Cold Comfort (Inside No. 9)

"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.

"Cold Comfort" stars Pemberton as Andy, a new volunteer, and Shearsmith as George, Andy's supervisor. According to Shearsmith, he and Pemberton do not typically write Inside No. 9 scripts with particular actors in mind for roles, and nor do they typically write roles specifically for themselves. They were unsure, for a long time, on which characters they should take, initially considering having Shearsmith play Andy and Pemberton play George. Shearsmith said that this felt like the more "obvious" option, but the characters were switched as they "thought it would be slightly more unusual" to have it that way around.[10]

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.[11] Jane Horrocks, Nikki Amuka-Bird and Tony Way feature respectively as Liz, Joanne and Michael, other volunteers at the call centre.[1] The characters of Liz and Joanne have strongly differing approaches to their roles as volunteers, with Joanne focussing on detachment and Liz on involvement. Both approaches, for Pemberton, have advantages and disadvantages.[12] Liz's desk is adorned with various trinkets, including ornaments and pictures. These were Horrocks's idea, and, for Pemberton and Shearsmith, served to make viewers suspicious of her from the start.[13] Horrocks was chosen because she would be able to add humour while still keeping to the tight timings necessary for the episode; many of her lines were improvised.[14] The character of Michael begins to work at the centre during the episode. Pemberton and Shearsmith considered having it mentioned that he had been sent by "Pauline from Wood Green", a reference to the stage version of The League of Gentlemen's Pauline, who had been based at Wood Green. However, this was not included in the final episode.[15]

Edward Easton, Vilma Hollingbery, Kath Hughes, James Meehan and Vicky Hall provide the voices of various people who call in to the centre.[1] Some of the voice actors were drawn from the comedy group Gein's Family Giftshop,[16] the performing members of which are Hughes, Easton and Meehan.[17][18] After watching a Gein's Family Giftshop performance, Pemberton and Shearsmith had invited the members to star in Inside No. 9. The comedians then suggested that they also appear on-screen as extras, playing unnamed call centre volunteers.[16] Hollingberry, who voiced "Ivy", an old woman caller, had previously starred in Pemberton and Shearsmith's Psychoville as Mrs Wren/Mrs Ladybirdface. She was one of the few actors whom Pemberton and Shearsmith used in both series.[19]

Pemberton and Shearsmith, in addition to writing and starring in "Cold Comfort", directed the episode. This episode—one of two in the second series that they jointly directed—was their directorial debut.[1][20][21] The pair did not know, while writing for the series, which episodes they would be directing, meaning that their writing was unlikely to be influenced by the knowledge.[4] Pemberton and Shearsmith had always intended to try directing, and the second series of Inside No. 9 offered them the opportunity. David Kerr, who had directed all of the episodes in the first series, was unable to return for the second. Guillem Morales and Dan Zeff each took on directorial duties for two episodes, while Pemberton and Shearsmith decided to direct the remaining two.[10][20]

Shearsmith said in an interview that the pair had considered directing episodes in which they did not appear much, but scheduling concerns left them with "Cold Comfort" and "Nana's Party"; episodes which feature the writers quite heavily.[10] By contrast, Pemberton said that he and Shearsmith, knowing that they were going to be directing two episodes, deliberately chose "Cold Comfort" because the fixed cameras made filming a lot simpler, though Shearsmith said that the filming was more complex than they initially anticipated.[22] For Horrocks, it was "lovely to be directed" by Pemberton and Shearsmith, as she "really [liked] their choices and ... [loves] their work".[23] Shearsmith said that he found directing the episode "exhausting"; he found little time to rest during filming, as if he was not directly involved in filming, he was involved in making directorial decisions.[24]

Most of "Cold Comfort" is made up of the streams for four fixed cameras in the style of a CCTV feed. Here, Andy talks on the phone to "Chloe" (main camera and bottom right) while George sits in his office (top right) and Liz leaves the workspace (centre right). The date is visible in the bottom left.

The episode progresses mostly through footage streamed from a fixed camera in booth nine of the call centre setting. Streams from other cameras are displayed on the side of the screen, in the style of a CCTV feed.[25] The idea was inspired by a clip of the interview of Russ Williams with the Canadian Police, which Shearsmith had seen online;[26] this, too, had a main feed with three smaller feeds giving different views of the scene.[6] The writers felt that the multiple screens both served a narrative function and raised the tension.[27] For much of the episode, viewers simply watch characters taking calls.[4] Extras are seen moving back and forth in the smaller screens, with Pemberton having initially been keen for things to be happening away from the main feed. However, he was somewhat frustrated with the result, with the same extra moving on numerous occasions throughout the episode.[28] Shearsmith felt that a whole series filmed in the same manner "would be a bit wearing on the eye", but that the style could be used for a single episode.[10]

The format presented certain technical difficulties.[29] The episode was filmed in very long takes—some as long as five or six minutes—without any cuts. This meant that the 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".[29] Timing during filming had to be precise, though scenes could be cut earlier or start later than was anticipated. For example, an earlier introduction of Joanne was cut in the final episode.[30] Other unused versions of scenes included a more violent version of George's attack on Liz[31] and a version of the final scene with a gunshot. The gunshot was removed on the recommendation of Jon Plowman, Inside No. 9's executive producer, which led to some debate; Shearsmith, for example, preferred the original version.[32]

Alex Thompson, the episode's sound recordist, arranged the phones so that the actors could speak to each other in real-time.[33] Pemberton and Shearsmith wanted this so that the voices would not have to be recorded in a studio later and added in ADR.[34] The voice of "Chloe"—the identity of whom is key to the story—presented a particular technical challenge, as the writers wanted to ensure that her identity was not revealed the first time her voice is heard. First, the production team recorded Shearsmith playing George-as-Chloe, and then a number of actresses recorded their versions of Shearsmith playing George-as-Chloe. Of these, one—Hall—was chosen to lend her voice to Chloe. Shearsmith then re-recorded his voice, imitating Hall's version of George-as-Chloe. Hall and Shearsmith's respective performances of George-as-Chloe could then be merged for the final episode. The first time viewers hear "Chloe", her voice is mostly Hall's; as the episode progresses, more of Shearsmith's voice is audible.[35] For Shearsmith, this did not represent the production team cheating the viewers, as viewers' experiences are filtered through Andy's experiences. The first time viewers hear Chloe, they—like Andy—experience her as a teenage girl.[36] As most of the episode was filmed in real-time, George is visible making calls as Chloe,[37] meaning that he hides in plain sight.[38] Footage of Shearsmith playing George-as-Chloe in George's office—used in the episode's final—was filmed separately to the rest of the episode, as a camera set-up in George's office would have been visible on one of the main cameras.[39]

Pemberton compared "Cold Comfort" to "A Quiet Night In", the second episode of the first series of Inside No. 9,[4] a sentiment echoed by some critics.[21][40] Both episodes were highly experimental—"A Quiet Night In" being mostly silent and "Cold Comfort" being filmed mostly from a fixed camera—something which the writers felt suits anthology format.[4][10] On the other hand, according to Pemberton, as "Cold Comfort" is "static and all about listening", it is, in a sense, the "polar opposite" of "A Quiet Night In".[4] Though all episodes in the series were very different in tone, Pemberton felt that "Cold Comfort" was "the most extreme experiment".[22]

• Pemberton, Steve; Shearsmith, Reece (2015). Cold Comfort (episode commentary). Steve & Reece IN9 (via SoundCloud). Retrieved 20 March 2016.