Inside No. 9 duo reveal spin-off ideas but warn "don't hold your breath"

But speaking ahead of the new season, the duo said that although they have had a couple of ideas for expanding individual episodes, fans shouldn't expect any of them to become a reality.

"I would have happily seen Mr Warren and Mr Clark go around the English countryside trying various witch trials for six half hours," Shearsmith revealed, referring to the season 2 episode The Trial of Elizabeth Gadge. "But that might just be me!"

Meanwhile, Pemberton added: "I genuinely could do a full series of [season 8 episode] 3x3, I'd love to write the questions for that.

"There's more to do I think in, for example, [season 2 episode] Cold Comfort office dynamics, and dealing with all the different callers and the way that those characters interacted was great fun, and I think you could do more with that."

However, he revealed that they were "never" looking to use any of the episodes to "springboard into a series", which he said would defeat the entire premise of what made the show special.

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"The whole point was you just get your 30-minute hit with that story, those characters, and you're out and on to the next one," he said. "So don't hold your breath!"

Pemberton and Shearsmith previously told Radio Times magazine that they felt a sense of "relief" that the challenging project was winding down, even if "there will be a sadness to it".

Shearsmith said: "We’ve done 55 different stories now, and to have not repeated ourselves or started to wane feels like an achievement. We’re very proud."

Inside No. 9 returns to BBC Two and iPlayer at 10pm on Wednesday 8th May 2024.

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