It's hard to know what to expect - other than the unexpected - when tuning in to an episode of "Inside No. 9", but co-creators Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton have delivered another anthology of hilarious and disturbing tales for the farewell season of their BAFTA-winning show.
Here's how to watch "Inside No. 9" season 9 from anywhere with a VPN – and potentially for FREE!
► U.K. date and time: The 'Inside No. 9' season 9 finale airs on Wednesday, June 12 at 10 p.m. BST (5 p.m. ET/ 2 p.m. PT).
• WATCH FREE — BBC iPlayer (U.K.)
• Watch anywhere — try NordVPN 100% risk free
There was only ever going to be nine seasons of "Inside No. 9" ("A little in-joke," co-creator Steve Pemberton calls it) but the success of the show has often been hard-fought as it always sought to try different things and avoid the obvious. The approach has won the dark comedy a loyal following.
For this final run of episodes, a staggering number of talented names have appeared on our screens, including: Eddie Marsan ("The Winter King"); Siobhan Finneran ("Happy Valley"); Philippa Dunne ("Derry Girls"); Adrian Scarborough ("Gavin and Stacey") and Hayley Squires ("I, Daniel Blake") and even Matthew Kelly (of "Stars In Their Eyes" fame).
Without giving too much away, this season we've seen fateful tube journeys, a twisted tale of a good samaritan, a domestic doorbell camera mystery, an escape room horror and an ancient curse. Episode six – the show's last ever installment – is being kept firmly under wraps, but if the past mischievousness of Pemberton and Shearsmith is anything to go by, it'll be a parting treat you'll want to watch live.
One thing for sure, however, is that the "Inside No.9" finale will be savored by its fans who will inevitably be left wanting more. Read on for how to watch "Inside No. 9" season 9 online and from anywhere...
Watch 'Inside No. 9' season 9 for free
In the U.K., the "Inside No. 9" season 9 finale will be available to stream for FREE on BBC iPlayer. The finale also airs on BBC Two on Wednesday, June 12 at 10 p.m. BST.
BBC iPlayer is also where you will find every other episodefrom the previous eight seasons.
But what if you are a Brit abroad and you don't want to miss this dark comedy cult classic or need a blast from the past? Don't worry — you can watch it via a VPN instead. We'll show you how to do that below.
Watch 'Inside No. 9' season 9 from abroad
How to watch 'Inside No. 9' S9 from anywhere
If you are a Brit abroad and can't wait to watch "Inside No. 9" Season 9, a VPN (Virtual Private Network) might be the answer to your prayers.
The software allows your devices to appear to be back in your home country regardless of where in the world you are, making it ideal for anybody away on vacation or on business. Our favorite is NordVPN.
Using a VPN is incredibly simple.
1. Install the VPN of your choice. As we've said, NordVPN is our favorite.
2. Choose the location you wish to connect to in the VPN app. For instance, if you're in the U.S. and want to view a U.K. service, you'd select U.K. from the list.
3. Sit back and watch the show. Head to BBC iPlayer.
Can I watch 'Inside No. 9' season 9 online in the U.S.?
As yet "Inside No. 9" Season 9 has not been picked up in the U.S., although previous seasons are available to stream on BritBox with an Apple TV subscription (7 days free and then $9.99 per month).
If you are a Brit in the States for work or on vacation, you can stream the dark comedy (and catch up with all the previous seasons) by using a VPN such as NordVPN.
Can I watch 'Inside No. 9' season 9 in Canada?
As with the U.S., "Inside No. 9" season 9 has not been picked up in Canada as yet. Canadian viewers can stream previous seasons on BritBox.
Brits visiting Canada for work or on vacation can stream the show for free via BBC iPlayer, using a VPN such as NordVPN.
Can I watch 'Inside No. 9' season 9 in Australia?
