Steve Pemberton interview
The second series of Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith's Inside No. 9 has just finished broadcasting on BBC Two to great acclaim. With the episodes now coming out on DVD, we caught up Pemberton to talk to him about how they made the series and discover what he makes of all the fans' feedback...
Hi Steve. Series 2 was brilliant! Everyone loves it. You must be very happy with the comments people are making?
I'm so happy! I really am so delighted because, I will admit, I was incredibly nervous about trying to follow up the first series... which I hope people don't forget about, because this second series has been talked about even more than the first, but we think we've some great episodes in the first series. I just thought, 'how can you follow up something like A Quiet Night In and Sardines?'
We didn't have that much time to write Series 2 either. I wasn't free until September as I was doing Mapp & Lucia and other stuff, and we knew we were filming quite quickly in November... so that is not much time to get the scripts together. So I was really, really nervous. Now to be at the other end of it when the series is finished and to see the phenomenal reaction it's had, it's lovely, I can't lie - it's lovely!
Reece is on Twitter, but you're not? We've seen nothing but positive mentions on there... you should get on it!
For a Q&A last year I set up a Twitter account, it's called @SP1NightOnly. I said "look I'm just going to parachute in to Twitter for one night, and feel free to lavish your praise upon me...", ha ha.
I do keep abreast of what people are saying, Reece tells me too. It's not my thing to be Twitter permanently I don't think, but I had a really nice night when we did a Q&A after the Nana's Party episode. We stayed up till midnight and the questions just kept coming thick and fast.
The comments were really lovely. I've been really moved when I've read some of the stuff. When you've put so much work into something, to see it's meant so much to someone else it really spurs you, it's a fantastic feeling... so thank you to everyone who has been supportive!
It feels like the momentum behind this series snowballed, despite the fact the BBC didn't manage to find a repeat slot to help with that. It must be frustrating not to be repeated?
Yeah, I think it's a real shame to be honest. They don't have a BBC repeats channel - I imagine they will eventually and everything will find its way on to that. But I was secretly hoping they might be able to repeat Series 1 in advance of Series 2 going on, but Series 2 went on so quickly the prints were still drying as the first one was going out, so to speak...
I think in this day and age with iPlayer and the way things are going, all the episodes will be out there for people to find eventually. It's on DVD now too of course. I hope a lot of people are going back and getting the Series 1 DVD too - it's still something we're really proud of.
What seems to have happened this time around is word of mouth seems to have swelled - that's what you get with a second series. People might have vaguely heard of the title or the concept and they might have watched one or two, but in this series they've started watching regularly.
In this series, it was perhaps especially Episode 2 which was The 12 Days Of Christine. It wasn't particularly funny at all, but it had a massive impact in terms of widening the appeal of the show. I think what's happened is a lot of people have been drawn to that one - maybe because of Sheridan [Sheridan Smith, who played Christine], or maybe because they've heard it's a really good episode - but then they've also watched the others, which is really pleasing.
Tonally that particular episode is quite different, more of a drama. Was that a conscious decision?
I keep a notebook of ideas, and some ideas I've had for a long time. This episode came out of two separate ideas - one was the idea of telling the story of a relationship but jumping forward between each scene; essentially jumping forward 13 months from January to the next February to the next March... I thought that was quite an interesting concept. You could have done quite a comic take on a relationship... that was what the idea was.
The other idea was to make an episode that was - spoiler alert here - the last few seconds of somebody's life, with them looking back on their life. It wasn't until I thought 'oh, you could put those two ideas together' that the episode took off in my mind. And then when you start writing it, it kind of demanded to be told in a certain way. The ending had to have that impact.
We wrote a draft of it and sent it in and, I can honestly say, we barely changed a word after that first draft. We kept saying "are you sure you don't want us to put some more jokes in?" but I think people had been so affected by reading it that the thought was 'let's just leave it well alone, make it, and make it the best we can'.
The joy of any anthology, certainly Inside No. 9, is that you do get these massive gear changes between episodes. And I do think that's a very positive thing, rather than thinking of it as a negative.
This series you and Reece directed two of the episodes...
Yeah. We've talked about directing for a long time. I've always resisted for something that a) you'd written and b) you were in.
