Steve Pemberton

Psychoville 1.6 Review

Everyone's drawn to Ravenhill Hospital in the penultimate Psychoville, an episode that rediscovered the sense of pace and development from the earlier episodes. I have high hopes for next week's big finale after this, so hopefully Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton won't let us down...

In its scary, sinister, creepy but very funny way, League of Gentlemen Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton's beautifully made and brilliantly performed comedy thriller has been one of the TV treats of the summer. This coming Thursday it reaches its climax with some suitably awful goings-on as all the characters find out why they've been summoned and who summoned them.

It's the penultimate episode of a series that shows no signs of returning to Planet Normal any time soon. All the characters are worried that their mysterious blackmailer is "deeply disturbed" and "bordering on the psychotic", which brings to mind pots and kettles of the blackest variety. As the story unfolds, they are all drawn to a disused hospital in readiness for a macabre showdown. But before that can happen, the Mother & Son team of serial killers (Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton) are preparing to dispatch one final victim. Mum wants to buy an indoor barbecue in readiness for the occasion. "I thought we could do something special," she says, "and eat her. What do you think? I've bought some red onions." "That's disgusting," her son replies. "I don't like red onions."

Reece Shearsmith's and Steve Pemberton's killer comedy thriller cranks up the psychotic laughter to deafening as the plot knots unravel in this week's penultimate episode. Maureen is dismissive about her final victim ("its hardly going to be Jeffrey Dahmer") until she finds out the truth about son David's bad murder & Joy Aston takes extreme measures to return 'baby' Freddie's head to his body. Can Kerry prevent Robert from carrying out his twisted plan to marry Debbie? And what secrets lurk within the walls of Ravenhill Hospital, the evil pulse beat of Psychoville? Could sinister Nurse Kenchington and a mystery blackmailer share a connection. Murder has seldom seemed this satisfying.

Lets make no bones about it: given their League of Gentlemen track record, this series has been an average outing for Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith. With the exception of last week's dark, twisty hilarity (something to do with the return of Royston Vasey cohort Mark Gatiss?) Psychoville has continued to display the League's knack of elevating even the most banal, infantile subject matter to the status of high drama, but fared poorly on the laugh count.

There's still a few chuckles to be had: tonight, largely residing in the continued bidding war for Mr Snappy, and his owner's odd obsession with Crabtree's bodily functions. Mr Jelly also appears to be embarking on a satisying journey to redemption through a reconciliation with Mr Jolly, so fingers crossed for this narrative. But be warned: the eagle-eyed will have noticed that the actress who wound up swinging upside down in David's 'bad murder' was Natalie Cassidy. Which suggests plenty of footage of Sonia from Eastenders next week. Unlikely to be a good thing.

In Psychoville, the goblins have been running riot for some time. Last night's stunning episode balanced dark drama with dark comedy, leavened with a perfectly pitched, yet subversive, homage to Hitchcock's Rope shot in two long takes. The serial killer obsessed serial killer David (Steve Pemberton) has been killing people, under the evil aegis of mother Maureen (Reece Shearsmith).

It says something about the skill of the men's writing and performance that you look past the grotesque drag of both characters instantly. You laugh at the ridiculous mix of homeliness and psychopathy and at the deliciously childish wordplay, then shudder at the truth of their relationship: incestuous, yes, but their bond - the shady death, finally revealed here, of David's father - was movingly evoked, as was their shared dependence on one another.

The script was devilishly fast and crafty. Mark Gatiss was brilliant as the camp and unknowing interloper bringing the secrets of the past to the surface. He seemed to be a policeman, but wasn't: he was an am-dram devotee after a role, and hopeful that his brazen theatricality would win David and Maureen into casting him in a murder-mystery event. The twist was that they were going to kill him, believing him to be a real policeman, but let him go when they discovered he was not. He was murdered ultimately, having discovered that Maureen had killed David's father, not David (as David had believed). David hadn't known that either.

Matt Lipsey's direction would surely have made The Master proud: in the claustrophobic confines of David and Maureen's scuzzy, blood-spattered flat the camerawork was as unrelenting and viciously playful as the script. The over-stylised, freaky vibe of Psychoville can sometimes appeal only to the dedicated, the horror and comedy too grave-robbingly close to its cousin The League of Gentlemen. However, this episode was supremely classy and stood alone as a fluent, delicious piece of television. Lucky you if you caught it.

Things took a weird turn in Psychoville, even by said show's agreeably weird standards. The whole interlinking plot thing took a time-out to allow Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton to indulge themselves in a homage to Hitchcock classic Rope, perfect murderers Maureen and David Sowerbutts doing the dance of death around guest star (and League Of Gentlemen mate) Mark Gatiss. Admittedly it was movie buff heaven but it smacked of selfindulgence. Psychoville's impressive head of macabre steam came grinding to a halt and though we learned some vital clues - Maureen is rather more than an over-indulgent mother - I missed the randy dwarf and madcap midwife action.

Alfred Hitchcock appears to be one of the influences on this weirdly compelling comedy-thriller series. Here The League of Gentlemen's Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton pay homage to his oft-overlooked film Rope, which in turn was inspired by the real-life murder of a young boy in 1924 by two college students. Tonight David (Steve Pemberton) and his mother Maureen (Reece Shearsmith) are mid-murder at their home when an unexpected visitor knocks on the door and throws them into a panic.

Of all the episodes in this strange series, this is the strangest and most fascinating to date. It is a homage to Alfred Hitchock's 1948 film Rope with James Stewart, which told the story of two young men who murdered a classmate, put his body in a wooden chest and invited the victim's friends and family round to dinner. It was a daring and experimental film, shot as though it were taking place in real time using long, unbroken takes. The same technique is used here, with a single location and only three characters - the comic killers (Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton) and their unfortunate victim (Mark Gatiss) - shot in two long takes. The effect is theatrical, claustrophobic and totally mesmerising. One of the greatest pleasures of watching television is coming across a complete surprise; in the fast-forward world of snappy editing, tonight's episode has a shocking originality.

Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton's macabre comedy pays homage to Alfred Hitchcock's Rope tonight. The entire episode (apart from the 'previously...' bit and the exterior shot) is filmed as one long, continuous take on a single set.

Just as in Rope, two murderers - in this case, Maureen and David Sowerbutts - have hidden the body of their latest victim inside an antique wooden chest when there's an unexpected knock on the door.

Their visitor is a detective - who could have stepped straight out of a 40s movie - and the pair panic at the possibility their killing spree will be rumbled.

Don't underestimate the huge pressure that cast and crew would have been under trying to achieve an entirely perfect run at this (like a stage play only with cameras and microphones).

But this daring departure from the series' usual template is also one of the funniest episodes yet. And does Maureen remind anyone else of Brian's mum from The Life Of Brian?