User Reviews

I wonder if this is really what it's like when the match officials get together before a game?

David Morrissey is Martin refereeing the final game of the season. It is his last match before he steps down.

Martin wants everything to go perfectly and fairly. There is a lot riding on the result of this match. For the winner promotion to the Premier League or avoiding relegation.

The other match officials are a contrasting bunch. I am sure it is not like this at the San Siro.

This being Inside No 9, the match does not run smoothly at all.

Another well written piece from Shearsmith and Pemberton. Wonderfully acted by the cast.

You get little hints as it goes along which indicates where it is going. Like a whodunnit it all becomes clear at the end. It was all for love.

A fairly solid episode, a watertight script and a top notch performance from David Morrisey!

The usual tropes of our comedy duo, which are still making me laugh as always! I wish they keep making these as long as possible. Looking forward to what the season has more of, 8/10 for me.

Good start to a long awaited new series. Some previous episodes have been better however, still a good start. All in all, Reece and Steve are genius!!!!

"Insider Number 9" returns for its 5th season and opens with this solid addition, lacking in the occasional horror elements that Shearsmith and Pemberton enjoy but high on farce, wordplay and plotting.

It's the last day of the season, and promotion and relegation is in the balance for United and Rovers. There to uphold fair play is the four man referee team. Martin (David Morrissey) is a respected referee retiring after this game. This linesmen are Phil (Ralf Little), a young up and comer eager to confirm his place at the next World Cup, and Oggy (Steve Pemberton) unfit and more suitable for Sunday league than the Championship. His fourth official is the fastidious Brendan (Reece Shearsmith) capable, but forever banging on about his day at the San Siro thirty years ago. The prematch meetings are straightforward, but come half time, Rovers have a controversial one - nil lead.

There were a good few funny lines in this episode. The early banter between the four is quite strong and there were a few references that would keep football fans, such as myself, happy. The plotting was clever, especially if you piece together some of what might have happened, once you're aware of the final twist. To be fair, overthinking like I do, it's probably unlikely that the proposed outcome of the show would happen. I'd imagine that the game would be replayed, particularly as the allegiances Martin has seems to be pretty widely known.

Not the show's finest hour, but yet another decent entry in comedy's most consistent series.

Back for a fifth series, and not a moment too soon, I thought this was absolutely brilliant, I loved it. Great title, a song my dad and I used to sing on The North Bank at The Vetch on a many a Saturday afternoon.

The spotlight has very much switched from the players to the officials in recent times, all because of the arrival of VAR.

Lots of of surprising moments, lots of very funny moments, I think they were poking a bit of fun at some of the absurdities associated with the beautiful game. Great line about Robbie Savage and the hair.

Good to see Ralf Little in a comedy role ahead of him taking the reigns in Death in Paradise. David Morrissey is a joy as always, he was terrific.

So glad it's back, I loved it. 9/10

This episode revolves around a very simple plot. It works due to the acting and pace. However, it seems weaker than most first episodes of precious series except perhaps 'Sardines'. By no means the worst episode but equally not one of the standout ones.

Famed for its plot twists, Inside No.9 has had some absolute gems of third act contortions over the last 7 years. Like ref Martin Rutherford, Shearsmith and Pemberton are seasoned pros in their art form - deft sleight of hand and false shufflery deflecting attention away from each stories true secrets. Yet sometimes their final dice throws come too far from left field, leaving us a little baffled as to how-the-frick we were meant to see that coming. As Pemberton's Carl sarcastically quips in the series' inaugural episode 'Sardines', their secrets need to be "well seeded." And 'The Referees a W***er' 's nature is just that.

For me, the opening of season 5 is the classic watch-and-repeat from the duo, ready to pop straight back on after so you can re-take the material in, full knowledge of it's characters motivations now clear in your mind. Perhaps I'm alone in only spotting the inevitable twist at the last gasp, deep into the episodes injury time. Whether you catch it then, before half time or after the Final belated whistle, No.9's foray into the seedy world of football match officiating is sure to satisfy those with a keen enjoyment of tightly wound storytelling.

The tale of passion, corruption and inevitable footballing woes (which all of us despairing supporters are bound to know) sets itself in the changing room of a match officials an hour before the final game of a season. It's the big match - United vs Rovers - ones hopes hinging on promotion, the others, relegation. It's also the final game in an illustrious career for David Morrissey's Rutherford, a stern but fair ref whose career has always been "by the book."

Morrissey is perfect casting for the role and brings a wonderful subtlety and quiet humanity to a character flung threw the ringer, experiencing every emotion possible before during and after this action packed match. Life for him will never be the same. Neither will it for all the stories proverbial players.

It must be said 'The referees a W***er' is also very accessible for non-sporting fans too. I watched the episode with my girlfriend who laughed frequently (and only felt the need to nudge my shoulder once to ask what a San Siro was...)

First episode back and hopefully the start of a red hot streak of form for a programme seemingly constantly able to reinvent itself. The opener is a cracking topsy-turvy, but easy to watch drama. Expect something darker next week.

David Morrissey (Basic Instinct 2, The Singapore Grip) and Ralf Little (Death in Paradise) guest star in this twister of an episode where there are various lawyers that get unpeeled until the very end. I say twister, because there are various twists as we go along, and by the time you reach the end you realise you have to watch the last 10 minutes over again to catch up! In real life Ralf Little is a more than competent player of the sport.

I chuckled at the line about Gary Lineker, and the reference to Benny Hill.

Reading the reviews here, it seems like most of them missed the major twist in the final seconds of the episode. I've never sat through a football match in my life, but I found this episode to be excellent. Less about the sport, and more about how a man of principles will do whatever it takes to keep order. Some others seem distracted by their own homophobia (aren't some characters, too?), but Shearsmith and Pemberton have always been allies and poked fun at relationships of all kinds.

David Morrissey is stellar in this, gifted the star role by the lads, and everyone else is totally on form.

Smart, clever writing, the episode only gets better in hindsight. Machiavelli would be proud.

Despite the hidden nods to Samuel Beckett (this being the referee's "Endgame"), this feels more Shakespearean: "full of sound and fury. Signifying nothing."

What was once a great series has lost its way if this is anything to go by. Just awful.

I am a big fan of this show, but I am definitely not a fan of British football. I assume that this episode is full of hilarious jokes that football fans will find amusing, but I found it all very dull. Even the big surprise ending meant very little to me. I hope the rest of the season improves to the usual standards.

This episode of this fantastic show will always be my favorite, it's worth noting that I am a football fan and it is clearly an episode written by football fans. Giving a glimpse into the backroom of a high profile football match, the interplay between the referee and his assistants is fascinating. And obviously the most oblique and daring reference to being inside number 9 will always stand long in my memory. David Morrissey, a huge fan of football himself, gives a stellar lead performance but all of the actors leave their mark and shine in this brilliant ep.

One for the football fans for sure, but lots for everyone.