away in the flat. This episode drives home the horror of unemployment and the stress of over burdening yourself with the thoughts of hopelessness that comes when doing nothing with yourself. Plus it ends so good that i gave it a standing ovation. That’s how good it was. This was the episode that made me fall in love with this show and now it was going to become a new favorite. This is the episode that sells how brilliant this show is and how better it was going to get. What a rush.
And my number 1 favourite episode of Inside No.9 is….
1. Bernie Clifton’s Dressing Room – S4 E2
We’ve had scary, we’ve had funny. But this episode is a masterpiece. I’ve never fallen more in love with an episode of TV so much since the Free Churro episode of BoJack Horseman. It made me laugh, got me emotional and most of all walk away with a new outlook on life that I never had before. The story follows Tommy, a retired 80’s entertainer who visits a small theatre space to reunite for a one night only show with his double act partner Len. Billed as “Cheese And Crackers” the 2 run through their old set and gags, talk about the old days of what showbiz was like for them while revealing some painful truths to each other along the way. What’s incredible about this episode is how memory plays a large part in the focus between the 2 characters. One is trying so hard to distance himself from the past and move on with his life as though what he done before never happened to him, while the other holds on to his past so much he forgets the troubles and tribulations that came from his hayday in the first place. The more the episode goes on the more it reveals on where the cracks begin to show which ultimately results to why they ended their showbiz careers and why they had to say goodbye to it.
It’s a tragic and gorgeous tale of coming to terms in growing with your history. Leading to a finale that is the perfect bow on top of a truly fantastic piece of Television. Out of all the episodes of No.9 i’ve watched, i always re watch this one the most. Funny, sad and full of heart. If your going to cry, cry tears of laughter, in this episode of Inside No.9.
And that’s my favourite episodes of Inside No.9. What are yours?