We did debate whether to direct The 12 Days Of Christine, as neither myself or Reece are in that very much, but we thought it needed a really assured pair of directorial hands. We are rookies and didn't quite trust ourselves. I'm very glad we made that decision to get Guillem Morales on board.
But for us to direct ourselves, I guess it is an extension of what we've always done. We've always staged things and worked very closely in collaboration with directors. We've always talked about how we want to stage scenes, and what the rhythm of the scenes should be, so directing is just an extension of that really. You're still collaborating with all the other people around you, but that 'lightening rod' figure in the middle of it is now you rather than someone else.
I really, really enjoyed directing and I would love to do it again, but not be in the episode quite so much. Certainly with Cold Comfort I was pretty much sitting there doing a lot of the performing, but trying to think about the direction and the script too... so it was a bit of a mind fuck!
I'm really thrilled we did direct. Certainly with Cold Comfort we thought 'someone is going to get paid for directing this - it's going to be fairly easy because the cameras are never going to move, so we might as well take the money for that one!'
With Nana's Party it was a very classic domestic setting, so it was the one we felt we were most able to direct.
We had five days to do that one; Cold Comfort we had two and a half days on. You learn you just have to get on with it. We've been around film crews and on TV sets so long now, we just know what we're doing. I'm really thrilled with how it's come out so, yeah, we may do more in future!
Talking of more, presumably you'd be up for making a third series?
I think we would. You go into a new series of Inside No. 9 with literally everything to play for. We're not wedded to any characters, we're not worried about story arcs... Reece and I can sit down and go 'right, what are we going to do?'.
We just write them one at a time; it's not like we map out all six at the beginning. We just settle on one idea, and then write it. Once you get into that rhythm the ideas will come. Sometimes you can go up a blind alley, but we've been very lucky in our relationship with [Executive Producer] Jon Plowman and [Producer] Adam Tandy at the BBC in that they've left us alone to write.
So, yes, it's very much something we'd be up for. How the hell we'd top what we did in Series 2 and Series 1 I don't know, but I very much hope we'd be given the opportunity to try.
Awesome. Moving away from the topic of Inside No. 9 for a moment, we've just seen some sun soaked pictures from the set of ITV's Benidorm. Are you regretting having left the show?
Ahh... yes. I miss the people, I miss the sunshine, I miss the fun of the whole experience, so yes in a way... but it was a decision that I'd been thinking about for the last couple of series I was in it. It was harder and harder to be away from home and be away from the family for three and a half months each year.
I'll always have the fondest memories of that show, and I do have pangs of jealousy when I hear what they've been up to and see those lovely sunny pictures. But no regrets about leaving. I wish Series 8 and the new family the best of luck.
What's up next for you Steve?
We're trying to find out as quick as we can about Series 3, because that will really help us shape our year.
Reece and I have a couple of commissions. I think increasingly people are interested in working with us. So, yeah, I think we have a few options, and I'm still looking at other scripts as an actor. It's quite nice sometimes to turn up and not have the entire weight of the production on your shoulders!
So, yeah, everything to play for, nothing specific yet. I've just enjoyed having some time off and enjoying the series going out, because sometimes you can miss that moment or it can be anti-climatic. You've got to make the most of it being on because, like you say, you don't know if it's ever going to be repeated.
You, Reece, Mark Gatiss and Jeremy Dyson met up not too long ago. Any developments on The League Of Gentlemen re-forming?
No further developments, no. I think there's definitely an appetite for us to do something - we know that - but we also know there are many pitfalls involved...
We're all so busy doing other projects it's really hard. What we have to do is clear our schedules and put our minds to it. We need to decide a) when do we want to do something and b) when we do, what that will be.
I've said before I'm confident we'll do something, I'm just don't know what it'll be. It's difficult when you've got a show that which has such a legacy... we certainly don't want to tamper with it or do anything that leaves a sour taste in the mouth, so you've got to be careful. But I'd love to do something that celebrates the show for the fans, so hopefully...
We're still all great friends and we do meet up occasionally. You'll hear it first whenever we do decide what we're doing!
'Inside No. 9' Series 2 is out on DVD from Monday 4th May available from www.bbcshop.com