REVIEW: Inside No.9 returns for Christmas and brings all the Folk Horror we have come to expect from the BAFTA-winning show

Neither did I until I watched the latest instalment of Inside No. 9 from the creative geniuses that are Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton.

I am fairly new to the series, only watching the latest series in the past year which I thoroughly enjoyed. This led me to watch the whole anthology of episodes, and the concept of each episode being a unique story offered a breath of fresh air in an often lacklustre mid-week TV schedule..

The Christmas day special was entitled ‘The Bones of St Nicholas and set on Christmas Eve. Dr Parkway (Steve Pemberton) has booked an overnight stay in a reputedly haunted church. He is keen to be left alone by the eccentric warden (Simon Callow) and his other guests. These include Pierce (Reece Shearsmith) and Posy (Shobna Gulati).

What Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton do best is create a sense of foreboding throughout each episode and the Christmas special was no different. The looming presence of St Nicholas is constant and the sense that something terrible was about to happen was always present.

The acting was brilliant and each character was well scripted. The script brought to life the different quirks of the characters and the writers always feature personalities that are tilted in some way.

It is dark and funny, but original and that is what draws me in each time. There has been a resurgence in British Folk Horror, with Mark Jenkin’s (writer and director of Bait) recent release of the Cornish Horror Eny’s Men and Alex Garland’s Men. This Christmas special from Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton will wet your appetite for the genre.