Are Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton going soft? The consistently excellent Inside No. 9 has a reputation for sending chills down the spine but after last week's rather lovely Shakespearean opener they gone a bit sentimental this week with the love-letter-to-old-showbiz-friendships, Bernie Clifton's Dressing Room, directed by Graeme Harper.
It’s been thirty years since Northern double act Len and Tommy last appeared onstage together as Cheese & Crackers. Their last gig was at the Glasgow Pavilion. Then Tommy walked out on Len, and that was that. Until now that is. Like most old comedians they've been tempted out of retirement to tread the boards again.
The set-up is a neat excuse for the duo to show off their nostalgia-inducing variety chops. Pemberton is Len, the shabby clownish half of the pairing with a penchant for knockabout humour, off-colour foreign accents and large nips of Jamesons in his builders' tea. Tommy is now Thomas and has gone straight as a digital businessman. He was no mere straight man back in their brief Anglia TV series heyday, however, and Shearsmith also has plenty of onscreen opportunities to show off some old tricks up his designer sleeve.
While the series always attracts top-notch guests, apart from a brief cameo from Car Share's Sian Gibson this is essentially a two-hander. It is terrific to see this gifted real-life modern duo together as an altogether less talented fictional twosome going through their ancient act in a dusty church hall. Inevitably old antagonisms soon start to surface. If there weren't any issues why did they split in the first place? You do wonder why Thomas has agreed to the comeback if he is so successful now, but gradually everything becomes clear.
Above all this distinctive episode shows the range of Inside No. 9. The key is that you really never known what to expect. Anyone hoping for a grand guignol gorefest might have to look elsewhere but this touching portrait of rollercoaster showbiz relationships certainly leaves its mark. I very much doubt if they have gone soft.
Tuesdays, 10pm, BBC2. Catch up here.
Inside No. 9: To Have And To Hold.
Inside No. 9: The All-Time Top Six Episodes.
Picture: BBC/Sophie Mutevelian
