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"Nana's Party" is the fifth episode of the second series of the British dark comedy anthology television programme Inside No. 9. It was first broadcast on 23 April 2015 on BBC Two…
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Investigate this subject"Nana's Party" is the fifth episode of the second series of the British dark comedy anthology television programme Inside No. 9.
"Nana's Party" is the fifth episode of the second series of the British dark comedy anthology television programme Inside No. 9. It was first broadcast on 23 April 2015 on BBC Two. Written and directed by Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith, the episode starred Claire Skinner as the obsessive-compulsive and aspirational Angela, who is hosting a party for the 79th birthday of her mother Maggie, played by Elsie Kelly. Angela's husband Jim, played by Pemberton, is keen to play a prank on Pat, Angela's brother-in-law, who is a practical joker. Pat is played by Shearsmith, while Carol, a recovering alcoholic who is Pat's wife and Angela's sister, is played by Lorraine Ashbourne. The episode also features Eve Gordon as Katie, Angela and Jim's teenage daughter, and Christopher Whitlow as a paramedic seen at the beginning and end of the episode.
Much of the episode's plot revolves around a practical joke with a fake cake that Jim has set up in an attempt to fool Pat. Moving the cake reveals the head of the person hiding under the table, but, in the meantime, the hidden character can hear conversations taking place nearby, unbeknownst to those who are not in on the joke. The episode plays on viewers' guesses as to what has led to the arrival—seen at the opening of the episode—of a paramedic. In particular, the person under the table is at risk of injury if candles burn down or someone puts a knife into the "cake".
"Nana's Party" was the first episode of Inside No. 9 to be written, but it was shelved when BBC executives instead suggested that it worked as the first episode of a sitcom. Pemberton and Shearsmith revisited and modified the script during the writing process for Inside No. 9's second series. The writers aimed for a feeling of suburban darkness reminiscent of the work of the playwright Alan Ayckbourn, while commentators compared the episode to the work of the playwright and screenwriter Mike Leigh, particularly the play Abigail's Party. The story addresses themes including alcoholism, extramarital affairs, aging and social class. Television critics responded positively to "Nana's Party", which was praised as a typically-strong instalment of Inside No. 9. Particular praise was directed towards the writing and performances, especially Skinner's performance as Angela, Ashbourne's performance as Carol and Shearsmith's performance as Pat.
"Nana's Party" was the first episode of Inside No. 9 to be written by the programme's creators Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton. BBC producers felt the episode worked as the opening episode of a sitcom, but Pemberton and Shearsmith were not happy to develop the idea into its own series, given the events of the plot. As such, the script was shelved, and revisited during planning for Inside No. 9's second series. A number of changes were made from the original script when the concept was revisited. For example, a paramedic was added to the opening scene in order to add a sense of danger and foreboding, and the character Angela's "borderline OCD" was accentuated.
Shearsmith said that the episode's focus on a grandmother's birthday party felt "domestic" and "homely". Pemberton, too, called it a "domestic" story, describing it as playing upon the classic British plot device of a family party going wrong. Shearsmith suggested that the pleasant house did give the episode the feel of a sitcom, but said that the story went somewhere "darker" than a typical sitcom would. With "Nana's Party", the writers wanted to produce something "dark" and "suburban", with Pemberton citing the playwright Alan Ayckbourn as an influence. Indeed, at the time the episode was written, Shearsmith was starring in an adaptation of Ayckbourn's play Absent Friends.
The writers intended to play off the idea of a hidden character being able to hear conversations revealing secrets. An initial idea of Pemberton's was to have a large parcel on a table at the birthday party, but with Maggie—on whose birthday the episode would be set—absent. Other characters would repeatedly ask where Maggie was, until it was revealed that her head was in the parcel. This idea developed into the possibility of a hollow cake hiding a character, a device used in the final episode. For the writers, there is humour in characters spending time talking earnestly to a cake; they noted that the prop cake had features resembling a face. In the editing stage, the production team kept reintroducing the cake in order to remind viewers of its presence. The original script ended with a knife being plunged into a fake cake followed by the revelation, contrary to viewers' expectations, that no one was under it at the time; instead, the writers upped the drama in the story, making it possible that any of the characters could be injured. For the writers, the original plot was, in a sense, darker, as some characters got away with wrongdoing in a way they do not in the final version.
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. "Nana's Party" featured Claire Skinner as Angela, who is hosting a party. Pemberton and Shearsmith lived close to Skinner, but they had not properly met. She was one of several members of the cast of the film Life Is Sweet (others being Alison Steadman and Jane Horrocks) who have starred in Inside No. 9. Skinner enjoyed the "funny" script and her "nice" character. Eve Gordon (trained at the Nottingham Television Workshop) starred as Angela's daughter Katie, and Pemberton starred as Angela's husband Jim. Pemberton and Shearsmith suggested that Pemberton's costume made him look like Mr Chow Mein, a Benny Hill character.
Elsie Kelly played Angela's mother Maggie, on whose birthday the episode is set. The part was not written with anyone in mind, though Pemberton already knew Kelly well from their time together on the sitcom Benidorm. Lorraine Ashbourne played Angela's sister Carol, and Pat, Carol's h
Source: Nana's Party (CC BY-SA)
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