Speculation has been growing about the very last episode of Inside No 9, which is set to be broadcast on Wednesday June 12. Particularly after it was announced that there would be a special live screening 'viewing party' at which the creators and stars Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton would be present. Tickets went on sale last week for the event at the Vue West End cinema in Leicester Square and quickly sold out. There is a link here to a waiting list on the off-chance of returns.
Social media and fan pages have been coming up with all sorts of theories about the episode, partly prompted by the fact that that there have been no clips of the final episode as far as we can tell in any of the trailers for the series. Very little has been revealed about that but beyond the joke has learned that the last episode is called Plodding On and it will be a two-hander featuring, fittingly, just the two creators.
Gossip has inevitably turned to the now mythical Number 9 bus episode that never was. In May last year viewers tuned in expecting to see the trailed episode Hold On Tight!, which appeared to be inspired by 1970s sitcom On The Buses and featured guest star Robin Askwith. Instead, following a continuity announcer saying there was a change to the schedules, there was a quiz show pilot, 3x3, which initially looked like a real quiz show pilot but turned out to be a surprise episode fronted by Lee Mack which ended with a quiz contestant's head exploding. Not something you are likely to see on The 1% Club.
Shearsmith has frequently joked about fans who have suggested they should do an episode set on a number 9 bus. So now fans are wondering if he and Pemberton will have the last laugh and actually do one. After all, it was very obliging of 'Confessions' star Askwith to pose for press photos for a programme that was never actually made. Maybe they did make it in the end.
The 3x3 surprise episode will certainly be a touch rug-pull to follow. But then they have already managed that by coming up with more tales of the unexpected after the live episode Dead Line, back in 2018. I love these tricks that they play on the viewers where they actually mess with the TV format itself and I for one am hoping they will come up with something like that. Shearsmith and Pemberton are certainly big fans of TV history and I think with their very last episode they would love to make more TV history themselves.
Of course, if you want more Inside No 9 after the very end, don't despair. There's also the live show, Stage/Fright, coming to London's West End in 2025. Details here. And while they originally said it would not tour, they have now said performances outside the capital are not entirely out of the question, so watch this space for more news of that.
Inside No 9. Wednesdays, 10pm, BBC Two.
Pictured: Amy (Maddie Evans), Jason (STEVE PEMBERTON), Lynne (Katherine Kelly), Millie (KALLI TANT) from Episode Number: 4 - CTRL ALT ESC which is broadcast on Wednesday, May 29, 10pm, BBC Two.
Credit: BBC Studios/James Stack
