Entertainment

BBC Two comedy Inside No. 9 ‘could be adapted for the stage’

The programme returns to BBC Two on February 3.
The programme returns to BBC Two on February 3. The programme returns to BBC Two on February 3.

BBC Two’s Inside No. 9 could be adapted for the stage, according to Steve Pemberton, who has written and starred in the comedy.

The programme, which begins its fifth series next month, introduces a new set of characters and original story with every episode.

Pemberton said that a theatre version of the show is “possibly… something we’ll look at in the future”.

Sky Arts Awards
Sky Arts Awards Inside No. 9’s fifth series is due to start next month (Ian West/PA)

He added: “We certainly have talked about doing stage versions, whether it be pre-existing scripts or new ones.”

However a film version of the programme is not under consideration “because, thankfully, they keep recommissioning the series”, he said.

Inside No. 9, which tells the stories of peculiar goings-on behind doors market with the number nine, has included an episode written entirely in iambic pentameter and a murder mystery told in reverse chronological order.

Pemberton added that “one of the joys” of writing the series is putting in plot twists.

“We plot our where we hope you think it’s going so that we can send you off down a false track and hopefully preserve a nice surprise,” he said.

“I don’t know if we’re still succeeding, but that’s the challenge we set ourselves.”

The Writers Guild Awards 2019 – London
The Writers Guild Awards 2019 – London Pemberton said that the BBC took a very hands-off approach with their writing (Ian West/PA)

He added that the BBC take a very hands-off approach with the writing of the series.

“The BBC say to us, ‘don’t tell us what’s going to happen, I don’t want to spoil it’,” Pemberton said.

He added that he has a “really great working relationship” with his fellow writer and actor Reece Shearsmith.

Pemberton said: “We have a lot of similarities and we connect and overlap on so many things, we each have different subject matters or interests we might bring to it.”

Monty Python Live (Mostly) – London
Monty Python Live (Mostly) – London Shearsmith said that he and Pemberton are “so interlinked it’s really hard to feel like there’s a strength in either of us” (Max Nash/PA)

Shearsmith added that the pair are “so interlinked it’s really hard to feel like there’s a strength in either of us”.

When they are writing together they “bat it around so much it ends up completely being scrambled eggs”, he said, adding: “I don’t think one of us brings anything more than the other.”

Inside No. 9 returns on February 3 to BBC Two at 10pm.