TV review: Inside No. 9 – ‘Last Gasp’

A British couple who owned a cafe once appeared on television to try and flog a collection of used napkins and sandwich crusts, left over by various minor public figures that had dined at their establishment.

Why would anyone want stale cake crumbs, flecked with Michael Winner’s spittle? Why, it’s all part of the cult of celebrity.

It’s that baying lunacy, that surrounds the every word, act and bowel movement of the rich and famous, on which this week’s episode of Inside No 9 is built.

As if it wasn’t evident already that the writing is the leading light on Inside No 9, Reece Shearsmith takes a vacation this week, feeling there simply wasn’t a part there for him after having written it.

Instead, Last Gasp piles in the brilliant guest stars once again, with Steve Pemberton and Sophie Thompson as the frumpy and vividly-believable parents of a terminally-ill youngster, whose desire to meet a Michael Buble-esque crooner is facilitated by Tamsin Grieg’s wish-granting charity.

As events take an unexpected turn, a potentially lucrative opportunity presents itself in the guise of an abruptly valuable balloon.

What begins as an amusing peek into the lives of a genial, middling family (via some smartly edited home video footage) becomes an increasingly desperate scramble for cash, as it quickly becomes apparent that the only thing more prized than a celebrity is a dead celebrity.

Despite having dying children and morbid artifacts at the heart of its action, Last Gasp is lighter in tone than last week’s heart-wrenching installment, with much of its bitterness stemming from the self-interested, fame-addled antics of the adults.

Meanwhile, the doe-eyed birthday girl, who it transpires is the most sensible and empathetic person in this pointedly comic scenario, is ever more marginalised in favour of a plastic sack of air.

The desperation of her elders elevates, and the humour rung from their absurd bickering rises to fever pitch.

An almost Shakespearean exercise in greed, murder and the triumph of innocence, Last Gasp is a buoyant but wickedly funny chapter in Inside No 9’s omnibus of twisted tales.

And it certainly doesn’t look like Shearsmith and Pemberton’s bubble will be bursting anytime soon.

Inside No. 9 airs Wednesdays at 10pm on BBC Two.