History Series / InsideNo9

* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler: Migg in "Tom and Gerri", "Kathy" in the movie in "The Devil of Christmas", Bill in "Thinking Out Loud", Webster in "How Do You Plead?" and Margaret in "3 by 3". All the characters in "Sardines", "A Quiet Night In" and Reggie "Mother's Ruin" pretty much got this. In "Once Removed", a hitman is tricked into killing one of the people who hired him, before being killed himself by the real mark.]]

** [[spoiler:Spencer]] in "Simon Says"

** MASSIVELY subverted in "Mr King". There's a lot of TroublingUnchildlikeBehaviour from the kids, to say the least.[[spoiler:They end up sacrificing Mr Curtis, the new teacher, with the help of the headmaster and the school cleaner.]]

* ShowWithinAShow: The entire episode "3 by 3" is based on the set of a supposed brand new game show 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]]..."''

* ShowWithinAShow: The entire episode "3 by 3" is based on the set of a supposed brand new game show broadcasting in Inside No 9's usual slot. It's not until the credits that the continuity announcer goes, as they begin fading to monochrome...

** Every series tries for at least one episode with something unusual or different, including an episode with only one line of dialogue ("A Quiet Night In"), reverse chronology ("Once Removed"), an episode written entirely in iambic pentameter ("Zanzibar"), a series of dramatic monologues ("Thinking Out Loud"), and an episode that is partially animated ("Wise Owl").

* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler: Migg in "Tom and Gerri", "Kathy" in the movie in "The Devil of Christmas", Bill in "Thinking Out Loud", Webster in "How Do You Plead?" and Maragret in "3 by 3". All the characters in "Sardines", "A Quiet Night In" and Reggie "Mother's Ruin" pretty much got this. In "Once Removed", a hitman is tricked into killing one of the people who hired him, before being killed himself by the real mark.]]

* OnceASeason: The final episode of each season thus far has been horror-themed, usually involving supernatural elements. This was subverted in Season 6, which concludes with "Last Night at the Proms", leading some to suspect that it was flipped with "How Do You Plead?" which is a more traditionally horror-themed episode and is, this time, the penultimate episode of the season.
* OncePerEpisode: Every episode has the number 9 showing up prominently somewhere in the opening shot.

** "Mr King". [[ spoiler: Alan winds up as a ritualistic sacrifice, just like his predecessor, through no fault of his own.]]

** [[spoiler:Jean]] in "Private View".

** [[spoiler:Webster ''and'' Urban]] in "How Do You Plead".
** [[spoiler:Basically everyone except Alan]] in "Mr King".
** [[spoiler:Lara]] in "Kid/Nap".
** [[spoiler:Dr Jasper Parkway]] in "The Bones of St Nicholas".
** [[spoiler:Vicky]] in "Love is a Stranger".
** [[spoiler:Margaret Oakwood]] in "3 By 3".

** [[spoiler:Webster]] in "How Do You Plead".

** [[Spoiler:Joe's daughter Olivia]] in "The Last Weekend".

** [[spoiler: Dr Parkway]] in "The Bones of St Nicholas".

* ChronicallyKilledActor: Pemberton's characters have a tendency to die much more often than Shearsmith's, often by his hands. Pemberton's characters die while Shearsmith's survives in [[spoiler:"Tom and Gerri", "Cold Comfort", "The Devil of Christmas" (well, the FilmWithinAFilm), "The Riddle of the Sphinx", "Private View", "Bernie Clifton's Dressing Room", "Misdirection", "The Stakeout" (in a manner of speaking), and "Lip Service".]] There are even borderline examples like [[spoiler:"The Understudy" and "To Have and To Hold"]] where both characters technically survive, but Pemberton's characters end up permanently maimed. The reverse had never happened until Season 6, where it was frequently subverted. Of Season 6 and 7 episodes, [[spoiler:"Wuthering Heist", "Simon Says", "Merrily Merrily", and "Mr King"]] all end with Shearsmith's character dying and Pemberton's surviving. As of Season 8, [[spoiler: "The Last Weekend"]] can be added to this list.

* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler: Migg in "Tom and Gerri", "Kathy" in the movie in "The Devil of Christmas", Bill in "Thinking Out Loud", Webster in "How Do You Plead?" and Maragret in "3 by 3". All the characters in "Sardines" and "A Quiet Night In" pretty much got this. In "Once Removed", a hitman is tricked into killing one of the people who hired him, before being killed himself by the real mark.]]

** "Mr King". Alan winds up as a ritualistic sacrifice, just like his predecessor, through no fault of his own.
** "Paraskevidekatriaphobia". Gareth's wife is run over by a car literally the day after he overcomes his phobia.

* ChromosomeCasting: "The Referee's a W***er" and "Hold on Tight" contain no female characters. "Bernie Clifton's Dressing Room" has only one, very brief appearance from a woman, as does "The Stakeout" (and she doesn't appear in person, but we hear her voice over the police radio).
* ChronicallyKilledActor: Pemberton's characters have a tendency to die much more often than Shearsmith's, often by his hands. Pemberton's characters die while Shearsmith's survives in [[spoiler:"Tom and Gerri", "Cold Comfort", "The Devil of Christmas" (well, the FilmWithinAFilm), "The Riddle of the Sphinx", "Private View", "Bernie Clifton's Dressing Room" "Once Removed", "Misdirection", "The Stakeout" (in a manner of speaking), and "Lip Service".]] There are even borderline examples like [[spoiler:"The Understudy" and "To Have and To Hold"]] where both characters technically survive, but Pemberton's characters end up permanently maimed. The reverse had never happened until Season 6, where it was frequently subverted. Of Season 6 and 7 episodes, [[spoiler:"Wuthering Heist", "Simon Says", "Merrily Merrily", and "Mr King"]] all end with Shearsmith's character dying and Pemberton's surviving. As of Season 8, [[spoiler: "The Last Weekend"]] can be added to this list.

