The sixth season of "Inside Number 9" comes to a close, unfortunately not with the customary horror episode that I've come to look forward too, but with a strange tale, mixed with some political satire.
A family come together to watch the Last Night of the Proms on the BBC. Family patriarch, Ralph (Julian Glover) is in his dotage, only capable of the occasionally rude outburst. His daughter Dawn (Sarah Parish) and her husband Mick (Steve Pemberton), leave voters and proud patriots live in the house and look after him. Dawn's sister Penny (Debra Gillett), unfulfilled with her marriage to smug, closeted Brian (Reece Shearsmith) is also present, along with their son Oliver (Jack Wolfe). Then an unexpected visitor appears in the garden.
I'm not sure about this one, if I'm honest. I think I get the point (thought I haven't listened to any of the accompanying podcasts for the series). I assume that it was that Brexit and the post Brexit squabbling is so destructive that any good, or even the ultimate good, would be lost to a wave of nationalistic nonsense and petty racism. (That would be a sentiment I would agree with). However, the episode, particularly after the midpoint, was a bit too busy with the family infighting not meshing with the visitor storyline particularly well and not funny enough for my taste. There were some good lines in the first half though, almost all from Reece's character snidely but accurately describing the theatrics of the Last night of the proms as being "Rocky Horror for retired schoolteachers".
I mean, probably the weakest episode of this run but as I've said in other reviews, their weakest episodes are better than most peoples strongest. This season as a whole was pretty strong, with (and I know that many don't agree with me) "Wurthering Heist" as the standout. It's a long wait now to see if we get another Halloween special.
23 out of 36 found this helpful