Speaker 1: Welcome, dear listener, and thanks for joining us.
Speaker 2: And I'm Stephen and this is a podcast all about
Speaker 2: the weird and wonderful world of the Dark comedy anthology
Speaker 2: series Inside number nine.
Speaker 1: On each episode, we'll be diving into another one of
Speaker 1: Steve Pemberton and Reese Shearsmith's twisted tales, putting it under
Speaker 1: a lens and examining it within an inch of its life.
Speaker 2: So make yourself comfortable, grab a cup of tea, and
Speaker 2: join us for the ninth degree. Hello, Hello, Hello, welcome back.
Speaker 2: How are you doing?
Speaker 1: I am okay, how are you doing?
Speaker 2: I'm not bad long January mm, stretching out forever. But
Speaker 2: I've got holidays look forward to you, So I'm excited.
Speaker 1: That is good.
Speaker 2: I might do this every year.
Speaker 1: I've got the end of my job to look forward to.
Speaker 2: Oh, of course, how long you've got a couple of
Speaker 2: weeks left.
Speaker 1: Now, is it? Yeah? Just over two weeks?
Speaker 2: Nice?
Speaker 1: Yeah, it can't come soon enough. If any of my
Speaker 1: colleagues are listening to this, Love you really was purely
Speaker 1: for the purposes of entertainment.
Speaker 2: Yes, exaggerate for comedic effects. Yes, it's that thing that
Speaker 2: when you when you've finished and you're working your notice
Speaker 2: and it's just like I'm mentally.
Speaker 1: Checked out of this. Oh absolutely, yeah, kind of hurry
Speaker 1: up already, yeah, definitely.
Speaker 2: Well, we are back for episode three of series five
Speaker 2: Loves Great Adventure.
Speaker 1: Whoop whoop, whoop whoop.
Speaker 2: But before we get into that, there's the small matter
Speaker 2: of the hair from last week.
Speaker 1: Yes, it was Nine Lives cat. Yeah, there's a cat
Speaker 1: that made me feel bad. I don't know what that
Speaker 1: says about me. I mean, they are supposed to have
Speaker 1: nine lives cats, aren't they. Yeah, convoluted. Sorry, then I'll
Speaker 1: just get it in.
Speaker 2: But we all learned something.
Speaker 1: It was worth it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so have a lookout for the one this week.
Speaker 2: I will refer as now to instant number nine fandom
Speaker 2: wiki for the plot of this episode, which is Trevor
Speaker 2: and Juliet always want to make Christmas really special for
Speaker 2: their family, but this year, with money so tight, things
Speaker 2: aren't going to be easy. As each door of the
Speaker 2: advent calendar opens, everyone will have to do their bit
Speaker 2: to make Christmas happen.
Speaker 1: You sounded so enthusiastic reading I'm really trying.
Speaker 2: I don't know if I can put it off for
Speaker 2: much longer. But this is not my favorite episode. I'm sorry.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I could tell I'm really.
Speaker 2: Worried about this week. I apologize if this is your favorite.
Speaker 1: Yeah. So we were discussing earlier and I said that
Speaker 1: it was funny because when we first started this, I
Speaker 1: was saying, how I don't think it's a bad episode
Speaker 1: of this show, and you were like, well, there might
Speaker 1: be one flashback here.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, there's one or two. And I wouldn't say
Speaker 2: it's bad exactly, It's just not my thing.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I get that. I get that.
Speaker 2: It just doesn't feel very inside number ninety. To me. No,
Speaker 2: it feels like it's a very good episode of a
Speaker 2: different program.
Speaker 1: That's exactly what I was going to say. I was
Speaker 1: going to say, I think as a piece of TV,
Speaker 1: it's very good. It just feels very jarring as an
Speaker 1: episode of in So number nine.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I mean, if you think about what I obviously you
Speaker 1: know in So Numb nine does many different things. Yes,
Speaker 1: but there is a core of I mean, what would
Speaker 1: you say that core is that makes something in Insant
Speaker 1: number nine episode.
Speaker 2: The dark comedy. Yeah, it doesn't have to always have
Speaker 2: these things, but it's got to have at least one
Speaker 2: of them, like, it's got to have either some dark comedy,
Speaker 2: it's got to have some big revelation flash twist of
Speaker 2: some description, yeah, and or something supernatural or whatever, like
Speaker 2: there's got to be one of them things in there.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I feel I get that, and I don't really.
