RS: We were doing things in the theatre at the time so we had the idea of plays with a small group of characters in one location. We just pitched that idea and they said that sounds good.

BD: I saw your Adelphi reunion gig last December and you were the highlight of the night, getting a bigger cheer than Rowan Atkinson. Was that a surprise?

RS: We were really surprised. We thought we'd be away before the second half, and Rowan would headline, not us.

SP: We were surprised when there was a big reaction. We'd done stuff together over the years but not as The League of Gentlemen so it became a big story.

BD: How did it come about?

SP: I'd seen someone from our old promoters in a Steve Coogan documentary and I emailed him to say "nice to see you" and he mentioned the benefit…

RS: We had to get the script book out and on the day we sat in the dressing room together but it was amazing how quickly it all came back.

SP: But you start to question what was funny about it in the first place, we were trying to remember what was initially funny about this...

RS: I wasn't even sure if people would know who we are, because these benefit bills are such a mixed bag.

BD: So presumably the promoter wants you to tour now? 

SP: Have you been hacking into my email? A few years ago there was talk of a reunion and we had a meeting. There was going to be a theme night but we felt it was too soon. Now maybe we've been away long enough to come back with "classic" sketches. But they were just sketches at the time! Who knows, we may well do some stuff in the future.

RS: It might not be Royston Vasey but we've always wanted to do something again as the League, it's just a matter of putting aside the time for it…(RS later said elsewhere they might do something for the 20th anniversary of their TV debut in 2019. 

BD: What else are you up to? 

RS: We hope this will get another series. (Good news, since this interview RS has been told it has)

SP: Benidorm is back and I'm doing a Yorkshire drama and Happy Valley for BBC1. I'm also writing a drama.

BD: Going back to Inside No 9, you've got a great cast, Tim Key, Tamsin Greig, Julia Davis, Helen McCrory, Katherine Parkinson…

SP: The casting was quite easy as we were not asking for a huge commitment in terms of time.

RS: A lot of them we offered the roles, they were too big to audition and not doing it for the money, but they liked the quick shoot.

BD: It's going out at 10pm which I guess gives you plenty of freedom?

RS: I was surprised we were allowed to feature a XXXXXX with an XXXXXXXX. You don't see that very often. The prop man had to order it online so I wonder what his spam emails are going to be like from now…

Inside No 9 is on BBC2 on Wednesdays at 10pm.