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* FiveSecondForeshadowing: When Catherine makes a lighthearted comment about using the prize money to go traveling, Margaret darkly responds "Over my dead body." Guess what happens moments later.
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* ShowWithinAShow: The episode is presented as a game show called ''3 By 3''.
to:
* ShowWithinAShow: The entire episode is presented as based on the set of a supposed brand-new game show called ''3 By 3''.broadcasting in Inside No 9's usual slot. It's not until the credits that the {{continuity announce|ment}}r goes, as they begin fading to monochrome...
--> '''Announcer:''' ''"Well, that was a shock. It just goes to show that you can never know what to expect [[WhamLine from Inside No. 9]]..."''
--> '''Announcer:''' ''"Well, that was a shock. It just goes to show that you can never know what to expect [[WhamLine from Inside No. 9]]..."''
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* CreditsGag: The end credits start out bright and colourful, like the standard end credits to a light entertainment quiz show, but suddenly fade to grey as the continuity announcer informs the audience that they have been watching ''Inside No. 9''.
to:
* CreditsGag: The end credits start out bright and colourful, like the standard end credits to a light entertainment quiz show, but suddenly fade to grey as the continuity announcer {{continuity announce|ment}}r informs the audience that they have been watching ''Inside No. 9''.
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* CreditsGag: The end credits start out bright and colourful, like the standard end credits to a light entertainment quiz show, but suddenly fade to grey as the continuity announcer informs the audience that they have been watching ''Inside No. 9''.
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** Catherine's Master's degree is in "applied neuroscience". Guess what her powers are.
Changed line(s) 58 (click to see context) from:
* StealthInsult: When asked a question about a rapper, Margaret answers “Fur Q”, an answer which Catherine presumably broadcasted to her telepathically, and is angry when it becomes clear that Catherine gave her the wrong answer. Now consider what “[[PrecisionFStrike Fur Q]]” sounds like…
to:
* StealthInsult: The contestants are told that their final prize pot will be £40,000, which Catherine says she could use to go travelling to New Zealand. Catherine's mother shoots this down, saying she instead wants to spend the money on a basement room (or a holding cell) for Catherine. However, if Catherine gets the final answer right, they will walk away with £1,500, which is more than enough to travel to New Zealand on a one-way ticket. When asked a question about a rapper, Margaret answers “Fur Q”, an answer which Catherine presumably broadcasted to her telepathically, and is angry when it becomes clear that Catherine gave her the wrong answer. Now consider what “[[PrecisionFStrike Fur Q]]” sounds like… like…
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* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Catherine, though very much of the AntiVillain sort.
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* BasementDweller: Catherine is an adult who still lives at home with her parents, yet doesn't seem to have any obvious friends or hobbies of her own. It gets a literal reference when Margaret says their plan for the money is to build Catherine a basement den so she can study at home. Reading between the lines given TheReveal, however, implies that Catherine is in fact a trapped lab rat in some kind of secret (underground) laboratory.
to:
* BasementDweller: Catherine is an adult who still lives at home with her parents, yet doesn't seem to have any obvious friends or hobbies of her own. It gets a literal reference when Margaret says their plan for the money is to build Catherine a basement den so she can study at home. Reading between the lines given TheReveal, however, implies that Catherine is in fact a trapped lab rat in some kind of secret (underground) laboratory. laboratory and Margaret is planning on using the prize money to keep her research going.
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* InterfaceScrew: Calling up the ''Electronic Programme Guide'' on your television or set—top on the initial broadcast of this episode, viewers really would find ''Inside No. 9'' had gone missing and in its place the name ''3 by 3.''
to:
* InterfaceScrew: Calling up the ''Electronic Programme Guide'' on your television or set—top on the initial broadcast of this episode, viewers really would find ''Inside No. 9'' had gone missing and in its place the name ''3 by 3.''3''.
