Viewers were left confused and 'unnerved' after a new game show, hosted by Lee Mack and aired in place of the comedy series Inside No 9, ended in the 'death' of a contestant. The new quiz programme aired in place of the popular comedy show, with BBC2 announcing the last-minute schedule change.
The swap came just moments before the fifth episode of Inside No 9, Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton's scripted anthology stories, was set to air. Instead, viewers were told they would be treated to a new game show, reports Yorkshire Live.
The gameshow, 3by3, involves three pairs of three contestants competing to win a cash prize of £20,000. Viewers were fuming as they had set their TV boxes to record Inside No 9 and instead, a full episode of the new quiz show to replace it had been picked up and recorded instead.
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The BBC2 continuity announcer told disappointed viewers that the new Lee Mack quiz programme was on instead of Inside No 9. Introducing the quiz show, Lee Mack told BBC2 viewers: "Hello I'm Lee Mack and welcome to 3by3, the brand new quiz show that gives three teams of three people, three chances to win a big money prize.
"Well, I say big money, this is the BBC. In fact if the set doesn't fall down we'll be happy." The three teams - a family of three, including mum and daughter, three work colleagues and three friends, were then introduced to viewers before the first round began.
Increasingly, though, as the new show continued, viewers began to get a strange feeling, especially from one mother-daughter team, Margaret and Catherine, in particular where Catherine appeared to answer one question before Lee Mack had even finished reading it.
@gazza_ling said: "What the actual **** is going on? #3x3 " One person posted on Reddit: "Inside No 9 didn't record. Instead it recorded 3 by 3 some sort of quiz programme! I've just gone onto iPlayer Series 8 episode 5 is showing the 3x3 programme!! How did you watch it?"
@ultimatedjsuk said: "Are the oakwoods actors? #3x3 " @alatereviewer said: "I know what it is, and I know what it's doing, but #3x3 is really unnerving. Anyone else?"
@helenkeenan21 said: " #3x3 Is this a parody? Catherine is giving me the heebie jeebies." @thevenerableweb said: "Is this some kind of satire/insane creation? #3x3 #3by3 #bbc "
And another Reddit user found some more tweets from confused viewers. One said: "There's something just 'off' with 3by3 with the usually great Lee Mack. Massive whiff of AmDram students posing as contestants."
Another added: "3 by 3 with Lee Mack is one of the most surreal things I've ever seen. Is this a comedy? Am I hallucinating? Have I gone back in time?"
@ami21w said: "It's so odd! They are surely all actors (also awful green screen), what are we missing Lee Mack?" Another said: "Watching TV #3by3 and I am very concerned about the young girl Catherine and her mother Margaret.
"A very odd relationship. Just my view but it seems very controlling. Was it a set up?" At the end of the episode - SPOILERS AHEAD! - Margaret Oakwood, the mum to Catherine, was left trapped in the box and met a bloody end as she dropped dead in the studio.
Lee Mack was then seen screaming "get the producer" as he ran off set and the camera cut out, before the credits rolled. It was all an ingenious fake-out, and had been the episode of Inside No 9 all along. Lee Mack was starring as the fake gameshow host and Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton had written the whole thing.
The fakery went so deep that the pair had even released a false trailer for the Inside No 9 episode viewers expected this week - On The Buses - so the switch to a gameshow pilot caught out lots of people.
@debbiewalker22 said: "Hold my hands up you fooled us #leemack #3x3 #insidenumber9 brilliant" @johnrstrefford said: "Brilliant! We nearly turned it off thinking it was the wrong programme! #3x3 #Insidenumber9 "
@hotcoffeeeyes said: "Strange night last night on BBC2 with #InsideNo9. Family Fortunes never ever ended like that. It definitely tinted my reading of that documentary about Brian Jones afterwards. #3X3."
@roxycampbell said: "I only looked at the #3x3 tweets this morning, I was quite surprised how many people thought it was a real game show. But then it was a better format that some of the genuine ones on TV!"
@alligatoruk75 said: "If you search for #3x3 there's lots of confused viewers who are just quizzers and tuned in to watch an actual game show. They're are very weirded out! As for the secret word, was that even true now? A fake quiz to go with a fake quiz show?"
@tgnicoll said: "Love the idea that people might have watched #3x3 and didn't twig till the end" @debbiewalker22 said: "Hold my hands up you fooled us #leemack #3x3 #insidenumber9 brilliant"
The stunt had echoes of Inside No 9's previous 'live episode', in which the writers pretended the show had been hit with technical difficulties before the BBC studio itself became the scene of a gruesome twist.
It's fair to say the fake-out was a huge success and if you haven't watched Inside No 9, it's some of the best TV the BBC has put out in years.
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