Speaker 2: Think this has any of them. No, Like it has
Speaker 2: the great character work, yeah, but to me that's sort
Speaker 2: of always implied.
Speaker 1: Yes, that always has to be there. You wouldn't expect
Speaker 1: anything less.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but equally we don't really have enough time with
Speaker 2: any of the characters to really get to know them
Speaker 2: all that well.
Speaker 1: No, it's very slice of life, yeah, a little bit
Speaker 1: yet tiny little vignettes. So yeah, I think Into Number
Speaker 1: nine is a show where they could be experimental and
Speaker 1: try different things, and I think this is obviously one
Speaker 1: of those things. They tried something completely different, which you know,
Speaker 1: I applaud them for that.
Speaker 2: And they're halfway through the run. Obviously they wouldn't know
Speaker 2: at the time. But so like, GE's about the time
Speaker 2: when you do start doing things a bit differently, and yeah,
Speaker 2: you do come up with other things to do.
Speaker 1: I think, you know, some would say the twist is
Speaker 1: that there isn't one there isn't really I mean, you know,
Speaker 1: there is kind of yeah, but very hidden. Yeah, not
Speaker 1: to the same degree of the usual episodes.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: But having said that, starting on a fairly negative note,
Speaker 1: like I think I like it more than you, right, Okay,
Speaker 1: I wouldn't say I love it. Yeah, And again when
Speaker 1: we come to rating it at the end, it's going
Speaker 1: to be hard whether to rate it for what it
Speaker 1: is or as an into number nine episode, yeah, because
Speaker 1: I don't want to be too harsh. But at the
Speaker 1: same time, you know, but I think for what it is,
Speaker 1: it's actually pretty good and quite enjoy watching it. I
Speaker 1: just because you've got the inside number nine title sequence, Yeah,
Speaker 1: you expect it's going to be a certain thing and
Speaker 1: it's kind of not.
Speaker 2: Yeah, because I remember watching this when it came out
Speaker 2: like there and then I was like, watched it that
Speaker 2: Tuesday night when it first aired, thinking oh, I'm getting
Speaker 2: another exciting thing of a thing I love, and then
Speaker 2: you're expecting something big to happen and then nothing does. Yeah,
Speaker 2: and it kind of falls really flat for me personally.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I get that.
Speaker 2: I get that, Like when if you can watch it
Speaker 2: knowing that there's not going to be any big twist
Speaker 2: to it. Then it's you can sort of enjoy it
Speaker 2: for what it is a lot better.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Oh well, I was going to ask if you
Speaker 1: because obviously I presume you watched it once when it
Speaker 1: aired and then you've not revisited it since then.
Speaker 2: I think I have now.
Speaker 1: Yeah, So was it was it as bad as you
Speaker 1: thought it was going to be or was it better slightly.
Speaker 2: Or probably it was probably slightly better. Yeah, And I
Speaker 2: knew that I wasn't waiting for something big to happen,
Speaker 2: so I didn't have that hanging over me the whole time. Yeah,
Speaker 2: like I didn't. It didn't have anything to live up to.
Speaker 2: I still didn't massively enjoy it.
Speaker 1: No, I get that. But yeah, if you know what
Speaker 1: the BBC's play for today was right where they used
Speaker 1: to do I think it was in the seventies, there'd
Speaker 1: be one off little dramas. And it's also a bit
Speaker 1: like have you ever seen Moving On? No, So that's
Speaker 1: another like anthology. Each one's an individual drama. Jimmy McGovern
Speaker 1: wrote them, I think, yeah, And I used to watch
Speaker 1: those and it really reminded me of that that kind
Speaker 1: of thing.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm not familiar.
Speaker 1: If you didn't like this, I guess I wouldn't recommend it,
Speaker 1: but yeah.
Speaker 2: I've seen them say that they wanted it to be
Speaker 2: a bit sort of ken Loach's style. Yes, and I've
Speaker 2: not seen any of his stuff, but I've seen like
Speaker 2: bits and pieces and it I get that. I understand
Speaker 2: what they mean.
Speaker 1: Well, I mean it's all set. It's literally all set
Speaker 1: in that kitchen, yeah, which I don't think I twigged
Speaker 1: until like a second or third watch. I think I
Speaker 1: kind of assumed in the back of my head there
Speaker 1: must be it must have been scenes in other rooms.