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* OddballInTheSeries: This is the only episode not to feature either Reece Shearsmith or Steve Pemberton. It also doesn't include the show's usual opening titles.
to:
* OddballInTheSeries: This is the only episode not to feature either Reece Shearsmith or Steve Pemberton. It also doesn't include the show's usual opening titles.titles, and it's not until the credits begin that any implication of it being part of the series is even suggested.
Changed line(s) 58 (click to see context) from:
* StealthInsult: When asked a question about a rapper, Margaret answers “Fur Q”, an answer which Catherine presumably broadcasted to her telepathically, and is angry when it becomes clear that Catherine gave her the wrong answer. Now consider what “Fur Q” sounds like…
to:
* StealthInsult: When asked a question about a rapper, Margaret answers “Fur Q”, an answer which Catherine presumably broadcasted to her telepathically, and is angry when it becomes clear that Catherine gave her the wrong answer. Now consider what “Fur Q” “[[PrecisionFStrike Fur Q]]” sounds like…
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Changed line(s) 64 (click to see context) from:
-->'''Margaret:''' The doctors were right! I should have destroyed you when you were born!
to:
-->'''Margaret:''' The doctors were right! I should have destroyed you when you were born!b[[KilledMidSentence ⸻]]
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* OddballInTheSeries: This is the only episode not to feature either Reece Shearsmith or Steve Pemberton. It also doesn't include the show's usual opening titles.
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No longer a trope
Deleted line(s) 10 (click to see context) :
* AndNowForSomethingCompletelyDifferent: This is the only episode not to feature either Reece Shearsmith or Steve Pemberton. It also doesn't include the show's usual opening titles.
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* InterfaceScrew: Calling up the ''Electronic Programme Guide'' on your television or set—top on the initial broadcast of this episode, viewers really would find ''Inside No. 9'' had gone missing and in its place the name ''3 by 3.''
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* SceneryDissonance: A brightly lit quiz show, with a wisecracking celebrity host, hints Catherine's [[AbusiveParents ominously controlling mother]]; PsychicPowers, and sees a [[YourHeadAsplode graphic demonstration]] hereof.
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Changed line(s) 44 (click to see context) from:
* PunnyName: One of the teams is called Quiztopher Bigwins.
to:
* PunnyName: One of the teams is called Quiztopher Bigwins. [[note]]a reference to actor Christopher Biggins[[/note]]
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* SoundProofBooth: Used for the jackpot round. Will need a thorough cleaning afterwards.
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* PunnyName: One of the teams is called Quiztopher Bigwins.
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** The answer board briefly malfunctions in the second round when Catherine is unsure whether she got the answer right.
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this is shoehorning. every contestant is only revealing one fact about their fellow team mates. Stephen's favorite sport being cricket doesn't make him a bore. the show master comes back to that topic because it's the only thing he knows about Stephen.
Deleted line(s) 16 (click to see context) :
* TheBore: The only thing Catherine and Margaret can think to say about Stephen is that he likes cricket. Even ''he'' can't think of anything else when Lee asks him.
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* GoldenSnitch: While the Oakwoods managed to score £1,500 in the first two rounds, winning the last round would bring it to a whooping £40,500.
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* LaughTrack: The quiz show doesn't have a live audience but they make up for it by using a laugh track.
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rewatched the episode. there are no resentful looks coming from the Bigwins team
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* DeathGlare:
** Quiztopher Bigwins start looking at the Oakwoods this way when it becomes apparent that Catherine and Margaret are cheating somehow.
** In a crossover with MeaningfulBackgroundEvent, Catherine is shown looking progressively more worried and upset as she realises how sheltered she's been and trapped she is, culminating in her giving her mother Margaret a ''literal'' DeathGlare.
** Quiztopher Bigwins start looking at the Oakwoods this way when it becomes apparent that Catherine and Margaret are cheating somehow.
** In a crossover with MeaningfulBackgroundEvent, Catherine is shown looking progressively more worried and upset as she realises how sheltered she's been and trapped she is, culminating in her giving her mother Margaret a ''literal'' DeathGlare.
to:
* DeathGlare:
** Quiztopher Bigwins start looking at the Oakwoods this way when it becomes apparent that Catherine and Margaret are cheating somehow.
