The Harrowing (Inside No. 9)

Lore & Background

The episode follows Katy, who is hired to housesit for eccentric siblings Hector and Tabitha. They rarely leave the house but have an event to attend. They tell Katy about their bedridden, disabled brother Andras, who cannot speak but will ring a bell if he needs assistance. Katy is joined by her friend Shell once Hector and Tabitha leave, and, upon hearing Andras's bell, the pair reluctantly head upstairs. The episode takes place in Hector and Tabitha's mansion, which is kept deliberately cold and filled with paintings depicting Hell. The writers experimented with a variety of possible endings, hoping to make the episode's close both interesting and scary.

The plot reveals that Andras is possessed by a demon, and that Katy has been chosen as the next human host. Shell, who attends the same church as Hector and Tabitha, recognizes the demonic signs too late. The demon is never named in the episode—the name 'Castiel' is a fan invention or confusion with the 'Supernatural' character.

Reader's Guide

The episode was the only one in the first series in which Pemberton did not star; Shearsmith played a character in all but "Last Gasp". Comedy critic Bruce Dessau noted that Shearsmith's role was actually relatively minor, saying that the house was the real star. Critics variously called "The Harrowing" the "nastiest", "most Gothic" and most horrorific episode of Inside No. 9. It was described as "unashamedly macabre" by Metro journalists, and "a genuine fright fest" by Dessau. However, critics writing in the Metro felt that the episode was a poor finale for the series, and that the episode's ending was unsatisfying. By contrast, Alex Hoskins, writing for the Cheddar Valley Gazette, felt the episode's ending was very strong, and Bruce Dessau described "The Harrowing" as an excellent end to the series. On an Empire online list, "The Harrowing", particularly its final scene, was selected as the 17th best TV moment of the year. The episode was watched by 833,000 people on its first showing, which was 4.7% of the audience.

Did You Know?

• The episode's name was taken from the Harrowing of Hell, the story of Jesus Christ's descent to Hell in Christian theology.
• The episode was advertised with a poster homage to classic horror films, designed by Graham Humphreys.
• The house in the episode is kept at −3 °C because the disabled brother Andras needs the air at that temperature.

Format & Creative Architecture

Each half-hour instalment of Inside No. 9 operates as a self-contained short play, presenting an entirely new world, cast, and narrative that reaches its own conclusion within the runtime. The only thread binding the episodes together is a connection to the number nine—whether that manifests as a grand estate, a backstage dressing room, or simply a pair of size-nine shoes. Hidden within every set is an ornamental brass hare, a small decorative nod that Pemberton explained was conceived simply as a fun object to conceal across wildly varied locations, carrying no deeper symbolic weight. Nearly every episode features Pemberton, Shearsmith, or both, while the remaining roles rotate through a revolving door of well-known British actors. The tonal palette shifts dramatically from one story to the next: gothic dread in one, broad physical comedy in another, yet the underlying register remains darkly comic and distinctly British. Episodes typically open in scenes of everyday mundanity before the sinister undercurrents surface, and the writers consistently aim to subvert audience expectations—sometimes through a sharp twist, sometimes through the deliberate absence of one.

Critical Acclaim & Thematic Identity

Inside No. 9 has earned near-universal critical praise, maintaining a perfect 100 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes across its entire run. Reviewers consistently highlight the sharpness of the writing, the inventive structural choices, and the strong ensemble performances that each fresh cast delivers. One critic captured the series' identity as a 'mercurial synthesis of morbid comedy, wicked social commentary and a genuine creepiness,' a description that neatly encapsulates how the show balances its disparate elements. The scripts tackle genuinely dark subject matter—from the first episode's confrontations with incest and child abuse to the broader spectrum of human depravity—yet always filter it through a distinctly British comic sensibility. Pemberton has spoken openly about the creative drive to 'wrong-foot the viewer,' and the show delivers on that promise through unexpected plot turns, or sometimes through the deliberate choice to withhold the twist entirely. The pair have noted that writing purely comedic material leaves them feeling unfulfilled, and this need for darker emotional weight is a defining creative force behind every story they craft.

Origins & Production

The series was born from a 2012 commission from BBC controllers Janice Hadlow and Cheryl Taylor, who asked Pemberton and Shearsmith for two series following the conclusion of Psychoville. The timing was partly strategic, as Sky had begun producing its own comedy output. The project carried the working title Happy Endings before settling on its final name, and the BBC production team included director David Kerr, executive producer Jon Plowman, and producer Adam Tandy. The creative spark came from a specific episode of Psychoville—'David and Maureen'—which itself drew on Hitchcock's Rope, playing out in a single room across just two camera shots. The writers wanted to explore more of these contained, bottle-episode narratives. Shearsmith described the concept as a deliberate reaction against the sprawling, interlocking storylines of their previous work, preferring the freedom of six completely fresh stories each week. He also noted that purely comedic writing left them feeling the material was 'too frivolous and light.' The very first story they developed for the new show centred on a birthday party; BBC producers saw sitcom potential, but the writers declined to expand it into a standalone programme.

Legacy & Life Beyond the Screen

Inside No. 9 concluded its nine-series, 55-episode run on BBC Two in June 2024, but the franchise's life extends well beyond the small screen. In December 2024, BBC One broadcast a one-hour documentary, Inside No. 9: The Party's Over, offering behind-the-scenes footage from the final series alongside interviews with cast and crew spanning all nine seasons. The following January, Pemberton and Shearsmith brought the material to the stage with Inside No. 9 Stage/Fright, a play they wrote and starred in, directed by Simon Evans. It opened at the Wyndham's Theatre in London, ran until April, then embarked on a UK tour in the autumn before returning to the capital at the Hammersmith Apollo in January 2026. The show's universe also bleeds into the writers' other projects: characters from The League of Gentlemen appear in Inside No. 9 episodes, the series' signature hare sits on a shop counter in the 2017 League reunion specials, and the 2020 episode 'Death Be Not Proud' directly incorporates Psychoville characters into its narrative.