An odd one, this, and difficult to review.

I wonder if it was intentional that the opening of the episode was generally unengaging – with generic dialogue and horror elements to mask the bait-and-switch the episode was about to pull. More generally it’s a shame that Jenna Coleman was under-utilised, reduced to nodding and asking leading questions to bring out David’s story. But then that makes the bait-and-switch more effective; with an actress of decent prestige headlining the episode, we are less likely to expect what comes.

And what comes is, effectively, a sequel to Psychoville. There’s a nice element of symmetry here; the ‘original’ Inside No. 9 episode was found in this series, a chamber piece in which David and Maureen committed a murder and tried to hide it, all in one room. Shearsmith and Pemberton were inspired by Hitchcock’s Rope, and the result was engaging and a nice change of pace in what was generally an absurd and frenetic series. This episode went on to inspire this present series.

There’s part of me that feels this was self-indulgent. I wondered how accessible the episode would be to someone who hadn’t seen Psychoville – but, apparently, it was absolutely fine. And I still think that the screwball tone of Psychoville doesn’t quite match the more grounded Inside No. 9, but then there are a couple of episodes that teeter on the absurd – The Harrowing, to name one.

But regardless, it’s a thrill to see these characters again, and even more thrilling to have been taken utterly by surprise. Inside No. 9 constantly plays with form and metatextuality – to Shearsmith and Pemberton’s immense credit – and to effectively create a sequel to an old series within their newest series is certainly novel. And that is the programme’s raison d’être – do something new, week after week. So on those grounds, this was a worthy addition to their canon.