Cold Comfort (Inside No. 9)

"Cold Comfort" is the fourth episode of the second series of British dark comedy anthology series Inside No. 9. It was first broadcast on 16 April 2015 on BBC Two. The episode was written and directed by Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith, and starred Pemberton, Shearsmith, Jane Horrocks, Nikki Amuka-Bird and Tony Way, as well as several voice actors. The episode follows Andy, who is starting a volunteer position at the Comfort Support Line, a crisis hotline. He meets supervisor George, the gossipy Liz and the officious Joanne. After he takes a particularly disturbing call from Chloe, a suicidal teenage girl, he begins to struggle. For most of the episode, viewers see a stream from a fixed camera on Andy's desk, with smaller feeds on the side of the screen.

Critics Andrew Billen and David Chater (both writing for The Times) and John Robinson (The Guardian) characterised "Cold Comfort" as somewhat weaker than other episodes of the series, but other critics, including Patrick Mulkern (Radio Times) and Bruce Dessau, were complimentary. Reviewers praised the format, the writing and the performances, especially Horrocks's, but disagreed about the effectiveness of the ending.

Production

"Cold Comfort" was cowritten and codirected by Reece Shearsmith (left, pictured in 2003). He starred as George, alongside Nikki Amuka-Bird (right, pictured in 2010), who played Joanne.

The first series of Inside No. 9 consisted of six episodes, each with a different cast and collection of characters, aired from February 2014.^[1][2] The programme was inspired by an episode of the first series of Psychoville, which was in turn inspired by Alfred Hitchcock's Rope. The episode took place entirely in a single room, and it was filmed in only two shots.^[2] The BBC ordered a second series of Inside No. 9 before the first episode had aired.^[3] The second series was written in 2014, and then filmed from the end of 2014 into early 2015.^[4][5]

The idea for "Cold Comfort" began with the the call centre; once the writers had the idea for the setting, they allowed the story to grow out of this.^[6] As each episode of Inside No. 9 features new characters, the writers were able to attract actors who might have been unwilling to commit to an entire series.^[2] "Cold Comfort" stars Pemberton as Andy, a new worker at a call centre, and Shearsmith as as George, the centre's manager. Jane Horrocks, Nikki Amuka-Bird and Tony Way star respectively as Liz, Joanne and Michael, others who volunteer a the centre. Edward Eastern, Vilma Hollingbery, Kath Hughes, James Meehan and Vicky Hall provide the voices of various people who call in to the centre.^[7] Pemberton and Shearsmith, in addition to writing and starring in "Cold Comfort", directed the episode. It was one of two episodes in the first series that they jointly directed. The two episodes represented their directorial debut.^[7][8]

The episode progresses mostly through footage supposedly being streamed from a fixed camera in booth nine. Streams from other CCTV cameras are displayed on the side of the screen.^[9] As such, for much of the episode, viewers simply watch characters taking calls. In this way, Pemberton said that the episode was similar to "A Quiet Night In", the second episode of the first series of Inside No. 9. Both episodes were highly experimental—"A Quiet Night In" being mostly silent and "Cold Comfort" being filmed mostly from a fixed camera—something which suits the anthology format. On the other hand, as the episode "is so static and all about listening", it is, in a sense, the "polar opposite" of "A Quiet Night In".^[6] The format presented certain technical difficulties. The episode was filmed in very long takes—some as long as five or six minutes—without any cuts. This meant that actors could not make any errors, but the result was "something you don't normally see". Pemberton said that the episode would " either be brilliantly tense or incredibly boring".^[10]

Plot

External video

"Comfort Support Line" George introduces Andy to his workstation amid quips from Liz.

Andy (Pemberton) starts to volunteer at the Comfort Support Line, a crisis hotline, after the death of his sister. His supervisor George (Shearsmith) takes him through the procedure for calls, and Andy chats to the more experienced Liz (Horrocks). He finds his first few calls difficult, and Joanne (Amuka-Bird) advises him not to get emotionally invested in the callers. Andy takes a call from Chloe, a 16-year-old girl with problems at home. Chloe says that she has taken a drug overdose. Andy sings "Shine" by Take That to her, but, when he finishes, Chloe is no longer on the line. He then takes a call from an elderly woman distraught that her cat has died. Andy responds insensitively to her, eventually hanging up the call.

