It seems on-brand that Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith’s long-running BBC Two black comedy would come to a close after nine series, no more and no less. The number nine has served as a setting or plot device in most episodes, and the show’s two creators always appear deliberate and purposeful in their decision-making, whether these choices guide the stories or – just as importantly – the ambience. Pemberton and Shearsmith star as different characters in different environments each time, meticulously crafting new atmospheres and new character tensions, seemingly effortlessly. Throughout this anthology of digestible fables riddled with darkness, the two writers/stars never let us forget that they’re in complete control.

In series nine just as in all previous series, the twists in the tales range from amusing, to startling and gruesome. Common themes are British sensibilities and the social contract, or the breaking of it – something which is brought to the fore in series nine’s opener, ‘Boo To A Goose’. While the first ten minutes of the half-hour is spent recognising the actors from other places, the episode goes on to realise a very literal interpretation of social norm maintenance. No two Inside No. 9 twists are the same; while some are entirely grounded in reality, this one leans into science fiction – however, it ultimately does so in order to play on right-wing rhetoric about a ‘great replacement’. Even when Inside No. 9’s creative choices appear outlandish or even bizarre, it consistently uses its crooked worlds to voice thinly-veiled judgements about the state of our own.

‘The Trolley Problem’ is a stripped-back episode featuring only Pemberton and Shearsmith, locked in a deadly ping-pong game of surprise reveals. We are never entirely sure which of the two characters knows more than the other. ‘Mulberry Close’ is told from the point-of-view of a doorbell camera in an English cul-de-sac; I decided early on that I knew what the twist would be. What I had predicted to happen did indeed happen, but this was undermined by the next scene spinning the story out in a different direction. For Inside No. 9 to work, the audience must remain in the dark, and Pemberton and Shearsmith do everything in their creative power to keep us there.

Having watched the series since the beginning over ten years ago, I should understand by now that the ending twist of an episode is never clear from the outset. Sometimes it waits until the final moments to spring like a trap, or it’s woven subtly into the fabric of the whole story, forcing you to question your perspectives in your failure to see what was there all along.

My favourite episodes are often the riskiest; on several occasions, the show has boldly dismissed traditional concepts of TV, undoing expectations for how a half-hour 10pm show on BBC Two should behave. Even the roles of writer and audience member are interrogated, such as in the chaotic ‘live’ episode for Halloween 2018 which featured interaction with the audience at home via Twitter, or Lee Mack’s game show ‘3×3’, which was presented entirely earnestly. Another game show presented by Lee Mack; nothing remarkable here. Viewers online complained that the BBC had messed up the schedules and inadvertently replaced Inside No. 9 in its slot, until the violent ending makes everything clear: three times three equals nine.

Throughout the show’s final outing, Pemberton and Shearsmith never lose sight of their delicate blend of grounded characterisation and horror-film suspense, now familiar and even comforting to fans. They don’t try to overcompensate for it being the final run; they simply do what they have always done. The result is another unsettling songbook of stories to revisit over and over. Pemberton and Shearsmith’s vaguely terrifying invention will be dearly missed, but I would not be at all surprised if it were to someday return in one form or another. Having glimpsed inside the bottomless well of their shared vision, I would expect the unexpected.

Rating: 5/5

Read more TV articles here:

Review: Mary and George

A Sign of Affection: a love letter to Shoujo

Review: Avatar:The Last Airbender