Following last week's warm hearted season opener, you might have thought that the boys would dive to a darker place for the second week, instead they deliver perhaps the most personal and touching episode they've ever done.
The episode tells the story of Len and Tommy, who performed together in the eighties as "Cheese and Crackers" a comedy double act who (inexplicably) seemed to be on the rise until an incident in Bernie Winter's dressing room drove them apart for 30 years. Reunited for a one off performance, following a letter from Len's daughter, the pair reunite to rehearse their old routine and attempt to work out their differences.
It's clear that Sheersmith and Pemberton do have a some affection for the era of Comedy that they likely grew up in, that the general public don't share, for acts like Little and Large, and Cannon and Ball. Despite that, they point out that much of what was acceptable back then, (sticking on a Chinese hat and doing a funny voice) just wouldn't fly in today's climate and then they mix in a sprinkling from their own real life career to show just how fast things change.
The episode is almost a two hander, the pair mixing in as much pathos and emotion as they do laughs. Sian Gibson, joins them at the end, as Len's daughter, for a final development that I didn't see coming, although in retrospect felt like I should have.
Far from running short of ideas in this fourth series, Inside Number 9 only appears to get better. Long may it continue.