"Inside No. 9" season 9 has not been picked up in Australia yet. Australian viewers can stream two previous seasons on Foxtel (10-day free trial) or Apple TV+ (7-day free trial).
If you are a Brit Down Under for work or on vacation, you can stream the show (and catch up with all the previous seasons) by using a VPN such as NordVPN.
Watch Inside No.9 S9 official trailer
Can't see the trailer? If you a Brit abroad you may need to use a VPN to unblock your usual streaming content and watch from anywhere.
'Inside No. 9' season 9 episode guide
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S9 Episode 1 – Watch "Boo to a Goose"
Late-night passengers get stuck in a tunnel when their train breaks down. Patiently, they wait for the replacement service until a nurse gets her purse stolen and tempers start to fray. -
S9 Episode 2 – Watch "The Trolley Problem"
Blake saves a man from leaping to his death from a bridge. Soaked through and in need of a hot drink, the poor guy probably just needs someone to talk to. Blake is a qualified psychotherapist, so that's good. But is it a good idea to bring a complete stranger back to his remote house in the middle of nowhere? -
S9 Episode 3 – Watch "Mulberry Close"
There’s a new couple at No 9. The residents of Mulberry Close are keen to welcome their new neighbours, but there’s something about Damon and Val that doesn’t seem quite right. -
S9 Episode 4 – Watch "CTRL, ALT, ESC"
Jason, Lynne and their two teenage daughters try out their local escape room, The Killer’s Lair. It’s not really the girls’ idea of fun, but they love their dad, and he loves following the clues and solving the puzzles. Will they get out before they run out of time? -
S9 Episode 5 – Watch "Curse of the Ninth"
An Edwardian chiller in which a talented piano-tuner is forced to confront the power of a centuries-old curse by the owners and servants of a large country house. - S9 Episode 6 – "TBC"
Q&A with Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton
Q&A with 'Inside No. 9' co-creators Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton
What can viewers expect from this final season?
Reece: Well, six more stories of intrigue, horror, humour, and ham acting. More of the same and lots of – hopefully – surprises and funny stories.
Steve: I think our aim going into it was just to make a series as good as the other previous series. We didn't want to do anything wildly different because you know, if it ain't broke, why tinker with it? We have six varied stories that hopefully will send the show off in a fitting way.
Have you got a favourite episode of the final batch?
Steve: I'm really fond of Mulberry Close, which we wrote early on. We had a concept of just shooting an episode through a fixed doorbell camera and the writing of it was really fun and exciting and the filming of it was great, because you didn't have to do lots of takes. It was almost like doing little mini plays, each scene was just one take. And I think it’s got all the elements that are perfect No.9. It's really funny, it's got a great cast, it doesn't go the way you think it's going to go, it's got a different way of filming to the normal television that you see and that means that viewers will constantly be on edge. So yeah, that's certainly one of my favourites.
Reece: Yeah, I liked doing - because we haven't done very many of them in No.9 - the period episode called The Curse of The Ninth. It’s just nice to dress up in not tracksuit bottoms, and the sort of quite mundane clothes that we normally find ourselves wearing. It feels like you're elevating the whole experience of filming when you're in a country house and it’s all very lavish. So that was fun to do.
Would you say that was your favourite character to play of the upcoming series?
Reece: I think I got to go on a big journey with that character so that was fun to play. I enjoyed doing that. It's not the funniest character probably but I enjoyed the acting of that because he was in a world with quite a spooky and creepy atmosphere. So, that appealed to me.
Looking back across all of the series, have you got a favourite character from any of the 55 films? Whether it's one you've played yourself or a great guest star?
Reece: I think a character that still tickles us both actually is the character that Lorraine Ashbourne played in ‘Nana's Party’ called Auntie Carol. She was this really vivacious fun character that was at the heart of it deeply, sort of tragic. But she brought such a quality to it and it was exactly as we hoped. When we do the parts, we often read the parts and we play them as we imagine they'll be done, and she sort of did it exactly as we wanted to do it and brought more to it. It was great to see she brought such a life to it and it's a really funny performance.
