Series 6 of Inside No. 9 gets dangerously close to middling, with some weird choices
“Sounds like something a drama teacher would have a wank to”
Calling a series of Inside No. 9 weird is a bit like calling the sky blue – blindingly obvious and yet there’s multiple shades therein. Series 5 was definitely a mixed bag for me and Series 6 continues that sense of unevenness, becoming even – dare I say it – a little predictable. I’m not claiming I guessed all the twists but I clocked the direction of travel for at least half of these episodes and that doesn’t feel right.
At its best, as in Lip Service (which ranks amongst the most effective they’ve done), that sense of not knowing what is going to spring from the minds of Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith is pure anticipatory joy. A hotel room encounter which somehow embraces and subverts multiple clichés, it contains magisterial work from Sian Clifford’s Iris who similarly trips us up repeatedly as expectations are confounded.
The Faustian double-dealing of How Do You Plead? is elevated by the mere presence of Derek Jacobi (a rare returner for this show) and the manipulations of twisted stan culture in Simon Says are entertainingly done, though Lindsay Duncan is sorely underused in the latter. Both did ultimately feel a little underwhelming as it is arguably easier to figure the rug pulls out but they’re still highly watchable.
The staginess of Wuthering Heist is lots of fun as it blends Commedia dell’arte and contemporary heist films, Gemma Whelan superbly wry with her fourth wall breaks and Paterson Joseph an amusing head honcho. The script packs in endless jokes of varying quality which lifts it above the cod-Shakespeare of the earlier Zanzibar, again keeping things pacey and pleasurable. By contrast, Hurry Up and Wait is just a bit repetitively dull (despite the meta Adrian Dunbar stuff) and whatever Last Night of the Proms is offering, I just don’t want.
