In Room 9 at the Royal Academy of Motion Picture Arts Giles Grindley-Orme hosts a panel consisting of brassy Hollywood star Paula, TV critic June, aging ham Rupert, young producer Gordon, has-been writer Clive and member of the public Jackie to vote for the Best Actress award. Indecision soon turns to bicker until the actual award winner is named - due to somebody outside the panel.
These tropes stole my heart:
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Jackie / Kelly.
- Breather Episode: This episode has way less underlying darkness than the three before it.
- Broken Win/Loss Streak: For Shona Andrews, whom Clive successfully gets removed from the running because he thinks she's won too many awards already.
- …But He Sounds Handsome: Kelly speaks highly of her performance while disguised as Jackie.
- Casting Couch: It's suggested that Dame Dorothy used this to get ahead in her career.
- Caustic Critic: June.
- Celebrity Paradox: Gordon mentions he's recently been directing Doctor Who. He's played by Noel Clarke, a former semi-regular on Doctor Who, and Shearsmith and Pemberton themselves have both been guest stars on the show, as have two more of that episode's guest cast, Zoë Wanamaker and Fenella Woolgar.
- Girl Next Door: How Paula describes Kelly Marsden's public persona.
- Grande Dame: Dame Dorothy seems to be one.
- I've Heard of That — What Is It?: Both Paula and Rupert pretend to know June when she greets them but wonder who she is afterwards.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Kelly might have resorted to unethical measures to ensure she wins the award, but she's not wrong to boast about her talents at the end either; not a single person in the room suspected who "Jackie" really was despite sitting in a room with her for a prolonged period of time with a photo of her prominently located on the wall.
- Lighter and Softer: The episode really is just about people in a room picking the best actress, and while there's a twist at the end, it doesn't make things darker.
- Loophole Abuse: Kelly technically didn't vote for herself.
- Mistaken for Servant: When entering the room, Clive mistakes fellow juror Jackie for a waitress.
- Most Writers Are Writers: One of the writers of this episode (Reece Shearsmith) plays a writer.
- Opinion Flip Flop: In an attempt to appeal to Gordon, Clive changes his opinion whenever Gordon disagrees with it.
- Professional Butt-Kisser: Clive is trying valiantly to get Gordon to read his script, to the point of agreeing with everything Gordon says. Gordon doesn't like this at all.
- Running Gag:
- Clive agreeing with everything Gordon says even if it contradicts something he previously said, and to a lesser extent his repeated mentions of having won the breakthrough talent award in 2003.
- Paula very obviously not having watched any of the performances in question and constantly using the same template for all her comments, starting with "(actress) stole my heart in..."
- Screw Politeness, I'm a Senior!: Rupert, the oldest jury member, is blatantly sexist, racist and offensive.
- Shout-Out: Gordon (played by Noel Clarke) mentions he's currently working on Doctor Who.
- Small Name, Big Ego: Clive is a mediocre writer who mentions whenever he gets the chance that he won a writing award 15 years ago.
- Starving Artist: Clive is struggling in his writing career and hasn't really achieved anything since he won an award for new writing talent ... in 2003.
- There Will Be Toilet Paper: Everyone is too polite to mention it, but Clive clearly nicked his chin this morning.
- Token Minority: Gordon feels that this is the reason for both him being on the jury, and Anna being nominated for the award.
- Tropaholics Anonymous: Parodied by June who jokingly introduces herself as an alcoholic to the round.
