Inside No 9: Once Removed, review: this black comedy is criminally underappreciated
Let’s hope the makers of last year’s flop BBC drama Rellik were watching, taking notes and hanging their heads in shame. Inside No 9 (BBC Two) just provided a masterclass in how to tell a crime story backwards.
The latest episode of Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith’s consistently captivating comedy-horror anthology series, titled Once Removed, unfolded through reverse chronology. And it trod the line between over-clever gimmick and fiendish puzzler almost perfectly.
Removal man Spike (Nick Moran) arrived to help nervous resident May (Monica Dolan) move out of her country farmhouse. Or did he? So began a macabre murder mystery which divulged its dark secrets in instalments, each scene hopping back in time to 10 minutes earlier.
The high body count was offset by plentiful comic relief. David Calder played senile pensioner Percy, who thought he was Andrew Lloyd Webber – cue a barrage of West End musical gags. When his daughter Natasha (Emilia Fox) accidentally caught a glimpse of Percy naked in the bath, she murmured: “That reminds me, I must get some sun-dried tomatoes.”
There were visual jokes involving bubble wrap and an Aga. Spike was employed by “Handle Me Gently” removals company but his boss wanted to call it “Vanman Style”, which some enterprising type with a Ford Transit should copy immediately.
Currently in its fourth and finest series yet, Inside No 9 is impressively becoming ever broader in emotional range. Its most acclaimed episode, 2015’s The Twelve Days of Christine starring Sheridan Smith, was a devastating meditation on life, death and love.
Last week’s gem, Bernie Clifton's Dressing Room, achieved something similar. An ode to variety with a rug-pulling twist that transformed it into something achingly poignant, it’s well worth seeking out on iPlayer if you missed it.
League of Gentlemen alumni Pemberton and Shearsmith’s half-hour playlets are also endlessly creative in form. Episodes have been silent, told in iambic pentameter or cryptic crossword clues, set inside a wardrobe and filmed in the style of a CCTV feed.
This one was ingeniously constructed back-to-front, beginning with murder before spooling back to reveal its motive. When the credits rolled, I immediately wanted to watch it again to figure out how the plot hung together and spot the small, lovingly written details.
Inside No 9 remains criminally under-appreciated, with ratings of around 1.5m, despite it being one of the best home-grown programmes around. A delicious throwback to the days of The Twilight Zone and Tales of the Unexpected, it’s a reminder of the sheer, spine-tingling magic of television. It not only deserves a wider audience but awards too.
