Damn. I've literally just got another pun from this episode now, as I've seen what the episode was called. "Inside Number 9" saves the best for last with a superlative episode that is both funny, thrilling and with a horror twist, the specifics of which I didn't see coming but was masterfully laid in.
PC Thompson (Steve Pemberton) is staking out a graveyard with Special Officer Varney (Reece Shearsmith). Though they're slowly bonding, Varney is very different to PC Thompson's previous partner, who died in horrific circumstances some weeks before. Thompson is struggling with this still, but refuses to undertake any formal counselling. On a subsequent night again in the Graveyard, Varney discovers that their dispatch team believe they're somewhere else entirely.
This was a fantastic episode. Almost entirely a two-hander with Pemberton and Shearsmith in the police car - their banter is mostly warm and funny, but with the undercurrent that Thompson is hiding his true motives for being in the graveyard. Performances are really good as they flirt with dealing with Thompson's grief and survivor's guilt, before pulling back into a mystery. And throughout all this, there is a thread of dialogue and seemingly innocuous actions that only come together once you know the twist at the end. (Which I'm not going to give away here). The twist was phenomenal though. I was heading down the right road, but nowhere near the specifics of it.
What a wonderful series "Inside Number 9" is, consistently among the most varied and interesting shows on TV. So happy that two more seasons have been greenlit. Can't wait.