BBC drama Inside Man came to its gripping conclusion on Tuesday, October 4. The four-part series, which has been written and created by Steven Moffat (Doctor Who, Sherlock), was divisive amongst critics and viewers alike. But with a very open-ended conclusion, could there be a follow-up series?
With a cast led by David Tennant and Stanley Tucci, Inside Man followed a vicar in a quiet English town, a murderer on death row, a maths teacher trapped in a cellar and a journalist looking for a story. You can read more about it here. There are spoilers below for the ending of series one, so if you haven't seen it, don't go any further.
Read more: How many episodes of BBC Inside Man are there?
Inside Man concluded with vicar Harry Watling (David Tennant) being sent to prison after being seen attempting to kill Janice (Dolly Wells) by journalist Beth (Lydia West), who herself had just witnessed the death of Harry’s wife Mary (Lyndsey Marshal).
In a mid-credits scene, Janice visited Stanley Tucci’s character, Jefferson Grieff, in prison, with the tutor seeking to have her husband murdered. With such an open-ended finale, viewers are convinced that a second series might be in the works.
In an interview with RadioTimes.com, writer Steven Moffat said: "The story will end in four episodes. It's done by the end of that. As to whether or not you could ever spin off anything or do any kind of sequel? I don't know at this moment." Moffat added that it will depend on the audience response to the first season, as well as whether he had a clear idea of where the story would go in a second run of episodes.
He concluded: "Television is littered with shows that had one season and pretended they could carry on – I would never want to be one of those, where you're so excited to get a phone call about doing another run that you do it and then realise, actually, the story is finished."
Following the finale, one social media user commented: “I’m not letting [Steven Moffat] out of my basement till he gives me Inside Man Series 2,” referring to the series’ main plot point.
Another echoed this and said: “Inside Man was a brilliant series, can't wait for another one.”
The series didn’t go down with everyone though and one person wrote: “We deserved a much better ending than that.”
In a similar vein, someone else concluded: “Inside Man was a bit of a mess, sadly. Liked the cast. Interesting premise. But such an underwhelming conclusion, with the inevitable set-up for a full series. Could see the 'English' segment as a darkly comic farce on stage. And the Tucci bit has legs. Altogether though...nah.”
What were your thoughts on the series? Let us know in the comments. You can get more TV news and other story updates straight to your inbox by subscribing to our newsletters here.
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