Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton don't make it easy for critics do they? Or maybe they do. Every episode of Inside No. 9 is so different to the last it is easy to write something fresh, whereas with a lot of comedy series (not that Inside No. 9 is necessarily comedy anyway) each episode often has the same premise. Then again, on the other hand, one must not even come close to giving away spoilers where Inside No. 9 is concerned.
The third episode in the current run, Love's Great Adventure, could not be more different to the two previous outings in series 5. There are echoes of Ken Loach*-style social realism here as we meet a decent, ordinary family trying to make ends meet in the run-up to Christmas. Each opened window on the advent calender introduces a new scene as the drama gradually unfolds.
Steve Pemberton plays the dad, Trevor, while mum, Julia, is played by Debbie Rush. Gaby French plays daughter Mia, who dreams of the perfect party dress and is being given driving lessons by Reece Shearsmith's Uncle Alex.
The emphasis is very much on normality. It is, perhaps, no surprise that the chatty, relaxed dialogue around the family table feels so real and convincing, as this episode was apparently partly improvised. There are some moments though that drive the narrative on and probably aren't quite as spontaneous.
It's tempting, given the way previous episodes have gone, to scrutinise everything for clues, hidden meanings and Easter eggs. I magnified the poster on this page to see if there were any pointers there. The episode title comes from the 1984 Ultravox hit of the same name. I've scoured the lyrics over and over. I've watched the video a couple of times and, apart from the contrast between the epic vocals of the song and mundane domestic setting of the episode, I can't spot a link or connection. Though it does feature Annabel Giles, which could be rhyming slang for piles if that's any help. I wondered for a moment if maybe I had the answer - "Adventure" has the word "advent" in it and also "Ure" - the lead singer of Ultravox was Midge Ure. Or maybe it's because it reached number 9 in the charts. But according to Wikipedia it peaked at number 12...
*Update - I was slightly nervous about making the Loach comparison but in the podcast about the episode Steve Pemberton acknowledges that they reference Ken Loach.
Inside No. 9 – Love's Great Adventure, Monday, February 17, BBC Two, 10pm. Hopefully all will be explained in the podcast available straight after broadcast.
Ultravox's video for Love's Great Adventure is below in case you can spot something...
