Reece Shearsmith reveals a "lockdown" episode of Inside No. 9 was considered
Fittingly, each episode of the anthology is confined to one location.
Inside No. 9 co-creator Reece Shearsmith has revealed that while that the BBC Two anthology series is, in some ways, "made for" pandemic times, an idea for an episode themed around lockdown was scrapped.
Shearsmith collaborates on the series with longtime creative partner Steve Pemberton, with each episode confined to one location and often packing a killer last-minute twist.
After the programme won the Virgin Media BAFTA TV Award for Scripted Comedy at the 2021 ceremony, Shearsmith revealed that a chapter inspired by the pandemic had been considered.
"Inside No. 9's sort of made for lockdown times, isn't it? We did think about doing something that would’ve been contained, or maybe on Zoom, people in lockdown, but then we thought maybe that’s the last thing you want to do," he said at a press conference after the ceremony.
Shearsmith added: "We were slightly cautious of just rubbing people’s faces in it. So we’ve gone the other way and tried to write the world like it used be."
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Inside No. 9 series six premiered on BBC Two back in May and has received a warm reception from critics, with a seventh run already commissioned by the broadcaster.
At a post-ceremony press conference, Pemberton was quizzed on whether the next instalment could be the final batch of episodes, but assured fans that no concrete decision has been made just yet.
"We go in to film series seven this summer," he said. "We just focus on one series at a time and one episode at a time, because each episode we finish writing, we immediately have to then create a whole new world afterwards. We don’t have a particular end point in mind."
Back in May, Pemberton had revealed that he and his collaborator are considering an Inside No. 9 stage experience at some point in the future.
"I think we definitely would want to explore the live version of Inside No. 9 because it’s so perfectly suited,” he said at a BFI event. “They are like mini plays when we write them. We are writing small plays and we were inspired by our theatre backgrounds.”
Check out our BAFTA TV Awards 2021 live blog and our full list of BAFTA TV Awards 2021 winners.
The Virgin Media BAFTA TV Awards 2021 took place on Sunday 6th June. Looking for something else to watch? Check out our TV Guide.
Authors
David Craig is the Senior Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering the latest and greatest scripted drama and comedy across television and streaming. Previously, he worked at Starburst Magazine, presented The Winter King Podcast for ITVX and studied Journalism at the University of Sheffield.