**DeathGlare: In a crossover with MeaningfulBackgroundEvent, Catherine is shown looking progressively more worried and upset as she realises how sheltered she's been and trapped she is, culminating in her giving her mother Margaret a ''literal'' DeathGlare.
** Quiztopher Bigwins start looking at the Oakwoods this way when it becomes apparent that Catherine and Margaret are cheating somehow.
**
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misuse. the quiz show is not a deadly game and the "freezing" is obviously a harmless light effect
Deleted line(s) 18 (click to see context) :
* DeadlyGame: Implied, and then inverted. Stephen and Catherine's reactions when she chooses not to bring him back and leaves him facing "elimination" is suggested to be a DeadlyEuphemism. It's then revealed that he's presumably fine, and the game is a normal one, before Catherine kills her mother, Margaret, to prevent her from winning (rather than because they lost). Though given the hints throughout the episode and the reveal, it's suggested that in their usual "home life", 'elimination' is often used in its more literal sense...
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** Margaret incorrectly answers a question about a rapper with "Fur Q" -- the same name as a rapper played by Chris Morris on ''Series/TheDayToday'' and ''Series/BrassEye''.
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* SuddenDownerEnding: A light-hearted quiz show ends with one of the contestants having her [[YourHeadAsplode head explode]] on camera.
Changed line(s) 61 (click to see context) from:
* YourHeadAsplode: Catherine traps Margaret inside a booth and finally kills her by exploding her head.
to:
* YourHeadAsplode: Catherine traps Margaret inside a booth and finally kills her by exploding her head.head.
----
----
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Changed line(s) 28 (click to see context) from:
** Catherine correctly answers a question about ''Literature/{{Matilda}}'' (a girl with telekinetic powers) and knows the answer to some questions before they're asked.
to:
** Catherine correctly answers a question about ''Literature/{{Matilda}}'' (a girl with telekinetic powers) and knows the answer to some questions one question before they're it was asked.
* LudicrousGibs: The splatter of the mother's exploded head creates a huge mess in the soundproof cabin.
Changed line(s) 37 (click to see context) from:
* MindOverMatter: Catherine reveals at the end of the episode that she has this power.
to:
* MindOverMatter: Catherine reveals at the end of the episode that she has this power.power when she shuts the cabin door on her mother and [[YourHeadAsplode makes her head explode]].
Changed line(s) 42 (click to see context) from:
* PairTheSuitors: Gavin lives with his ex Bella and current girlfriend Maisie. Lee suggests the situation could be resolved if Bella and Maisie ended up together.
to:
* PairTheSuitors: Discussed. Gavin lives with his ex Bella and current girlfriend Maisie. Lee suggests the situation could be resolved if Bella and Maisie ended up together.
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[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/three_by_three.png]]
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* IntergenerationalFriendship: The Three Tenors count as this; retired Enid is friends with the much younger Niall and Shindu.
Deleted line(s) 35 (click to see context) :
* MultigenerationalFriendship: The Three Tenors count as this; retired Enid is friends with the much younger Niall and Shindu.
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* MultigenerationalFriendship: The Three Tenors count as this; retired Enid is friends with the much younger Niall and Shindu.
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Three very different teams of three face off against each other on the game show ''3 By 3'', but only one trio can make it to the final round.
----
!!Tropes:
* AbusiveParents: Margaret is at a minimum shown to be [[MyBelovedSmother extremely controlling]], withholding all forms of pop culture and enjoyment from Catherine, though she's implied to be abusive in other ways, too.
* AmicableExes: Quiztopher Bigwins are a trio of flatmates, but still living happily together even after Gavin broke up with Bella and started dating Maisie.
* AndNowForSomethingCompletelyDifferent: This is the only episode not to feature either Reece Shearsmith or Steve Pemberton. It also doesn't include the show's usual opening titles.