** "The Devil of Christmas." [[spoiler:Kathy in the movie certainly deserves a nasty death, but the actress playing her probably didn't.]]
** "Misdirection." [[spoiler:Gabriel avenged his grandfather's murder by killing Neville's wife Jenny and framing Neville. Right at the end, we find out just what the detectives saw in the safe...a razor blade covered in Jenny's blood. While Neville certainly was a douchebag, Jenny is an innocent party.]]
** "Love is a Stranger." Jai, a man with a severe facial deformity, uses a mouse emoji to hide his face and lies that his (non-existent) kids were messing around with his phone. Vicky tells him to show his face and he gives her his number before the chat ends. He comes to her house for a date...[[spoiler:and not only does the date go horribly wrong when Jai tries to kiss Vicky, but he finds out the hard way that ''she is the Lonely Hearts Killer'' when she murders him with a hammer.]]

* BittersweetEnding: In general, this is about as light an ending as you can expect from this show; it might not be a complete downer for all the characters, but it's rarely unambiguously happy either. Prominent examples include "Last Gasp", "The 12 Days of Christine", "Bernie Clifton's Dressing Room", "Love's Great Adventure", and "Merrily, Merrily". "To Have and to Hold", "Once Removed", "Misdirection" and "How Do You Plead?" also feature this in a way; they don't exactly end well, but they ''do'' end in a way where otherwise reprehensible characters receive their just desserts.

* BittersweetEnding: In general, this is about as light an ending as you can expect from this show; it might not be a complete downer for all the characters, but it's rarely unambiguously happy either. Prominent examples include "Last Gasp", "The 12 Days of Christine", "Bernie Clifton's Dressing Room", "Love's Great Adventure", and "Merrily, Merrily". "To Have and to Hold", "Once Removed" and "Misdirection" also feature this in a way; they don't exactly end well, but they ''do'' end in a way where otherwise reprehensible characters receive their just desserts.

* InterfaceScrew: Calling up the ''Electronic Programme Guide'' on your television or set—top on the initial broadcast of S8E5 viewers really would find ''Inside No. 9'' had gone missing and in it’s place the name ''3 by 3.''

* BittersweetEnding: In general, this is about as light an ending as you can expect from this show; it might not be a complete downer for all the characters, but it's rarely unambiguously happy either. Prominent examples include "Last Gasp", "The 12 Days of Christine", "Bernie Clifton's Dressing Room", "Love's Great Adventure", and "Merrily, Merrily". "To Have and to Hold" and "Misdirection" also feature this in a way; they don't exactly end well, but they ''do'' end in a way where otherwise reprehensible characters receive their just desserts.

* MinimalistCast: A majority of episodes features no more than five characters. "Bernie Clifton's Dressing Room" and "The Stakeout" feature only the two main characters (except for a very brief appearance from a side character in the former.)

* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler: Migg in "Tom and Gerri", "Kathy" in the movie in "The Devil of Christmas", Bill in "Thinking Out Loud" and Webster in "How Do You Plead?". All the characters in "Sardines" and "A Quiet Night In" pretty much got this. In "Once Removed", a hitman is tricked into killing one of the people who hired him, before being killed himself by the real mark.]]

* AsHimself: Averted in that the radio DJ played by Danny Baker in "Diddle Diddle Dumping" and the arts journalist played by Muriel Gray in "Private View" could easily have been credited as such, but are instead credited by the characters' job titles. Played straight with Adrian Dunbar in "Hurry Up and Wait".

* ChronicallyKilledActor: Pemberton's characters have a tendency to die much more often than Shearsmith's, often by his hands. Pemberton's characters die while Shearsmith's survives in [[spoiler:"Tom and Gerri", "Cold Comfort", "The Devil of Christmas" (well, the FilmWithinAFilm), "The Riddle of the Sphinx", "Private View", "Bernie Clifton's Dressing Room" "Once Removed", "Misdirection", "The Stakeout" (in a manner of speaking), and "Lip Service".]] There are even borderline examples like [[spoiler:"The Understudy" and "To Have and To Hold"]] where both characters technically survive, but Pemberton's characters end up permanently maimed. The reverse had never happened until Season 6, where it was frequently subverted. Of Season 6 and 7 episodes, [[spoiler:"Wuthering Heist", "Simon Says", "Merrily Merrily", and "Mr King"]] all end with Shearsmith's character dying and Pemberton's surviving.

** "Love is a Stranger." Jai, a man with a severe facial deformity, uses a mouse emoji to hide his face and lies that his (non-existent) kids were messing around with his phone. Vicky tells him to show his face and he gives her his number before the chat ends. He comes to her house for a date, which goes horribly wrong when he tries to kiss her while she's cooking...[[spoiler:and finds out the hard way that ''she is the Lonely Hearts Killer'' when she murders him with a hammer.]]

* ChromosomeCasting: "The Referee's a W***er" contains no female characters. "Bernie Clifton's Dressing Room" has only one, very brief appearance from a woman, as does "The Stakeout" (and she doesn't appear in person, but we hear her voice over the police radio).

* ChristmasEpisode: "The Devil of Christmas" and "Love's Great Adventure", although only the former aired at Christmas.

* KillEmAll: [[spoiler: "A Quiet Night In", and strongly implied to happen in "Sardines", "The Trial of Elizabeth Gadge" and "Tempting Fate".]]

* RayOfHopeEnding: "Wise Owl" ends with Ronnie finally breaking free from his abusive father's influence and going out to tell the truth about him.