Inside No. 9

This week I've been watching 'Inside No.9.'

Inside No. 9 is the brainchild of League of Gentleman creators, Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith. A mischievous offspring of Roald Dahl’s Tales of the Unexpected, Inside is a dark delight that revels in the macabre.

However, it would be reductive to simply pigeonhole the show as ‘dark comedy.’ Shearsmith recently expressed consternation over this, saying commentators dwell too heavily on the darkness of their work and not enough on the comedy- he has a point: Inside is more than a menagerie of grotesqueries; it is cleverly plotted and wickedly funny.

Shearsmith and Pemberton: the Lennon and McCartney of comedy. Now in its second season, the first series comes recommended. Although there are six episodes, each one is stand-alone with the only unifying thread being they’re set inside a location numbered nine. The best episode from the last season was the impishly titled ‘A Quiet Night In.' Indeed, it is a very quiet night in as the piece unfolds without dialogue. Executing this form of comedy is not easy- just ask Matt Lucas. TV critics have soundly savaged his silent show, Pompidou. With its precipitous fall in viewing figures, the Beeb has gone Dignitas on the show, sending it off to die quietly on BBC Two. Where Lucas and Walliams’ instinct for comedy reaches a nadir then, Pemberton and Shearsmith’s inventive play with form enjoys acclaim.

Channeling Keaton and Chaplin: silent comedians at work. This series begins on board a sleeper train, journeying from Paris to Bourg St Maurice. It is nighttime and a doctor’s attempt to sleep is disturbed by the entrance of other passengers: stereotypes that include a priapic drunk, horny Australian, Gap Yah twat and bawdy northern couple. Having an academic caged in with prurient sex animals is always going to be a rich source of comedy- and so it proves. With each interruption exacerbating the doctor’s anger, the viewer supposes it won’t be long before he enacts 'Murder on the Orient Express.’ But Shearsmith and Pemberton are master craftsman: they expertly weave stories that confound and deceive, leaving you - like their comedy – in the dark. With only one episode in, there is still time to open the door on 'No. 9' and enjoy more claustrophobic capers.

Inside No. 9 is on Thursday, BBC 2 at 10pm.