Skip to content
The Bones of St Nicholas is the first episode of Inside No.9 Series 8, also doubling as a special Christmas episode.
We first see Dr Jasper Parkway (Steve Pemberton) going into a church at which you can hire for the night, and his place of rest is on pew No.9. It’s a big moneyspinner for the building, along with the caretaker, Dick, played by national treasure Simon Callow, who classes the practice as ‘Champing’, i.e. camping in the church. It will also give solace to Jasper, whose wife has just recently passed.
Alas, he’s soon joined by two chatty campers, Posey (Shobna Gulati – Hullraisers) and Pierce (Reece Shearsmith) – even though he’d paid for exclusive use of the place on Christmas Eve – this pair even bit a bit uncouth to the point that they misunderstand that the Eucharist biscuits laid out aren’t just ‘Rich Tea’.
In this episode, there’s some clever wordplay, such as linking “salt and vinegar” to crisps, and at another point, ditzy Posey screams when she chances upon a badly-designed St Nicholas statue, which leads to this exchange:
- Jasper: “The original Santa Claus!”
Posey (in all honesty): “The Coca Cola one?”
There’s not too much I can say, other than St Nicholas’ bones were stolen, but Dick believes one remains in the church, and beyond that, it’s rather a case of things that go bump in the night, and I was in two minds about this first time round, but it really does pay dividens on the second viewing. So, if you’re not sure about it when it airs, be sure to watch it a second time!
The Bones of St Nicholas is broadcast on BBC2 at 10pm on Thurday December 22nd.
Inside No.9 Series 8 isn’t yet available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD.
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 7 on DVD
- 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: 7.5/10
Director: George Kane
Producer: Kim Crowther
Writers: Steve Pemberton, Reece Shearsmith
Cast:
Jasper: Steve Pemberton
Dick: Simon Callow
Posey: Shobna Gulati
Pierce: Reece Shearsmith
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.