Inside No. 9 – ‘Dead Line’

Halloween Special

CONTAINS SPOILERS

Anthology series Inside No. 9 marked the milestone of its 25th episode by making it a live episode and a Halloween special. The “number 9” in this episode is carved out of a pumpkin.

The creators and writers of Inside No. 9, Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith perform in this story, and there is just one guest star, Stephanie Cole. The plot begins with an old man Arthur (Steve Pemberton) who finds a lost mobile phone in a graveyard.

Now, generally in episodes of Inside No. 9 there are a lot of unexpected twists and turns, and ‘Dead Line’ is no exception, so just to reiterate, everything in this blog post from here on may CONTAIN SPOILERS!

Inside No. 9 – ‘Tempting Fate’

CONTAINS SPOILERS

In the final episode of the fourth series the number 9 is a flat. The occupant, a 68-year-old man named Frank (Nigel Planer) has recently died, and three council contractors Keith (Steve Pemberton), Nick (Reece Shearsmith) and Maz (Weruche Opia) come to clean it out.

Inside No. 9 – ‘And The Winner Is…’

CONTAINS SPOILERS

The No. 9 this time is the number of a jury, who are deciding who should win the Best Actress award at a television awards.

Inside No. 9 – ‘To Have And To Hold’

CONTAINS SPOILERS

This was another episode where the number 9 was a house number. It is a suburban house, and the plot is about the dead-in-the-water marriage of middle aged, middle class couple Harriet (Nicola Walker) and Adrian (Steve Pemberton). But, with it being Inside No. 9, there’s more than meets the eye…

Inside No. 9 – ‘Once Removed’

CONTAINS SPOILERS

The number 9 in this episode is a house number, and it is about moving house. Straightforward enough, but this being Inside No. 9 things turn out to be a lot more
complex than that….

Inside No. 9 – ‘Bernie Clifton’s Dressing Room’

CONTAINS SPOILERS

A comedy duo from the past who were known as Cheese & Crackers reunite after many years. Cheese was Tommy Drake (Reece Shearsmith) and Crackers was Len Shelby (Steve Pemberton).

Inside No. 9 – ‘Zanzibar’

CONTAINS SPOILERS

Finally got round to this! The 4th series of Inside No. 9 was shown in January and a bit of February, so I realise this is quite some time after it was broadcast, but I still wanted to do it.

The first episode of the 4th series, ‘Zanzibar’ was notable in that it was told through iambic pentameter, a device used in many poems, and perhaps most famously associated with Shakespeare. In the episode ‘Zanzibar’, the title is referring to the hotel Zanzibar, and the number 9 isn’t a room, but a whole hotel corridor.

Inside No. 9 – ‘Private View’

Series 3, Episode 6

CONTAINS SPOILERS

‘Private View’ is set at a an exclusive art gallery, with 7 people selected to attend, but it seems random as none of them are similar and none know each other. As often with Inside No. 9, there’s a lot of nightmare fuel from the start…

Inside No. 9 – ‘Diddle Diddle Dumpling’

Series 3, Episode 5

CONTAINS SPOILERS

The number 9 isn’t the door number this time, it’s a shoe size, with the shoe being a huge part of the plot.

Inside No. 9 – ‘Empty Orchestra’

Series 3, Episode 4

CONTAINS SPOILERS

This episode is set in a karaoke room, reserved for an office party.

The title is meaningful, as we get the word “karaoke” from Japanese, and the literal translation of it is “empty orchestra”.

This episode is a VERY different sort of episode for Inside No. 9.