Inside No 9 – ‘Empty Orchestra’

After an episode like ‘The Riddle of the Sphinx’, where do you go next? The answer is a complete tone-shift, an episode that’s full of music and fun and even risks a happy ending – well, you can’t claim that Inside No 9 doesn’t deliver variety. ‘Empty Orchestra’ boasts the show’s usual cleverness and strong cast, although it lacks any real stakes or humour, and so it is likely to go down as one of the weaker instalments.

In order to celebration Roger’s (Steve Pemberton) promotion, the staff of a small office decide to throw a karaoke party. But talks of layoffs have encouraged a bit of gossip, with the staff not knowing who will be up for the chop. Greg (Reece Shearsmith) is worried on two fronts – his sales haven’t been that good, and he is having an affair with the malicious Connie (Denise Van Outen) behind the back of his colleague Fran (Sarah Hadland). The party is rounded out by deaf PA Janet (Emily Howlett) and the object of her affections, Duane (Javone Prince). As the songs start to reveal the hidden feelings in the office how will the night play out?

In effect, that’s the main gimmick of ‘Empty Orchestra’ – it’s a quasi-musical of sorts, but all the songs are layered with meaning in relation to the story we’re being told. In this way, the episode kind of takes the form of little mini-vignettes, three-minute dramas in which a lot happens and the musical backing says a lot more. And it made for some fantastic moments – there’s a punchline of “oh so good!” which is one of the episode’s highlights.

‘Empty Orchestra’ is that it doesn’t ever feel like an episode of Inside No 9

‘Empty Orchestra’ boasts the show’s customary strong supporting cast and, in a stride forward for accessibility, gives the major role to a genuine deaf actress, Emily Howlett. She’s really at the heart of the tale, and she sells a lot through her facial expressions – it’s a really impressive piece of acting (and probably belongs to a better story). Van Outen shines, imbuing quite a two-dimensional bitch with some character. And the cast double as singers this time round – I dread to think how Pemberton’s throat must have felt after a West Midlands version of ‘Since You’ve Been Gone’.

My biggest issue with ‘Empty Orchestra’ is that it doesn’t ever feel like an episode of Inside No 9. Although I could appreciate the cleverness of the script, I simply wasn’t as engaged and I felt no urge to watch it again. On the back of what may have been Inside No 9’s best episode thus far, it’s a massive comedown that offers little of the humour or atmosphere we usually find. You don’t typically use words like ‘straight-forward’ to describe this show, and the small scale of the episode won’t translate into an interesting bit of TV for many viewers.

In many shows, ‘Empty Orchestra’ would be a typically strong bit of drama, but we know what Inside No 9 can do. I’m not saying that you won’t enjoy it, and there’s certainly a lot to like, but it’s a massive shift from the show’s usual formula and it does feel like it. I must sing the praises of this show for continuing to be hugely inventive and surprising, but in this case, the experiment may not be as successful as Pemberton and Shearsmith usually manage.