* ArcNumber:
** 3. There are 3 teams, of 3 people each, on a show called ''3 By 3'', they start out with £300, and the games have names such as "3-Point Turn" or "3 Blind Twice." In the final round, each correct answer trebles the prize money.
** The show's overall arc number also appears obliquely; the result of multiplying three by three is, of course, nine.
* AsHimself: Lee Mack plays himself as the host of ''3 By 3''.
* BasementDweller: Catherine is an adult who still lives at home with her parents, yet doesn't seem to have any obvious friends or hobbies of her own. It gets a literal reference when Margaret says their plan for the money is to build Catherine a basement den so she can study at home. Reading between the lines given TheReveal, however, implies that Catherine is in fact a trapped lab rat in some kind of secret (underground) laboratory.
* TheBore: The only thing Catherine and Margaret can think to say about Stephen is that he likes cricket. Even ''he'' can't think of anything else when Lee asks him.
* ControlFreak: Margaret Oakwood controls Catherine's life and won't let her travel or listen to music, despite Catherine being an adult. Though it's gradually implied that this goes beyond being MyBelovedSmother and into darker territory.
* DeadlyGame: Implied, and then inverted. Stephen and Catherine's reactions when she chooses not to bring him back and leaves him facing "elimination" is suggested to be a DeadlyEuphemism. It's then revealed that he's presumably fine, and the game is a normal one, before Catherine kills her mother, Margaret, to prevent her from winning (rather than because they lost). Though given the hints throughout the episode and the reveal, it's suggested that in their usual "home life", 'elimination' is often used in its more literal sense...
* DeathGlare:
** Quiztopher Bigwins start looking at the Oakwoods this way when it becomes apparent that Catherine and Margaret are cheating somehow.
** In a crossover with MeaningfulBackgroundEvent, Catherine is shown looking progressively more worried and upset as she realises how sheltered she's been and trapped she is, culminating in her giving her mother Margaret a ''literal'' DeathGlare.
* TheDogBitesBack: The ending is heavily implied to be Catherine, having been Margaret's abused lab rat her whole life, finally taking her revenge and gaining her freedom.
* DontExplainTheJoke: When Stephen mentions that his grandmother Rosemary lives at home with them, Lee says "Rosemary, I've always got ''thyme'' for you!" and upon failing to get a laugh, tersely explains why it's a joke.
* {{Expy}}: Two to in ''Literature/{{Carrie}}'':
** Margaret has deliberate similarities to Margaret White: along with the name, she is an abusive, controlling mother of a telekinetic daughter.
** Catherine is one for Carrie White. Their names are similar, and both are extremely sheltered, abused teenage girls who [[TheDogBitesBack fight back]] against their abusive mothers during an ExtremelyShortTimeSpan after they reach a RageBreakingPoint of seeing some form of acceptance by the normal world. And, of course, there's the psychic powers.
* {{Foreshadowing}}:
** Catherine correctly answers a question about ''Literature/{{Matilda}}'' (a girl with telekinetic powers) and knows the answer to some questions before they're asked.
** Margaret encourages Catherine to give "the first answer that comes into her mind", and on a difficult question suggests they both "put (their) minds together." When Catherine isn't sure which of her parents to bring back into the game, Margaret says "you know what I think."
** During the third round, Catherine can briefly be seen [[PsychicNosebleed wiping blood from her nose]].
* GameShow: The premise of the episode.
* {{Homage}}: The shot of Catherine and the camera movement as she's about to kill Margaret is taken directly from ''Film/Carrie1976''.
* MarryThemAll: Quiztopher Bigwins are maybe getting there, as they delightedly say all three of them will go on holiday together with the money they won.
* MeaningfulBackgroundEvent: Catherine can be seen looking increasingly confused, upset and angry the more she realises how trapped her life has been and how cruel Margaret is.
* MenAreTheExpendableGender: Kind of. While Margaret dies and Catherine's father [[TheGenericGuy Stephen]] presumably survives, Catherine "saves" Margaret from elimination but not Stephen.
* MindOverMatter: Catherine reveals at the end of the episode that she has this power.