Speaker 1: But yeah, it's literally all in that one kitchen.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: So it's I mean it's literally kitchen seeing. Yeah, drama, yeah,
Speaker 1: And I just I think there's to be fair. I
Speaker 1: think there's lots to like about this. I think the
Speaker 1: fact the fact that they do the they tell it
Speaker 1: through these tiny little vignettes of one per day across
Speaker 1: the advent calendar is a great idea.
Speaker 2: Oh I like that as a concept. I just there
Speaker 2: were so many things that I was expecting to happen
Speaker 2: that didn't Like, I feel like this is setting up something, Oh,
Speaker 2: this is going to happen that just never does. Yes,
Speaker 2: a lot of it was improvised as well.
Speaker 1: I believe it was. Yeah, which I was going to say,
Speaker 1: is that's another thing I kind of really like about
Speaker 1: this because the tone that that brings, Like when the
Speaker 1: actors are able to just kind of use their own
Speaker 1: words and not tied to the script, it really adds
Speaker 1: to that. This is probably the most naturalistic episode true
Speaker 1: that we've got.
Speaker 2: Maybe that's why it feels so jarring to me because
Speaker 2: it doesn't feel scripted.
Speaker 1: It doesn't feel like they're because they're so sort of
Speaker 1: crafted normally, aren't.
Speaker 2: They Every word matters.
Speaker 1: And yeah, obviously they've placed the story in sequence and
Speaker 1: they knew what each scene had to do.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but how it got there was to them.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean what, I'd be interested because I know
Speaker 1: you can buy the scripts for these. I'd be really
Speaker 1: interested to see the script for this one and see
Speaker 1: how much it differs from what actually happened.
Speaker 2: Whether it is just a lot of stage directions of.
Speaker 1: Well, Steve did say that they there was dialogue written
Speaker 1: for every scene, right, but they didn't necessarily stick to it.
Speaker 1: So yeah, it would be would be interesting to see that. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but I do I do love the naturalistic feel of it,
Speaker 1: Like the I think this is very well acted.
Speaker 2: Oh, it's brilliantly acted.
Speaker 1: All the cast are so good. Yeah, and they really
Speaker 1: feel like a family. And apparently all the cast really
Speaker 1: bonded and like they had a big meal together at
Speaker 1: the beginning and we're sort of opening up to each
Speaker 1: other about stuff, and yeah, sounds really like an intense experience.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's how you get the best out of it. Yeah,
Speaker 2: out of the family sort of thing.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think they did a good job of that, definitely.
Speaker 2: And the casting is brilliant. M I buy all of
Speaker 2: them and even even the little kids very good.
Speaker 1: I think it's great, which is really tough to do, Yeah.
Speaker 2: Because I don't know how old he is, but he's
Speaker 2: only young. Yeah, And I guess the improvising thing works
Speaker 2: well there because he can just be like they just
Speaker 2: have to tell you, I'll go and make your breakfast
Speaker 2: or whatever.
Speaker 1: And having a child in the scene as well, who's
Speaker 1: improvising with you must make it kind of easier to
Speaker 1: improvise along with as well that because he's not following
Speaker 1: a script, So yeah, you've got to just respond to
Speaker 1: what he's saying.
Speaker 2: And yeah, you very much have to listen to him
Speaker 2: rather than what's written. Yeah, and you're trying to follow. Yeah, definitely.
Speaker 1: I do think there's a lot to commend this on
Speaker 1: just a question of how much it feels like it
Speaker 1: fits as part of the series.
Speaker 2: But yeah, it's a bit like saying that you had,
Speaker 2: you know, a murder mystery, like a Poiro or whatever,
Speaker 2: and then one episode it's just randomly got vampires in it.
Speaker 2: Even if it was really well done, it would just
Speaker 2: be like, why are they here?
Speaker 1: That's such a great comparison what is going on? Yeah? Yeah,
Speaker 1: that really explains how you feel.
Speaker 2: I think like, no matter how well you did it
Speaker 2: and how many of the tropes you carried over from
Speaker 2: Buiro and all that kind of stuff, like, yeah, it's
Speaker 2: still wondering why we've done this.
Speaker 1: This is brilliant, but why have you done it? Yeah? Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's like they could have done this as a separate project.
Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly exactly.
Speaker 1: Apparently Debbie Rush, who played Julia, when they finished, she
Speaker 1: was like, Oh, I wish we could do more of this.
Speaker 1: I wish we could do a whole series of this. Ah.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it feels like a series.
Speaker 1: It does.
