Inside No 9 – ‘Once Removed’

This series of Inside No 9 is shaping up to be one of its best (and that’s a very high bar indeed). We began the series with a formal experiment in ‘Zanzibar,’ and now we’re back with another – writers Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith aim to tell a story full of twists and turns – backwards. Needless to say, ‘Once Removed’ is an incredible success, playing with its inventive narrative to create some dark comedy gold.

Our episode begins at the story’s climax. Removal man Spike (Nick Moran) arrives at a house and meets the twitchy May (Monica Dolan) and the shifty Viktor (Shearsmith). As the move commences, Spike discovers a number of bodies around the house – he panics further as May kills Viktor. She can explain, she insists, and then we see the events that have played out at the house via reverse chronology – we cut back to ten minutes ago, and further chunks of ten minutes until we reach the start of the tale and solve the mystery of what happened.

It’s so well done, you want to immediately rewatch ‘Once Removed’

Obviously, beginning at the end of a tale and working backwards has two draws. The first is the question of the motivations that lead us this point – we know (as viewers) that things cannot be nearly as straightforward as they seem, and the relationships between the characters must be somewhat different to our first impressions (and how!). What could have led to this bloody climax? It manages to play with you twice, too – as we regress through the narrative, we come up with certain conclusions, only to have the rug pulled from under us once more. (‘Once Removed’ also features a first in the series – the number 9 is actually incredibly relevant to the story, although I shan’t spoil how.)

This ties in with an incredibly tight construction – Shearsmith and Pemberton’s talents as writers are never clearer than when confronted with a difficult premise like this. Every detail in the chronological end of the story is worked through incredibly cleverly, from big moments like the deaths to tiny aspects (the burning of Viktor’s hand). It’s so well done, you want to immediately rewatch ‘Once Removed’ in order to catch all these little aspects and details and satisfy yourself that it is as clever as it seems (and it is – I draw a tiny exception to the contrived manner in which the estate agent (Pemberton) discovers one of the bodies, but that’s a minor quibble at best).

‘Once Removed’ is an example of a show that only gets more creative as time goes by

This episode is very dark (several murders can have that effect), but it is also frequently funny. The obvious source of humour is David Calder’s character, the dementia-ridden patriarch who believes that he’s Andrew Lloyd Webber, and this is a device played well (and not enough for it to outwear its welcome). The other guest stars get their own brief moments and gags (the only one I’m yet to mention is Emilia Fox), and the humour helps make this story all the darker.

Last week’s ‘Bernie Clifton’s Dressing Room’ hit the ball out of the park when it came to tugging your heartstrings – progressing from that episode to ‘Once Removed’ is indicative of the show’s range. Not content with telling an amusingly dark murder mystery, Inside No 9 also employs a gimmick most shows would struggle with (I’m looking at you, Rellik) and pulls it off with utter aplomb. ‘Once Removed’ is an example of a show that only gets more creative as time goes by – if it continues on this form, this will be its best series yet.

If you haven’t started watching Inside No 9 yet, get yourself to iPlayer pronto.

Next week: Adrian’s (Pemberton) career as a wedding photographer is starting to get in the way of his own marriage – his wife Harriet (Nicola Walker) is determined to find out why.

You can read our review of the previous episode, ‘Bernie Clifton’s Dressing Room’, here.