It’s series six, you’ve got to allow for a certain artistic exhaustion

Continuing my trip down The Guardian's Top 50 TV Shows of 2021.  

#22 : Inside No 9

By now you could be forgiven for taking Inside No 9 for granted. But this year, Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton managed to find even greater heights. There was a Brexit episode, an episode about the uneasy relationship between fans and creators, an episode where Sian Clifford played against type twice at once. The invention here continues to be phenomenal.


Skipping over #21 because I'm still trying to decide whether I'm going to watch it or not...

I really like Inside No 9 and I'm surprised it's not more popular than it is - the best episodes across the series are sooooo good that they deserve way more attention.  However, I didn't think this season was the best that they have to offer, so I was interested to revisit.

And, well - for me, I still think the fact of the matter is that this season isn't the best they've had to offer so I strongly disagree with The Guardian that this season finds even greater heights.  However, I do have to say it's still pretty strong - and the best episodes still manage to subvert your expectations nicely.  And, the thing to remember with this is that each episode starts from fresh, so you don't have any expectations until the episode starts so that's quite some subversion going on there.

The simple truth is that if you've not watched any of Inside No 9 then you really should, but I don't think you should start by watching this season in isolation.  If you need convincing (or just want to watch the very best episodes) I would go for "The 12 Days of Christine" (season 2), "Bernie Clifton's Dressing Room" (season 3), "A Quiet Night In" (season 1) and "Once Removed" (season 3) - all of which are pretty much perfect half hours worth of telly (and yes, those are strong words, but just watch them, OK).  "The Riddle Of The Sphinx" (season 3) is also worth a mention for its tie-in with The Guardian crossword on the day, which was pretty smart.  If, like me, you remember the best Play For Today offerings, then this is pretty much as close as you're going to get to such things these days - but to be honest all the episodes are worth a watch and this season was still good, but just not quite as good as the best of what came before.

What I'm basically saying is that Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton are geniuses, but some of their brilliance isn't quite as brilliant as their most brilliant brilliance - and I'd be surprised if they really had any problems with that statement.  I also doubt they'd argue with my argument that you should watch all of Inside No 9 - and maybe they're most proud of this season but, imvho, they have higher heights to be proud of.  Season 3 if you have to play such a game, but I don't see any reason why you have to...

Just watch it, OK - it's all on iPlayer.

#21 - OK, I give up
#23 - A suitably twisty season

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