Steve Pemberton reveals all about the Inside No. 9 Christmas special and series 3
"It's not your typical snow and tinsel Christmas special."
By Frances Taylor and Tom Eames
It's been well over a year since we last took a peek Inside No. 9, but fear not – series three is on the way, kickstarting with a Christmas special next month on BBC Two.
We had a chat with co-creator and star Steve Pemberton about what to expect in the new series, and it sounds like the first episode will be anything but festive.
"It's a Christmas episode set in Austria in the 1970s and there's this sort of mythological character called Krampus that I was reading about, and he's the dark side of Father Christmas," Steve told Digital Spy.
"So he's this sort of demon who has a long tongue and black fur and big horns, and if you'd been naughty, it's not like the song goes. 'if you've been nice you get all your treats and sweets and whatever'. If you've been naughty, well, this character comes along and he drags you down to hell.
"So it's not your typical snow and tinsel Christmas special, it's a very definitely horror-themed Christmas special. And what made it really special for us is that we filmed it in the style of a '70s portmanteau horror episode – we were very, very strict with ourselves.
"We only took two days to film it with multiple cameras and we did what they would have done at the time, which is you almost play it straight through like a play, so you finish one scene and then you very quickly go onto the next scene with minimal breaks. And it was absolutely fantastic.
"We always like to push the envelope with Inside No. 9. Because each episode is different you can try so many different things stylistically, and it was great to look at those old '70s style episodes of Beasts and Thriller and Tales of the Unexpected and to recreate it. So I hope people will really enjoy it."
Looking ahead to the overall series, Steve explained: "We guard our secrets closely, but it's a lovely sort of mixture. Some weeks you'll get a very full-on comic episode, other weeks it's a bit more sort of dramatic or psychological thriller, or there's lots of horror in there.
"You don't know what you're going to get and I think for me that's a great thrill. That's what I love about watching anything and in this day and age where we know so much about what's coming up. We know plot strands in advance, people sell shows on the basis that you know what's going to happen.
"It's great to have something where you just tune in every week and think, 'Right, now what am I going to get?' and it keeps people on the edge of their seats, and so that's what we're going to do. We've got a really mixed bag again and I think it's a really strong series. I'm dying for people to see it."
The third series of Inside No. 9 will feature guest appearances from the likes of Keeley Hawes, Felicity Kendal, Harry Potter actress Fiona Shaw and BAFTA winner Jason Watkins.
Steve also gave us an update on a potential League of Gentlemen reunion, saying that he's hopeful something will happen in the near future.
Steve is currently starring in the West End revival of the comedy play Dead Funny alongside Humans stars Emily Berrington and Katherine Parkinson, as well as Ralf Little and Rufus Jones.
Dead Funny will run at London's Vaudeville Theatre until February 4. Watch a teaser clip below:
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