All 13 episodes of Inside No 9 ranked from worst to best
Which instalment of the darkly twisted anthology series comes out on top in our list?
Twisted, macabre, hilarious, horrible. Inside No 9 is everything but predictable.
As Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith's black comedy anthology returns for a third run, we’ve ranked every episode so far – from worst (unlucky number 13) to best (number 1).
This is of course a subjective view, so do feel free to post your own rankings in the comments box below.
13. The Harrowing
Although it's a genuinely terrifying half hour of television, suffice it to say there's little or no humour in The Harrowing. The grotesque Andras, with his cloven feet and bandaged mouth, is the thing of nightmares and the gothic horror is ramped up to 11 but overall the episode is let down by a lack of comedy and an absence of a twist in the tale – two staple elements of Inside No 9.
12. The Trial of Elizabeth Gadge
Seeing a witch trial play out is surprisingly amusing, as Shearsmith and Pemberton go to town parodying the absurdity of the process. There's a clever use of dialogue – playing with 17th century English – but a lack of excitement in the plot and a relatively predictable ending mean it's not up to the standard of many of the episodes that came before it.
11. Tom & Gerri
This episode is one long lesson in not judging others or taking things for granted. Seeing how quickly Tom slides from a judgemental man with a steady job to being completely cut off from everyone around him is sobering, but the ending is actually quite puzzling, unsatisfactory and doesn’t feel as if it does the story justice.
10. Cold Comfort
https://media.immediate.co.uk/volatile/sites/3/2017/08/130666.fb334fc5-2082-434a-8321-c285e3b99f38.jpe
Another innovative use of camerawork, Cold Comfort plays out entirely from the perspective of CCTV cameras. Set in a Samaritans-style call centre, the darkly-brilliant script is spot on (“She’s had to take a bit of gardening leave. She had three dead dads in two days, it tipped her over the edge”) even if the the twist at the end, with a suitably horrible final scene, is a little bit ridiculous.
