The Understudy (Inside No. 9)
| "The Understudy" | |
|---|---|
| Inside No. 9 episode | |
 |
|
| Episode no. |
Series 1 Episode 5 |
| Directed by | David Kerr |
| Written by |
Steve Pemberton Reece Shearsmith |
| Produced by | Adam Tandy |
| Original air date | 5 March 2014 |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
"The Understudy" is the fifth episode of British dark comedy anthology series Inside No. 9. It was first broadcast on 5 March 2014 on BBC Two. The episode was written by and starred Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith, and guest-starred Lyndsey Marshal, Julia Davis, Rosie Cavaliero, Roger Sloman, Di Botcher, Richard Cordery, Bruce Mackinnon and Jo Stone-Fewings. Pemberton plays actor Tony, who is starring as Macbeth in a West End production of Shakespeare's Macbeth, and Shearsmith plays Jim, Tony's understudy. The plot of "The Understudy" partially mirrors the story of Macbeth, exploring the theme of power and the lives of actors.
The episode took longer to write than any other in the first series of Inside No. 9, and was redrafted several times owing to the writers' uncertainty as to whether the characters should be amateurs or professionals. It is presented in five separate acts, mirroring theatrical norms. Critics responded positively to "The Understudy", praising it as an improvement upon the previous week's episode "Last Gasp". They stressed the links between "The Understudy" and Macbeth, but said that viewers would not need to be familiar with Shakespeare's work in order to enjoy the episode. On its first showing, "The Understudy" was watched by 720,000 viewers (4.1% of the market); this was the lowest viewership of the series so far.
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