Steve: I mean, there are so many to choose from but just looking at this ninth series. We'd worked with Mark Bonnar before in Psychoville and he came very close to being in Inside No.9 in a previous season, but it hadn't worked out because of COVID. To finally get the chance to reconnect with him and sit on a train carriage with him and watch him just act…fireworks! He’s just incredible to watch. That's definitely one of my favourites.
Have there been any other standout actors that you've worked with over the years that you'd say was your favourites? Is it possible to pick a favourite?
Steve: It’s really difficult to pick favourites and one shouldn't of course. But to work with legends like Sir Derek Jacobi, Simon Callow, to have people like Rula Lenska and Michele Dotrice and Felicity Kendal, Fiona Shaw. To work with these greats you've watched growing up, not necessarily our contemporaries, I think we get an extra thrill from watching and working with people like that, who we've seen on the TV, and suddenly you can't believe you're acting alongside them.
Reece: I remember very fondly working with Helen McCrory. I did a play with Helen and got her to do this sort of comedy part, but she'd not really been asked to do much of comedy, I don't think. Or she found it exciting that she was asked to do this part where I think she wouldn't normally get asked. And that was great working with her, she was magnificent in that.
I think quite often we see a lot of actors, in quite unexpected roles in Inside No. 9. Have you found a lot of them have approached you and said, “Oh, please put me in an episode”?
Reece: We hear that people have said that now, I mean, a bit later, in the last few series we've had ‘oh so and so’s agent has been in contact to see if there's anything for them’. So that's nice to hear. But we've never written parts for people, particularly because you get to the last two weeks before you're about to do it and then you ask if they're free, and they might not be free and then you would feel disappointed. So, you can't cater for people. But you write good parts, hopefully, and then as actors, you hook them in with something that's worth doing.
What's been the most difficult episode to write? Is it the last ever one?
Steve: Well, we didn't write one saying this is the last ever one. I think there have been a number of episodes over the years where we've had a great concept, and we just haven't known necessarily where to take it and we haven't known to what extent the audience is going to be ahead of us. This is always our difficulty. By the time we got to series 6, 7, 8, 9, people have already seen so many of the tricks that we've pulled, and they are eagle eyed now to try and get ahead of us. So, if anything's been difficult, it's just deciding where to take certain stories in ways that the audience wouldn't expect, and when to ease off and go, do you know what? People will suspect this, but let them, who cares? Actually you're on this for the journey, not the destination and you can just sit back and enjoy watching brilliant actors like Claire Rushbrook create a captivating character. You might suspect the way a certain story is going but we've given up now trying to tie ourselves in knots. We just want to just to have a good half hour of television, that's always our goal.
If you could expand the world of any episode from any series, which would it be?
Reece: I would have happily seen Mr. Warren and Mr. Clark go around the English countryside trying various witch trials for six half hours. But that might just be me!
Steve: I genuinely could do a full series of ‘3x3’, I'd love to write the questions for that. There's more to do I think in, for example, ‘Cold Comfort’ office dynamics, and dealing with all the different callers and the way that those characters interacted was great fun, and I think you could do more with that. But we're never going to do these things, we never intended any of them to springboard into a series. The whole point was you just get your 30-minute hit with that story, those characters and you're out and on to the next one. So don't hold your breath!
'Inside No.9' stage show
Can I buy tickets to the 'Inside No.9' stage show in 2025?
Tickets sales to "Inside No.9: Stage Fright" – the upcoming stage version of the TV show in London's West End – opened on May 8, 2024. The show is set to run from January 18 – April 5, 2025.
‼️This is not a drill!‼️https://t.co/Ja25BmxdZvComing to the West End from January to April 2025 🎭 #InsideNo9 pic.twitter.com/WcTBoHtAXFMay 3, 2024
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