Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
Cast: Lee Mack, Tiajna Amayo, James Bailey, Kiran L. Dadlani, Gemma Page, Mary Keegan, Ronay Poole, Jim Rastall, James Tucker, Saskia Wakefield.
A piece of television that keeps you awake during the night, that has taken your reason out for a long walk and left it at the roadside attached to a pole and driven off at high speed, is to be congratulated for the sheer audacity in which it has been conceived and executed.
The question is how much of what the viewer heard was honest, even a few minutes in the scenario proved itself to be audacious and brilliant, obviously a ruse of epic Inside No.9. proportions, but where was its creators, where were the operators of the chicanery and bluff of the episode 3 x 3.
It will probably come to be that the episode in question will be studied further in time, that even as the realisation hits that there is a switch and bait pleasure being played out in front of the fan, there are still questions rampaging around the mind, on just how far back the pair intended this episode was mulled over, at what point was there to be a Pemberton and Shearsmith light episode in which to pull the wool over the voyeur’s eyes.
Whatever the reason, 3 x 3 not only works, but it also accurately pinpoints the art of deception, and by employing the loveable Lee Mack within his role as a game show host, Mr. Pemberton and Mr. Shearsmith pull off a heist, one of television gold, from under the nose of watcher.
Even to the extent of bringing in unknown actors to fulfil the other roles, leaves the fan wondering if they are being further duped if they take an interest in the IMDB catalogue, just how far can the set up go…the sense of being deceived is remarkable, and in the best quality of Johnny Rotten standing on stage at the end of an infamous Sex Pistols gig, the imagery of “Ever feel like you have been cheated”, is met with a resounding yes and more of it please.
Inside No. 9 has pulled off some truly quality scripts in its time, but this one, for its courage, its nerve to bring this episode to the screen is a gem of television at its most creative.
Ian D. Hall