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“Endings are hard. We’ve always known endings are hard,” says Steve Pemberton in new BBC Two documentary Inside No. 9: The Party’s Over. He’s not just talking about devising the perfect conclusion, with the right balance of surprise and satisfaction, for an Inside No. 9 story; he’s talking about concluding the whole show.
The new hour-long doc goes behind the scenes on the ninth and final series of Inside No. 9, when he and co-creator Reece Shearsmith capped their extraordinary 55-film achievement with “Plodding On”, a guest star and Easter egg-packed finale that paid due homage to everything that’s gone before. As the documentary goes behind the camera on the creation of the show’s final six episodes, it revealed some fun Inside No. 9 trivia for fans…
Working Titles Included “No. 5” and “Behind Closed Doors”
Looking through Steve Pemberton’s old notebooks from when the show was being developed, a couple of alternative titles are listed: “No. 5” and “Behind Closed Doors”. If they’d gone with the former, then they might have stopped after the fifth series instead of the ninth, and deprived us of several great instalments. And “Behind Closed Doors” feels more like the title of a DVD Extra than the creepy, genre-hopping Inside No. 9.
The Musical Sting Was a Last-Minute Improv
According to Inside No. 9 composer Christian Henson, the show’s theme music was originally supposed to have been a fuller piece performed by a whole group of musicians, but when that composition didn’t get the thumbs-up, he took less than two minutes to improvise this eight-second pizzicato sting, and submitted it as an alternative. His sister told him that he’d be the jammiest person in the world if they went for it, and clearly, he is.
Prop Souvenirs
It’s traditional for creators to take home a prop or two from a wrapped show, and the ones chosen by Reece Shearsmith include: the straw doll that was used in his sacrifice scene in The Wicker Man-inspired “Mr King,” the leather portfolio used by Pemberton’s character in Christmas special “The Bones of St. Nicholas”, the Scaramouche mask he wears in commedia dell’arte episode “Wuthering Heist”, and the model of his own decapitated head created for Halloween special “Dead Line”.
Natalie Dormer’s No. 9 Claim to Fame
Of the many, many death scenes filmed for Inside No. 9 (burned to death in wardrobe, drowned in bath, stabbed, guillotined, shot, bitten by vampire…) the final one you see in the entire run is Natalie Dormer’s character falling from the balcony in classical music period piece “The Curse of the Ninth.”
Real-Life Episode Inspirations
Donna Preston’s character Bev in series six episode “Hurry Up and Wait” was inspired by a real experience the creators had while filming The League of Gentlemen. Told to wait between scenes in a residential house that they thought was empty, they came across the house owner wearing a dressing gown and telling them, “I’m having a glass of champagne. It’s my birthday today.” It went straight in the script. Series three episode “The Bill” was inspired by Pemberton and Shearsmith witnessing a fight over who got to pay the bill at Stella’s Room Café in Muswell Hill.
A Horror Poster Pedigree
Graham Humphreys, who designed nine of the show’s excellent episode posters (for “Sardines”, “The Harrowing,” “The Devil of Christmas,” “The Riddle of the Sphinx,” “Tempting Fate,” “Private View,” “Nine Lives Kat,” “The Bones of St. Nicholas,” and “CTRL, ALT, ESC”) is a celebrated artist who also designed original posters for Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead film series.
Past Projects Revisited
In fan-favourite episode “Bernie Clifton’s Dressing Room,” the punk dummy and professorial ventriloquist outfits were inspired by an old photograph of Pemberton and Shearsmith wearing those same outfits on stage in their own pre-TV comedy double act. And series one episode “Tom & Gerri” was adapted from a play the pair had written very early in their careers called “The Dole Boy”.
The End of the End?
The final shot Pemberton and Shearsmith filmed together for Inside No. 9 is actually the final scene of the series (it’s not always the case). In series nine finale “Plodding On”, the pair reconcile in the toilets at the wrap party bash and Pemberton (playing himself) asks what they should do next. Shearsmith (playing himself) says “There is a third option…”, which cues up the punchline montage of scenes from an On the Buses-inspired, 1970s-styled sitcom “Hold on Tight”.
It’s not quite the end yet though. The Inside No. 9 live show Stage/Fright, starring Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith, produced by Richard Osman and directed by Simon Evans, arrives in January 2025 at the Wyndham Theatre. More information here.
Inside No. 9 series one to nine are available to stream now on BBC iPlayer.
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