The eagerly anticipated live episode of Inside No. 9 lived up the expectations and then some, judging by the reaction on social media.
It most notably caught a number of viewers out who thought that the glitch with the sound a few minutes into the episode was genuine. No sooner had the conversation between Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith's characters gone silent than viewers were expressing sympathy on Twitter saying how the duo had been let down by the technical side of a live broadcast. The same viewers soon had to apologise when it became apparent that the glitches were part of the production.
Dr Janina Ramirez tweeted: "Oh nooooooooooo!!!!! There’s a sound team at @BBCTwo that are getting their P45s right now #InsideNo9LIVE" before realising what was going on.
Comedian Tom Bell saw the funny side: "Wow, so not only did they muck up the sound but also most the cast died? Sort it out @BBCTWO! #InsideNo9LIVE"
Critics were unanimous in their praise for the programme. The Independent praised their dark imagination: "You can’t really see a thing where they’ve gone, in their dark beyond-the-twilight zone."
The Telegraph called it: "a prank pulled off with aplomb, this was a televisual trick and treat."
Danny Baker, who played an unseen Radio DJ in the episode Diddle Diddle Dumpling tweeted: "Stupendous, duplicitous, crazed and unnerving. Nothing to touch the creators of this magic. Nothing. Nothing. No one."
Benidorm creator Derren Litten wrote: "The more I think of #insideno9live the more I honestly believe it’s a landmark in British television. Not in British comedy, in British television. It’s on par with Welles’s War of The Worlds. If I have one criticism it’s that it was so flawless nobody will believe it was live."
Actor Daniel Mays tweeted: "Are there two better writer/performer partnerships working at the moment then @ReeceShearsmith & @SP1nightonly? Ingenious, daring, playing with form and above all else absolutely terrifying! #InsideNo9LIVE feckin awesome!"
Andy Nyman tweeted: "Utterly blown away by #InsideNo9LIVE - a Ghostwatch for this generation. Genuinely fooling & scary, brilliantly written, directed & acted. I am in awe. Incredible."
There were still some unanswered questions after the broadcast. Was it, for instance, really being performed live? A clip from the 10pm BBC News and an as-it-happened tweet from Shearsmith suggested that it was, but maybe other scenes, such as the very first one in the flat of pensioner Arthur Flitwick (Pemberton) had been pre-shot?
And how involved were Shearsmith and Pemberton in a story that appeared in the tabloids earlier in the week about the Coronation Street set being haunted? The Sun reported that "The spooky goings-on are thought to have got so bad, that BBC Two show Inside No 9 has even pulled out of filming there."
Also Reece Shearsmith and Stephanie Cole's Wikipedia pages said that they had died on October 28 but it is not clear who edited the page to say this and it has now reverted to the correct information that he is still alive.
And Reece Shearsmith has not tweeted since he died...
Watch Dead Line on iPlayer here.
Note: BTJ apologises for any spoilers above - hopefully you've seen the episode by now. We will not be reviewing Dead Line as it's impossible to review without giving even more away. Let's just say it's brilliant, inspired and chillingly inventive and you should really watch it. Although to be honest you should really have watched it on the night for the full effect. Gold stars for everyone involved.
