I like to think that you can tell which of the Inside No.9 creators took the lead on specific episodes. Sometimes it’s obvious through the subject matter, other times the tone. They’re generally quite cagey about it, but Reece Shearsmith loves magic, and has stated in the past about preferring the more comic episodes, while Steve Pemberton has always had more of an affinity for the more dramatic ones, as well as anything involving puzzles.

Pemberton takes centre stage in CTRL/ALT/ESC and it feels entirely within his comfort zone, a combination of heartfelt family drama and unnerving Saw-like horror. Pemberton plays the escape-room-loving patriarch Jason, who brings his wife Lynne (Katherine Kelly) and their two daughters: reluctant teenager Millie (Kalli Tant) and enthusiastic younger sister Amy (Maddie Evans) on one last escape room. The room is called “The Killer’s Lair,” run by jobbing actor (Shearsmith), and tensions are on the rise within the family unit, apparently due to Millie’s impending departure to university.

There tends to be a split in Inside No.9 between episodes where a shocking twist happens in the final moments, and those where the twist occurs relatively early on. The former is effective but can often feel rushed, without time to satisfactorily conclude the story, leaving plot points unresolved. When the twist occurs earlier in the episode, there might be less of a shock, but the episode as a whole is generally stronger for it. This is the case with CTRL/ALT/ESC, where the big rug-pull comes at around minute 20.

Now, this might seem late in the episode for some, but 10 minutes is a hell of a long time in a 30 minute episode. Crucially, it gives the story enough room to breathe, and allows the story to unfold in a more elegant, cohesive way. For me, the pacing is perfect here. The episode has plenty of fun with the conceit of the escape room, but also spends enough time with the characters post-twist that the emotional weight of the ending feels earned, resulting in the most heartfelt, poignant episode in a while.

This episode’s structure and narrative will inevitably invite comparisons with The 12 Days Of Christine, but tonally it more closely resembled Love’s Great Adventure (My all-time favourite). The tentpole scene is the heart-to-heart between Jason and Millie, and both Pemberton and Tant sell the hell out of this scene. It’s an episode of surprising warmth for a season known for it’s nastiness and humour. Tant is a great discovery – a plausibly moody teenager whose callous exterior masks a deep love for her father. The shared memory of ice skating, the mix of the macabre (the idea of skates slicing fingers off is a very real fear) and the sincere (The repeated phrase of “letting go of the side”) is thoughtfully conveyed with a brevity and an earnestness that could feel clunky or corny, but in the hands of these actors is incredibly touching.

Shearsmith is relegated to the supporting role here, with the main function of establishing the mythos of the escape room itself. He manages to imbue his potentially throwaway character with a wealth of suggested backstory though – the business with his torch is a genuinely funny touch, and the way he seemingly runs out of patience with the escape room format towards the end is brilliant.

Once again, the foreshadowing is strong with this one – there’s the aptly (if not subtly) named Doctor Death; there’s Shearsmith talking about Pemberton’s daughters, saying “They’re putting on a brave face… they’re going to do just fine” and the whole tenor of the dialogue between the family. On the surface they seem to be preparing for Millie to go to university, but Jason’s frustration at being handcuffed, his worrying that his family is getting away from him, and the desperation when his family can’t hear him anymore, point towards something less straightforward. All of this falls into place on a rewatch, and adds to the poignancy of the final denouement.

If I have a critique, and it’s more a nitpick than anything, it would be that in the writers attempts to wrongfoot the audience, they create a couple of elements that stand out as a little incongruous on a rewatch – something that they have previously been careful to avoid. Early on there are certainly suggestions that Jason is a more sinister presence than he is revealed to be, which doesn’t feel like it’s quite as fair as other episodes, where the foreshadowing is weaved seamlessly into the narrative while remaining consistent with the characters upon a rewatch. Here, the references to Joseph Fritzl seem to be pointing to a more ominous arc for the characters, and the delivery of the line “I don’t like being excluded from these conversations, ok?” is positively dripping with menace. There’s nothing inherently wrong with misleading the audience, but it’s unusual for this series to put details like this in when they aren’t borne out by the rest of the episode.

This episode is an effective combination of two types of Inside No.9 story, those that deal with weightier, heartfelt situations, like The 12 Days Of Christine and Bernie Clifton’s Dressing Room, and those where the personal interests of Pemberton and Shearsmith inform the story. Previous examples would include Pemberton’s love of crossword puzzles in The Riddle Of The Sphinx, or Shearsmith’s love of magic in Misdirection. Here it seems apparent that one or both of them did an escape room and thought, “we can do better than that!” Indeed the escape room itself is meticulously planned out – the touch with the paperclips was especially great.

It’s also a great horror pastiche, with the setting and cinematography giving the episode the distinct feeling of a Saw film. Thankfully this is only a brief diversion, but the completist in me was pleased to see another another subgenre of horror that they can cross off their list of homages. They’ve now done Gothic (The Harrowing), Giallo (Private View) and Folk Horror (Mr King) and that’s not even mentioning their love letters to Nigel Kneale (The Devil of Christmas) or MR James (The Bones Of Saint Nicholas) or their takes on traditional horror texts in The Stakeout and How Do You Plead? While I loved the aesthetic, I’m glad that they weren’t content to simply do an escape room episode, and instead went with something more thought provoking.

CTRL/ALT/ESC is one of the most emotionally resonant episodes that Inside No.9 has produced, blending intensity, poignancy and warmth in a way few others do. In many ways this seems like it should be the last episode of the series. There is a finality to the closing moments, along with an almost fourth-wall breaking nod to the title, that makes this almost feels like a tacit acknowledgement that this is the final season.

At the risk of sounding a little repetitive, this season is consistently hitting it out of the park with every genre the writers try their hand at. With a mysterious gothic horror next week, Season 9 has the potential to be the strongest season of the entire series. What a way to bow out.

Inside No. 9 has returned! Catch up now on iPlayer – and check out my previous Series Blog here