At The BFI - Inside No 9 Series 5 Preview

It may well seem like it but I promise you that I’m not secretly being paid to advertise the BFI. I’m a member and I make as much use of my membership as possible. Being the nerdy comedy, TV, film obsessive that I am, it’s certainly paying off big time.

This was one of the big tickets of the month, selling out with a matter of minutes so I was certainly pleased to be one of the lucky few. This is a show that has been gathering in popularity over the years, winning critical acclaim but still not quite being on the radar for the viewing public at large. It’s very much in the realm of cult TV in that those that are into it are very much into it but it’s heading closer to mainstream success due to both the calibre of acting talent it attracts and the strength of the writing.

Inside No. 9
Series 5
The Referee’s A W****r / The Stakeout

It’s an unusual one to review as I’ll have to be as general as possible. A big part of the fun of the show is in not knowing what each episode will bring you. It slots into similar territory occupied by Tales Of the Unexpected and Twilight Zone but that;s a little reductive in terms of comparison. Given that it comes from two of the creators of The League Of Gentlemen, each episode is often shot through with relatively dark humour (not always though). Being an anthology show with the only constriction being that it takes place inside a Number 9 of some description, this has given them free reign to tell stories that slot into any number of genres as well as giving them the opportunity to experiment with style, serving up an episode in iambic pentameter and even a live episode.

These two episodes continue the strong quality streak that the show has been on for some time. Obviously, I can't really say anything about the episodes themselves yet; I can confirm that each episode is very different in terms of theme and style but no less enjoyable for it. Of the two, I slightly preferred the football-themed episode - somewhat surprisingly, I know.

The episodes were accompanied by a Q&A with co-writers and stars Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith and producer Adam Tandy. BFI Q&As are always a slightly hit and miss affair but even the long rambling question that was largely more about the questioner making points about themselves than asking a question did come to enough of a point to give them something to work with. Reece Shearsmith often seems a little spiky at times and it’s hard to tell whether this is him having a bit of fun with the whole Q&A thing or genuine irritation on his part (although to be fair, he has probably been asked a lot of these questions many, many times).

There’s no official start date for the series yet so it made this preview extra sweet. The only downside being that, when it does come back, I’ve now only got four new eps to look forward to!