* NeverTrustATrailer: The promotional materials made the episode seem like an ''Series/OnTheBuses'' spoof rather than the actual spoof of a game show.
* NoSocialSkills:
** There's something ... off about all of the Oakwoods throughout the entire episode. They're generally reserved and socially awkward, they miss obvious jokes, and in general act like they've never been out in public before. And it's gradually implied that in Catherine's case this is the truth.
** Gavin doesn't seem to understand why it's awkward to bring up the fact of living with both his girlfriend and ex.
* PairTheSuitors: Gavin lives with his ex Bella and current girlfriend Maisie. Lee suggests the situation could be resolved if Bella and Maisie ended up together.
* PsychicLink: Catherine and her mother Margaret are joined together psychically. Since Margaret works in genetic research, it's implied that she may have engineered Catherine in some way.
* RaisedInALab: It's never outright stated but heavily implied throughout the episode that Catherine was raised by her MadScientist mother Margaret in a lab in order to develop psychic and telepathic powers.
* RuleOfThree: The whole game show is themed around the number three.
* ShoutOut:
** One of the teams is called "Quiztopher Bigwins" after Christopher Biggins. Another team is named after The Three Tenors.
** Catherine is able to throw others off their answer by making them picture Creator/DavidJason.
** Lee makes several jokes about H from Music/{{Steps}}.
** Catherine and Margaret's names evoke their inspiration; [[Literature/{{Carrie}} Carrie White]] and her abusive mother Maggie.
** Margaret's eventual fate at Catherine's hands also evokes ''Film/{{Scanners}}''.
* ShowWithinAShow: The episode is presented as a game show called ''3 By 3''.
* StealthInsult: When asked a question about a rapper, Margaret answers “Fur Q”, an answer which Catherine presumably broadcasted to her telepathically, and is angry when it becomes clear that Catherine gave her the wrong answer. Now consider what “Fur Q” sounds like…
* {{Subtext}}: As the episode itself takes place entirely within the game show, a lot of what's actually going on is left to subtext and implication, because it naturally wouldn't come up directly amongst the banter and games. It's heavily suggested, however, that the true story is that Margaret is some kind of MadScientist who has genetically engineered her daughter Catherine to possess powerful psychic and telepathic abilities, has trapped her within some kind of secret laboratory her whole life, and has had to resort to bringing her on the game show because the funding to continue her experiments has run out. And that Catherine -- on finally gaining some exposure to the real world -- has begun to realise just how awful and abusive Margaret is...
* {{Telepathy}}: Catherine and Margaret appear to have a telepathic connection, allowing them to correctly give the same answers in the final round. It's also implied that Catherine may have more general telepathic abilities, given that she answers a question before it's asked, appears to be able to pluck answers from the minds of other contestants and prevent them from answering, and after Stephen is eliminated from the game can seemingly reach him for the answer to a question about cricket.
* ThreesomeSubtext: Quiztopher Bigwins appear to be gradually inching their way towards forming a throuple (or perhaps already are and just aren’t saying it outright); they're roommates who live together, the man previously dated one of the women but is now dating the other one, everyone remains very good friends despite this, Lee at one point jokes that the natural evolution of the dynamic is for the two women to start dating each other, and on winning a sum of money they all happily decide to go on holiday together.
* WhamLine: Immediately before [[YourHeadAsplode her head explodes]], Margaret can be heard shouting from inside the booth.
-->'''Margaret:''' The doctors were right! I should have destroyed you when you were born!
* JustForFun/XMeetsY: ''Literature/{{Carrie}}'' + GameShow.
* YourHeadAsplode: Catherine traps Margaret inside a booth and finally kills her by exploding her head.
----
!!Tropes:
* AbusiveParents: Margaret is at a minimum shown to be [[MyBelovedSmother extremely controlling]], withholding all forms of pop culture and enjoyment from Catherine, though she's implied to be abusive in other ways, too.
* AmicableExes: Quiztopher Bigwins are a trio of flatmates, but still living happily together even after Gavin broke up with Bella and started dating Maisie.
