Inside No. 9 co-creator on series future: 'The door is ajar, not closed'

During a fan screening at the BFI, the duo were asked whether there is any hope for more Inside No. 9 beyond next year's ninth season, which was recently confirmed to be the final entry for now.

"It absolutely could [come back]," began Pemberton. "And that's why we've said the door is ajar, rather than closed. You could easily do specials and stuff like that."

Shearsmith and Pemberton previously collaborated on sketch comedy The League of Gentlemen, which itself returned for a trilogy of specials in 2017, which marked the 20th anniversary of the show's BBC Radio 4 debut.

He continued: "But for us and for the poor audience... I think it's good to know we are finishing after [season] 9, but we won't say 'lock the door and throw away the key'."

Read more:

• Inside No. 9 creators explain spin-off idea that never happened
• Inside No. 9 season 8 trailer offers first look at brand new episodes

The challenging premise might have been a contributing factor in deciding to end the show, with Pemberton commenting that writing the final season has been "hard".

He added: "We're writing series 9 at the moment and, of course, it's hard because we have done so many ways of telling a story. And so many ways of turning a story on its head, and we don't want to repeat those.

"We just want to give the audience the biggest surprises and enjoyable half-hour stories. That's the thing that's tricky, because by the time we finish we'll have done 55 [episodes]."

Inside No. 9 returns to BBC Two and iPlayer at 10pm on Thursday 27th April 2023. Check out more of our Comedy coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on.

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