TV week
Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith return with a new series of darkly comic tales
Inside No. 9 returns, Lily James stars in The Pursuit of Love, Chris Rock takes the lead in Fargo, Toby Jones plays a human-rights lawyer in Danny Boy, and comedy
Motherland is back for a new series
NEW COMEDY Inside No. 9 Monday, BBC2 HD, 9.30pm
STEVE PEMBERTON and Reece Shearsmith’s acclaimed anthology
Inside No. 9 is back for its sixth series – with a seventh soon to begin production – and the pair are still finding new ways to push the comedy envelope with six inventive and original new episodes.
As usual, the series features a glittering array of guest stars, with the likes of Gemma Whelan, Sian Clifford, Adrian Dunbar and
Sir Derek Jacobi putting in appearances (see box, right).
Tv & satellite Week joined Pemberton, 53, and Shearsmith, 51, for a video chat to hear what flights of imagination they have up their sleeves this time…
What can you tell us about the first episode of the new series, Wuthering Heist?
PEMBERTON We wanted to do something with masks, and all of comedy really comes from commedia dell’arte [masked Italian comedies from the 16th century], where they would wear masks for most of the characters. But we thought on its own it might be too theatrical, so we thought about who else wears masks – gangs doing heists! We wanted a potent mix of quite aggressive, gangster stuff and the light, physical comedy of commedia dell’arte.
Were all the other actors familiar with commedia dell’arte or was it new to some of them?
SHEARSMITH Most of them had heard of it. Paterson Joseph is in the episode and very much knew it, and he wore his mask very well! On the one hand it feels like it’s obstructing everything you’re doing as an actor, but on the other hand it’s very freeing because you’ve got this big, expressive mask that is doing a lot of the work for you.
Filming the new series was disrupted by lockdown. did you have to make any changes when you resumed?
PEMBERTON We ditched some of the episodes we were going to film, and pushed them into the next series. Some of the ones we wrote during lockdown were smaller casts, and we were able to film them in studios where you’ve got more air and space around you, so we jiggled around which episodes we shot. But other than the crew being distanced and bubbled and having masks on, in front of the camera you’ve just got to do it the same way. We didn’t want it to be ‘the pandemic series’, which is looked back on in years to come as being influenced by the pandemic – we wanted escapism.
You always attract incredible guest stars. do people approach you asking to be in the show?
SHEARSMITH We’ve had a few surprising people say, ‘Oh, if there’s ever a part, I’d love to do it,’ via their
‘We didn’t want it to be “the pandemic series” – we wanted escapism’
STEVE PEMBERTON
agents. Once we get the scripts, we start thinking about who would be good in the parts, and we try not to go down the obvious routes.
PEMBERTON We have an episode in which we wanted an actor to come in and play themselves, so we cast Adrian Dunbar because he put in a request. He was such a good sport. He said, ‘Oh, all that lot on Line of
Duty want to be in it.’ We’ll work our way through them eventually!
You’ve directed episodes in the past as well as writing and starring in them. how was that?
SHEARSMITH It’s hard. I always find your mind is split with being in it and trying to be outside of it as well. I didn’t like it – I felt like neither got my full attention!