Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Steve Pemberton, Reece Shearsmith, Claire Rushbrook, Frances Barber, Matthew Horne, Asim Chaudhry.

The insular and the perpetually lonely, the shy and the sexually sly, have never had it so good when it comes to the advent of online dating. As near to anonymity as it is possible to go, the filters, the regulations, the privacy, all is in favour of finding the one, the perfect match which little engagement and effort; for nobody expects to find love online, no one imagines unearthing the one to die for in such a short space of time.

Love Is A Stranger to many, the need for companionship and respect has been overtaken by the glory of the instant fix and the hangover of a society driven to distraction by the fierce pride that comes with a permissive broad-minded society. These are extremes, but seemingly with no middle ground for those who are doing more than seeking, they require the reassurance that they are appreciated for more than their looks, their physical prowess, they just want to be loved and no longer be the lonely heart on the shelf.

Not every story needs to be gruesome, not every ending is a shock, but if we bite down into the psychology of the warning that comes with any tale, a measure to which Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith have proved without fault in their long lens look at the absurd and revealing insights throughout the history of Inside No.9, that the beauty of a tale is the way that it signals itself before the end. The viewer can see the honesty of the set up and refuses to budge as the performance is played; like a voyeur being granted access to the murder across the street and with a smile on the executioner’s lips.

This is the joy and the fear of Love Is A Stranger, an activity so harmless, a pastime which promises a little adventure, some sorrow, and the tantalising possibility of meeting ‘the one’, that the ordinary is wonderfully tainted by the knowledge that there is a killer on the loose.

The audience sees it coming, but in true inversion of the route taken, holds out hope that what is perceived as the ‘norm’ is the answer. It is to this end that the cast play to the idea with sheer admiration.

With superb performances from the guests, Claire Rushbrook, Frances Barber, Matthew Horne, and Asim Chaudhry, love many be a stranger, but its calling card is handed out with familiarity.

When love comes calling, sometimes it is better to be out, or hide behind the sofa until it moves on and conquers another’s heart.

Ian D. Hall