The following day, George thinks Liz is breaking the rules by taking a personal call; he gets angry and wrestles the handset from her. Andy is upset that he listened to Chloe in her final moments. Liz tells him that she took a call from a man, an ex-soldier, in tears because his mother committed suicide following the death of her cat. Andy realises that the man's mother is the caller he spoke to the previous night. George advises that Andy won't face any repercussions, and asks Andy to help newcomer Michael (Way) with his first call. Chloe calls in and speaks to Michael, again claiming that she has taken an overdose. Andy snatches the phone and shouts at Chloe, hanging up on her.

Liz is sacked over her argument with George. Chloe calls the helpline again, asking to speak to Andy. He tells her that her hoax call caused an old woman's death, but Chloe says this was Andy's fault. She repeats what Andy had said to the caller about her cat. Andy stays behind after work and goes to George's office. Andy has realised that "Chloe" must be someone who works at Comfort Support Line, and he accuses Joanne, who has just arrived, but she says she came back for her bag. He plans to get evidence from the CCTV footage and contact the police. He and Joanne discover that it is George who made the calls. Unknown to them, George is approaching the office; he hastily leaves when he sees Andy and Joanne inside.

George does not arrive for work the next day. A new volunteer, Glen, arrives to replace Liz. Andy plans to go to the police; he has found out that George has been making similar calls to the helpline for years. Andy answers the phone, and it is George. In Chloe's voice, George says that he just wanted someone to listen to him, then warns that he has told the dead woman's son where Andy works. In the background, Glen stands, and points a gun at Andy's head. "Shine" plays out over the credits.

Reception

Patrick Mulkern, writing for the Radio Times, described "Cold Comfort" as "warped brilliance". He said that "any real helpline volunteers watching this episode may well wince, but it remains gripping throughout".^[9] Reviewers in The Sunday Times called the episode "another corker",^[11] and, in an anonymous review in the Irish Daily Mail, the episode was characterised as Shearsmith and Pemberton "back on form" after "The Trial of Elizabeth Gadge", which was called a "somewhat disappointing offering".^[12] By comparison, David Chater, writing in The Times, called "The Trial of Elizabeth Gadge" (and the previous "The 12 Days of Christine") "small masterpieces", but characterised "Cold Comfort" as "a breather". He said that the episode offers "a promising set-up, but ... doesn't unfold with the same simple, logical elegance as others in the series".^[13] Andrew Billen, also writing for The Times, gave the episode three out of five stars, considering it weaker than is typical for Inside No. 9.^[14] John Robinson, who reviewed the episode for The Guardian, felt that though "the episode has the tools to ratchet up the suspense", the episode "lacks both the plausibility and element of surprise that characterise the best of this series".^[15]

Robinson felt that the writers had "dial[ed] back the celebrity guests" for the episode,^[15] but comedy critic Bruce Dessau nonetheless praised the performances.^[16] Billen said that Horrocks's performance was "particularly good",^[14] an anonymous review in The Sun said she offered "another top performance",^[17] and critics in The Sunday Times said she was "on fine form".^[11] Critics also commended the writing.^[18][16]

For Clare Murphy, writing in the Daily Mirror, the episode "makes great use of CCTV split-screen footage".^[18] The set-up, Dessau said, gave the episode "its haunting flavour". Viewers do not just see Andy, but also streams from other cameras, which, Dessau said, "makes the viewer both intrigued and anxious".^[16] Critics writing for The Sunday Times said that set-up "proves very effective for the denouement".^[11] Mulkern described the ending as "a creepy pay-off",^[9] and the ending was similarly praised in the Irish Daily Mail: "you'll have to wait to the very end to get the full payoff - but it will undoubtedly have you jumping out of your seat".^[12] Billen offered a different view, saying that "the ultimate twist in the tale was crude, and the insight that those who offer help need it most just a little banal - by this series' standards, at least".^[14]

References

Further reading

• Boyd, Phoebe-Jane (17 April 2015). "Inside No. 9 series 2 episode 4: Cold Comfort review". Den of Geek. Retrieved 17 April 2015. 

External links

• "Cold Comfort" at BBC Programmes
• "Cold Comfort" at the Internet Movie Database
• "Cold Comfort" on the British Comedy Guide