* AndNowForSomethingCompletelyDifferent: This is the only episode not to feature either Reece Shearsmith or Steve Pemberton. It also doesn't include the show's usual opening titles.
* ArcNumber:
** 3. There are 3 teams, of 3 people each, on a show called ''3 By 3'', they start out with £300, and the games have names such as "3-Point Turn" or "3 Blind Twice." In the final round, each correct answer trebles the prize money.
** The show's overall arc number also appears obliquely; the result of multiplying three by three is, of course, nine.
* AsHimself: Lee Mack plays himself as the host of ''3 By 3''.
* BasementDweller: Catherine is an adult who still lives at home with her parents, yet doesn't seem to have any obvious friends or hobbies of her own. It gets a literal reference when Margaret says their plan for the money is to build Catherine a basement den so she can study at home. Reading between the lines given TheReveal, however, implies that Catherine is in fact a trapped lab rat in some kind of secret (underground) laboratory.
* TheBore: The only thing Catherine and Margaret can think to say about Stephen is that he likes cricket. Even ''he'' can't think of anything else when Lee asks him.
* ControlFreak: Margaret Oakwood controls Catherine's life and won't let her travel or listen to music, despite Catherine being an adult. Though it's gradually implied that this goes beyond being MyBelovedSmother and into darker territory.
* DeadlyGame: Implied, and then inverted. Stephen and Catherine's reactions when she chooses not to bring him back and leaves him facing "elimination" is suggested to be a DeadlyEuphemism. It's then revealed that he's presumably fine, and the game is a normal one, before Catherine kills her mother, Margaret, to prevent her from winning (rather than because they lost). Though given the hints throughout the episode and the reveal, it's suggested that in their usual "home life", 'elimination' is often used in its more literal sense...
* DeathGlare:
** Quiztopher Bigwins start looking at the Oakwoods this way when it becomes apparent that Catherine and Margaret are cheating somehow.
** In a crossover with MeaningfulBackgroundEvent, Catherine is shown looking progressively more worried and upset as she realises how sheltered she's been and trapped she is, culminating in her giving her mother Margaret a ''literal'' DeathGlare.
* TheDogBitesBack: The ending is heavily implied to be Catherine, having been Margaret's abused lab rat her whole life, finally taking her revenge and gaining her freedom.
* DontExplainTheJoke: When Stephen mentions that his grandmother Rosemary lives at home with them, Lee says "Rosemary, I've always got ''thyme'' for you!" and upon failing to get a laugh, tersely explains why it's a joke.
* {{Expy}}: Two to in ''Literature/{{Carrie}}'':
** Margaret has deliberate similarities to Margaret White: along with the name, she is an abusive, controlling mother of a telekinetic daughter.
** Catherine is one for Carrie White. Their names are similar, and both are extremely sheltered, abused teenage girls who [[TheDogBitesBack fight back]] against their abusive mothers during an ExtremelyShortTimeSpan after they reach a RageBreakingPoint of seeing some form of acceptance by the normal world. And, of course, there's the psychic powers.
* {{Foreshadowing}}:
** Catherine correctly answers a question about ''Literature/{{Matilda}}'' (a girl with telekinetic powers) and knows the answer to some questions before they're asked.
** Margaret encourages Catherine to give "the first answer that comes into her mind", and on a difficult question suggests they both "put (their) minds together." When Catherine isn't sure which of her parents to bring back into the game, Margaret says "you know what I think."
** During the third round, Catherine can briefly be seen [[PsychicNosebleed wiping blood from her nose]].
* GameShow: The premise of the episode.
* {{Homage}}: The shot of Catherine and the camera movement as she's about to kill Margaret is taken directly from ''Film/Carrie1976''.
* MarryThemAll: Quiztopher Bigwins are maybe getting there, as they delightedly say all three of them will go on holiday together with the money they won.
* MeaningfulBackgroundEvent: Catherine can be seen looking increasingly confused, upset and angry the more she realises how trapped her life has been and how cruel Margaret is.
