Reece Shearsmith

Radio Times review

The 37th best TV show of 2011 according to the Radio Times.

Manna for lovers of the macabre - a shudder one minute, a cackle the next. Series two had no qualms about meting out grisly ends to its lead personae, at a rate of roughly one bloodbath per episode. At least psycho-mum Maureen got to appal us all with her terrifying Tina Turner karaoke before carking it. Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton invested even their vilest creations with flashes of pathos; new to this run were extreme fag hag Hattie, shackling a gay Iranian man in her boudoir, and beyond-anal librarian Jeremy Goode, haunted by the Silent Singer. Add to the brew a glam Imelda Staunton, Eileen Atkins at her most severe and a cameo from cult horror director John Landis, and this show left you scared and scarred.

Psychoville Halloween special - one and done :(

Two bits of greatness that you could always count on to grace the small screen during Halloween have been The Simpsons Halloween Special and, last year's classic newcomer, the brilliance of Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton's Psychoville Halloween Special. While The Simpsons has remained a staple of Halloween viewing for the past 20+ years, there is no joy in Psychoville any longer as after only two short seasons, the series was cut down in its prime by the BBC and there will be no Halloween special this year.

Psychoville wasn't in a League of its own Read more: h

The second series of Psychoville has just finished its run on BBC Two. It was deftly written, wonderfully performed and elegantly made. It was funny, it was engrossing, it was all-round impressive. And so its makers, Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith, are probably a bit hacked off that viewing figures fell away so sharply as the series went on.

The second and, by all accounts, final series of Psychoville draws to a close tonight. While it has a wonderfully twisting (and twisted) plot, it's in the details that this has impressed the most. Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith throw in pick'n'mix influences from Hammer horror, 50s schlock sci-fi, Lindsay Anderson's Britannia Hospital and much more. The secret of the locket is finally revealed - but who, in a show that has seemingly been intent on killing everyone off this series, will still be around to see it?

"I hate London. It's full of weirdos," says Mr Jelly, arriving at St Pancras station with Mrs Ladybird-Face and the head of a Nazi in an icebox. The tone is set for a superb finale that delivers on every count. It's hilarious, audacious, gruesome; the villains you loathe get their comeuppance, and villains you love may live to fight another day... While David Sowerbutts finds love at his lowest ebb and Jeremy Goode succumbs to the Silent Singer, events centre round company Andrews-nanotech and its director Grace (glammed up Imelda Staunton). At last she takes possession of the series' MacGuffin - Kenchington's locket. It's hard to guess where Psychoville can go from here, but let's hope the warped brilliance of Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith will find a way.

Murderous Maureen is on her last legs, but slow-witted son David has misremembered the one thing she'd like to do before she dies. It's not wine tasting in France. Mr Jelly, the misanthropic clown, has a makeover to become Mr Jolly and makes a disturbing discovery in Jolly's vault. We also learn that obsessive librarian Jeremy has an unexpected link to Ravenhill Hospital. This is perhaps the blackest instalment yet, with corpses and dismembered body parts piling up. The laughs may be diminishing, but Psychoville remains stylishly crafted and exquisitely performed. Just as in The League of Gentlemen, Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton manage to invest even their vilest characters with fl ashes of pathos. And who could resist another dose (in flashback) of Eileen Atkins as tyrannical Nurse Kenchington?

Yeah, it's really good. It's excellent. Some people have an issue, however, with Reece Shearsmith's voice. We have had three separate people send us correspondence on this very topic. And then the cookdandbombd comedy podcast went on about it too. Seems odd. We like Reece Shearsmith, particularly his librarian here.