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Merrily Merrily is the first episode of Inside No.9 Series 7.
It centres around three life long friends – Laurence (Reece Shearsmith), Callum (Mark Gatiss) and Darren (Steve Pemberton) – who knew each other from University, and they’re meeting up for the first time in years, starting with great bonhomie – chatting about relationships and children, but eventually, tensions surface beween the group.
For Laurence, it doesn’t help that Darren has brought girlfriend Donna (Diane Morgan), when it was intended to be a lads-only situation, but then Darren misread the invite and thought he was going to a party, rather than conversing whilst heading out in a pedalo on a lake.
As time goes on, the pedals get stuck, revelations come out of the blue, and Laurence spots something on the riverside which he can’t explain.
There’s a mixture of emotions in Merrily Merrily, even if it is rather plot-light. However, as it goes on, it does have a feeling of the ’70s Hammer Horror movies, which is a neat touch.
For those who don’t know (or have forgotten in the intervening years), the title comes from part of the nursery rhyme, Row, Row, Row Your Boat.
Inside No.9 Series 7 is available to pre-order on DVD, ahead of the release date on June 6th.
There’s also Inside No. 9: Collector’s Edition: The Scripts: Series 1-3 in Hardcover.
After broadcast, each episode will be on the BBC iPlayer.
Check out reviews of more Inside No.9 episodes.
Also available to buy:
- Series 6 on DVD
- Series 5 on DVD
- Series 4 on Blu-ray
- Series 4 on DVD
- Series 3 on Blu-ray
- Series 3 on DVD
- Series 1 on Blu-ray
- Series 2 on Blu-ray
- Series 1 and 2 on DVD together
Episode Score: 7/10
Director: Al Campbell
Producer: Kim Crowther
Writers: Reece Shearsmith, Steve Pemberton
Music: Christian Henson
Cast:
Laurence: Reece Shearsmith
Callum: Mark Gatiss
Darren: Steve Pemberton
Donna: Diane Morgan
Fisherman: Patrice Naiambana
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.