The award-winning horror anthology Inside No.9 is back for another episode of its eighth series of spooky stories to make you jump. Co-creators Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton get to play in a sandbox of their silliest fantasies, paying homage to their varied horror inspirations from stage and screen. Since 2014 they’ve enjoyed making the mundane farcical and irresistibly chilling.
It’s a unique combination of laugh out loud campy silliness, unsettling encounters and horrifying reveals. The series often deals in big themes and big emotions, with a large dollop of bloodthirsty violence. And with their trademark twist, we know anything can happen in the next half hour.
In ‘Mother’s Ruin’, dearly departed East End villains Harry and Annie Blackwood were rotten to the core and, in hushed tones, we’re told did some truly horrible things when they were alive. Their sons Edwards and Harry, never having benefited from this gangster empire, plan to find out what secrets they took to their grave.
Credit: BBC
Scheming brother Edward (Reece Shearsmith, often playing the nastier of the two characters) has failed businesses behind him. He reckons there’s a stolen fortune somewhere. No need for any private investigators working methodically through legal paperwork and banking records; he’s going right to the source, via necromancy.
As he pulls back the carpet in Mum’s bungalow (with her furniture and trinkets preserved as if in amber) and draws pentagrams on the floorboards he explains to his good-natured kindly brother Harry the power of this rite. It’s part seance, part magistrates court. Mum will be bound by dark magic to appear and compelled to finally tell the truth. Show me the money!
The brothers are bitter about deep family ructions and the division of labour during Mum’s final illness. There’s guilt, grief and love just below the surface. But before things get too emotional Harry is dressed up in his mum’s clothes. Steve Pemberton’s semi-regular pantomime dame outfit cheers us up, but like Harry, we’re trepidatious.
Of course, the current owners return earlier than expected. The casting of Anita Dobson and Phil Daniels as married couple Reggie and Frannie is wonderful; two true East end superstars. Suddenly the threat level rises and the power dynamic shifts.
This is a workmanlike episode with strong casting, moments of real tension and some satisfying violence. It’s a straight-forward episode which seems strange for a series that’s known for its twists. But remember, this isn’t the balls-to-the-wall series opener; that was the ghostly Christmas special entitled ‘The Bones of St Nicholas’.
Don’t be concerned though. As with any anthology there are hits and misses, and your miss may well be someone else’s favourite ever episode. Thanks to the magic of BBC screeners, I’ve seen the next episode entitled ‘Paraskevidekatriaphobia’ (say that three times fast). I can report that it’s a classic farce, jam-packed with a terrific ensemble cast. If you know enough about phobias for a pub quiz, you’ll already know what this episode is about. But no spoilers from me, other than to tell you it’s very, very good.
Inside No.9 continues to be a beast of a show, and a thrilling, joyful, horrible half-hour.
Inside No.9 airs at 10pm on Thursdays on BBC Two
