麻豆约拍

What’s been your favourite episode of Inside No. 9 to produce so far?

Go on, start with a really unfair question - it's like asking a parent to name their favourite child! When people ask me this question I like to stick up a bit for the films which don’t often get into everyone's Top Nine, like Last Gasp or And The Winner Is… because they are still hugely entertaining, with great performances from all involved, but suffer a little bit from having an unusual feel-good ending, compared with other films. But having said that, I’m also extremely proud of the technical achievement of The Devil Of Christmas and I would have been extremely jealous if anyone else had produced The 12 Days Of Christine. Of course, when we’re in production my favourite episode is always the one we’re working on.

What do you think makes Inside No. 9 so popular?

Is Inside No. 9 popular? It has an intensely loyal and enthusiastic audience, which is unusual for an anthology show, but Inside No. 9 has never been a huge ratings smash. I think the people that find it and enjoy it are attracted to the sheer novelty of sometimes quite complicated stories being told in a short space of time in an unexpected way. I think the show is also a celebration of the sort of television we don’t see very often these days: single plays in single sets, made with 21st century production values.

Is there any subject you’d love to explore but haven’t yet?

We’ve done several showbiz-themed episodes and quite a few set in family houses, but I am really drawn to the idea of doing something with a big industrial backdrop. Like Alien or Chernobyl. Let’s see what we can afford first, though.

What’s the hardest thing about making Inside No. 9?

We have a pretty good budget for a comedy, but a really small budget for a drama, and all the more so for having to start afresh every week with a new cast, new location, and sometimes a new director and crew. That’s simultaneously a hugely exciting prospect, as every week is a new opportunity to try something different, but also a massive challenge to allocate the available resources to best effect. And having set the bar at “crazily ambitious” it really doesn’t get any easier as the years go by.

Who would be your perfect guest star, alive or dead?

We’ve been really fortunate to have attracted so much amazing talent to the show over the past eight years, but if we're still going there’s a huge number of actors that we’d love to work with. It only takes a week out of one's life, so the perfect guest star is the one that can fit us into their busy schedule. We do have roles for dead guest stars, but it is often easier to book an alive one and get them to pretend (or “act"). In Private View, Felicity Kendal and Morgana Robinson had to do both alive and dead acting, and were great at both kinds.

Have you ever been surprised by the twists that Reece and Steve come up with?

There are often little clues in the scripts that make it possible to guess what the ending is going to be, and if the twist genuinely comes out of nowhere that probably means we need to add a tiny clue somewhere, even if the viewers only notice it on a second watch. Part of the fun is leaving just enough clues to hide the twist in plain sight - maybe only a raised eyebrow or an unusual turn of phrase. It is always a finely-judged decision and it is often the thing that provokes discussion in the edit.

Was it nerve-racking making the live show?

Despite appearances to the contrary, the day of the live show went very smoothly, thanks to the superb team of people we had working on the project. The only nerve-racking days were when we suddenly lost our Manchester studio (four weeks to go), or when we thought the big secret had been rumbled by the press (four days to go).

How did you become a producer?

After working in theatre I joined the 麻豆约拍 as a floor assistant with the intention of eventually working in drama, but as I worked my up the job ladder my career guided me towards 麻豆约拍2 comedy. I left the 麻豆约拍 in 1999, and have been a freelance producer ever since.

Any tips for people who want to become a producer?

Always try out all the other jobs first in case you can get a better deal. If you still end up being a producer, heaven help you, at least all the other experience will make you a lot better at doing the job.

Inside No. 9 is on 麻豆约拍 Two and 麻豆约拍 iPlayer at 10pm on Monday 3 February.