David Farnor | On 20, Jun 2018

Horror anthology Inside No. 9 will return this Halloween for a one-off live special.

The series, created by and starring Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith, is one of the best BBC shows of recent years, using standalone 30-minute stories to surprise, delight, unnerve and amuse in equal measure.

“A collection of short tales, which range from funny to frightening, their impeccably crafted vignettes prey on your nervous system with ruthless precision,” we wrote in our review of their third season.

Full storyline information and casting details will be revealed in due course, but it continues a tradition of Halloween specials from Shearsmith and Pemberton, one that dates back to The League of Gentlemen but also continued with Psychoville. Unlike any other episode of Inside No. 9, though, this will have a crucial twist we do know about: the whole thing will be broadcast entirely live.

The half-hour special was ordered by Commissioning Editor Gregor Sharp for the BBC, with Adam Tandy producing and Jon Plowman for BBC Studios exec producing. It joins a number of other new comedy commissions and announcements made by the BBC this week, including the return of Motherland and a string of new Comedy Slices pilots for BBC Three.

Shane Allen, Controller of BBC Comedy Commissioning, says: “The last few years in BBC Comedy have been a boom time for new talent with multi-award winning shows including Fleabag, This Country, The Young Offenders and People Just Do Nothing.. Today’s announcements signal our expansion of [our] commitment to championing the very best emerging British comedy talent alongside new comedy pieces that cater for the wide spectrum of tastes of our audiences.”

Inside No. 9 Season 1 and 2 are available on Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. Read our reviews here.

Add to Watchlist