* MenAreTheExpendableGender: Kind of. While Margaret dies and Catherine's father [[TheGenericGuy Stephen]] presumably survives, Catherine "saves" Margaret from elimination but not Stephen.
* MindOverMatter: Catherine reveals at the end of the episode that she has this power.
* NeverTrustATrailer: The promotional materials made the episode seem like an ''Series/OnTheBuses'' spoof rather than the actual spoof of a game show.
* NoSocialSkills:
** There's something ... off about all of the Oakwoods throughout the entire episode. They're generally reserved and socially awkward, they miss obvious jokes, and in general act like they've never been out in public before. And it's gradually implied that in Catherine's case this is the truth.
** Gavin doesn't seem to understand why it's awkward to bring up the fact of living with both his girlfriend and ex.
* PairTheSuitors: Gavin lives with his ex Bella and current girlfriend Maisie. Lee suggests the situation could be resolved if Bella and Maisie ended up together.
* PsychicLink: Catherine and her mother Margaret are joined together psychically. Since Margaret works in genetic research, it's implied that she may have engineered Catherine in some way.
* RaisedInALab: It's never outright stated but heavily implied throughout the episode that Catherine was raised by her MadScientist mother Margaret in a lab in order to develop psychic and telepathic powers.
* RuleOfThree: The whole game show is themed around the number three.
* ShoutOut:
** One of the teams is called "Quiztopher Bigwins" after Christopher Biggins. Another team is named after The Three Tenors.
** Catherine is able to throw others off their answer by making them picture Creator/DavidJason.
** Lee makes several jokes about H from Music/{{Steps}}.
** Catherine and Margaret's names evoke their inspiration; [[Literature/{{Carrie}} Carrie White]] and her abusive mother Maggie.
** Margaret's eventual fate at Catherine's hands also evokes ''Film/{{Scanners}}''.
* ShowWithinAShow: The episode is presented as a game show called ''3 By 3''.
* StealthInsult: When asked a question about a rapper, Margaret answers “Fur Q”, an answer which Catherine presumably broadcasted to her telepathically, and is angry when it becomes clear that Catherine gave her the wrong answer. Now consider what “Fur Q” sounds like…
* {{Subtext}}: As the episode itself takes place entirely within the game show, a lot of what's actually going on is left to subtext and implication, because it naturally wouldn't come up directly amongst the banter and games. It's heavily suggested, however, that the true story is that Margaret is some kind of MadScientist who has genetically engineered her daughter Catherine to possess powerful psychic and telepathic abilities, has trapped her within some kind of secret laboratory her whole life, and has had to resort to bringing her on the game show because the funding to continue her experiments has run out. And that Catherine -- on finally gaining some exposure to the real world -- has begun to realise just how awful and abusive Margaret is...
* {{Telepathy}}: Catherine and Margaret appear to have a telepathic connection, allowing them to correctly give the same answers in the final round. It's also implied that Catherine may have more general telepathic abilities, given that she answers a question before it's asked, appears to be able to pluck answers from the minds of other contestants and prevent them from answering, and after Stephen is eliminated from the game can seemingly reach him for the answer to a question about cricket.
* ThreesomeSubtext: Quiztopher Bigwins appear to be gradually inching their way towards forming a throuple (or perhaps already are and just aren’t saying it outright); they're roommates who live together, the man previously dated one of the women but is now dating the other one, everyone remains very good friends despite this, Lee at one point jokes that the natural evolution of the dynamic is for the two women to start dating each other, and on winning a sum of money they all happily decide to go on holiday together.
* WhamLine: Immediately before [[YourHeadAsplode her head explodes]], Margaret can be heard shouting from inside the booth.
-->'''Margaret:''' The doctors were right! I should have destroyed you when you were born!
* JustForFun/XMeetsY: ''Literature/{{Carrie}}'' + GameShow.
* YourHeadAsplode: Catherine traps Margaret inside a booth and finally kills her by exploding her head.
