The Cutprice Guignol

Now, as someone who spent much of the first part of their life living in unholy terror of drawing the unintended wrath of the universe, I think I know a little something about tempting fate.

Of course, for me, it turned out to be undiagnosed obsessive-compulsive disorder. But that’s not to say there isn’t plenty of horror to be mined from the concept of turning a profound elemental force against you by breaking the balance of destiny – and that’s exactly what this episode of Inside No. 9, Tempting Fate, does. It follows long-time house cleaners Keith and Nick (Pemberton and Shearsmith) as they’re joined by a new start, Maz (Weruche Opia), to clean out the home of a deceased hoarder – only to discover a sinister object that may hold more power than any of them could even have imagined.

In the grand tradition of other season finales for the show, Tempting Fate is a distinctly horror-centric closer – compared to the gothic horror of The Harrowing and the slasher-giallo of Private View, I think it stands up pretty well, the show’s spin on a classic morality tale in the vein of The Monkey’s Paw and similar classics, with an interesting twist in terms of setting that gives it a distinctly modern feel.

And the feel of this episode is probably the part that works best for me. Jim O’Hanlon does a great job directing Tempting Fate, turning this hoarder’s flat into a claustrophobic, labyrinthine trap for our leading characters – the sterility of their workwear matched with the gloomy, grimy darkness of the space itself gives the episode an uneasy sense that really adds to the sense of discomfort. And there are a few moments of genuinely effective horror – the moment that the flat’s apparently deceased owner (played by Nigel Planer, who was a constant presence in my teenage years thanks to my obsessive re-watching of The Comic Strip Presents…) returns is straight out of a Poe short story, the shadowy figure cutting through the house with the practiced ease of someone who hasn’t yet realized they don’t belong.

And the tension that builds through the story, after the cleaners discover a hare (a fun little nod to the recurring hare image that pops up in every episode of the season – including the end credits of the series closer, Plodding On) that appears to grant wishes, at a terrible cost. I really appreciate how meticulous this script is on a rewatch, how carefully everything is poised to unravel the story, and to send poor Maz’s head crashing on to the wrong end of a couple of floorboard nails. In so many of these morality tales, language and the use and misuse of it is what lands these characters in trouble, so it makes sense that such care has been taken to make the language so precise in service to the story.

I think where the episodes loses me a little is with the final act – while it’s fitting with the classic morality tale for nothing to turn out as anyone really wanted it, and while I feel like everything is pretty well-seeded throughout the episode as a whole, there’s something really abrupt about this closing that leaves me a bit cold. I get it, it’s meant to be a sting, a punishment for the greed and want of the people in the story, but more than anything, the sudden explosion just reminds me of that one bit from EastEnders where May lights a cigarette and blows up her house, and I feel that’s very much not the tone the episode intends to end on.

But still, as a whole, Tempting Fate is a worthy addition to the horror finales of the show so far. I’d love to know where it ranks amongst them for you – let me know in the comments!

Well, that brings us to the end of this season of Inside No. 9! I’m planning on picking up again in the new year for season five (and some of my all-time favourite episodes!), so, in the meantime, I hope you have a fun, safe, and suitably decadent festive season if you celebrate, and, if you don’t, have a bloody good rest-of-December. Thanks for joining me for the last few months of Inside No. 9 retrospectivity, and I can’t wait to pick up again in 2025!

If you liked this article and want to see more stuff like it, please check out the rest of my Inside No. 9 reviews. I’d also love it if you would check out my horrible short story collection, and, if you’d like to support my work, please consider supporting me on Patreon!

(header image via Digital Spy)