Speaker 2: It's like that odd episode that you get in in
Speaker 2: a program where it's clearly a backdoor pilot for a
Speaker 2: spin off. Like I can almost see this as being
Speaker 2: like a separate spinoff where they do little segments of
Speaker 2: a month or whatever in this family.
Speaker 1: But yeah, should we kind of go through interesting bits?
Speaker 2: My notes are just what happens every day. Yeah, they
Speaker 2: were on math lesson.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Now I find this interesting as someone who works
Speaker 1: in education. Hmmm, I'll be honest, I'd never heard of
Speaker 1: traffic light method.
Speaker 2: Well, how do you have a method of adding three
Speaker 2: on to seven or whatever it was. I don't really
Speaker 2: feel like there's a lot of method involved.
Speaker 1: I think what he's doing because I did google traffic
Speaker 1: light methods. I was like, is that a real thing?
Speaker 1: And it is. It's a method for multiplication, right, because
Speaker 1: at that age they don't do the column method, right,
Speaker 1: but they do when they're slightly older. Okay, but I've
Speaker 1: never heard of traffic light method. We do other things
Speaker 1: at my school.
Speaker 2: Part of me wonders, do they just make up new
Speaker 2: methods of doing things so that the adults can't help
Speaker 2: the children, so the children have to do it themselves.
Speaker 1: That's a very cynical way of looking at it.
Speaker 2: Or is it more positively that they go home than
Speaker 2: their parents teach them in other methods, So they have
Speaker 2: two methods of doing a thing and they only have
Speaker 2: to teach them one of them. No.
Speaker 1: I think it's because people are constantly reinventing the wheel
Speaker 1: and thinking, you know, this is this is a better
Speaker 1: way of helping them understand it.
Speaker 2: We've been teaching math since like god knows what. Yeah,
Speaker 2: but yeah, in the last ten years, it has changed.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it has, it does. I liked how Trevor said
Speaker 1: about the unit's column, because that's what we called it
Speaker 1: in my day, but these days it's we say the ones,
Speaker 1: the ones.
Speaker 2: Oh okay, I've always thought it felt weird to say,
Speaker 2: but yeah, we always called it units.
Speaker 1: Yeah, but yeah, I love that. I love the dynamic
Speaker 1: of you know, he's such a like cheeky grandpa. Hmmm,
Speaker 1: although you don't know he's the grandpa. At first, I think, true, yeah,
Speaker 1: he's potentially, you think he could be the dad. Maybe
Speaker 1: he's and he's a bit old, but it's it's deliberately vague, yes,
Speaker 1: And then when they're shouting for mire and you think
Speaker 1: maybe their siblings.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I assumed first time it sort.
Speaker 1: Of comes out gradually.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I also like that they all like obviously have
Speaker 2: the little fallouts occasionally, but they do actually genuinely really
Speaker 2: like each other and love each other.
Speaker 1: They do.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it is a good family, nice bond, which is
Speaker 2: nice to see every now and then, Like most families
Speaker 2: see on TV all hate each other or plotting in
Speaker 2: some way, shape or.
Speaker 1: Form exactly, this is what I think, Like, it's I
Speaker 1: think this episode is all about family really, It's about
Speaker 1: like what you would do for your family in the
Speaker 1: extreme circumstances. Yeah, and like also the fact that we're
Speaker 1: seeing it over the span of best part of a month,
Speaker 1: and also it's only tiny little snapshots. Each day you
Speaker 1: might see these little disagreements and spats, but then the
Speaker 1: next day you might see them having a really touching,
Speaker 1: lovely moment together.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: And that's just realistic, isn't it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, they do feel very rounded people.
Speaker 1: Yeah, definitely. So Mia has her eye on a prom dress.
Speaker 2: We'll skip over making breakfast. That was a fun day.
Speaker 1: What was that?
Speaker 2: That was day two? MIA's dress is day three?
Speaker 1: All right, Sorry, we're doing every day. Nothing happened in
Speaker 1: day No, not really, but that's what that was. When
Speaker 1: we first realized that mir exists. Yeah. Yeah, so our
Speaker 1: first real introduction to me is her asking for this
Speaker 1: dress in this I mean, how old we think? If
Speaker 1: she's prom she must be like year eleven, so.
Speaker 2: You'd think so like sixteen Spanish? I can. I really
Speaker 2: struggle to age her. I have no idea.
Speaker 1: By the way, do you know who she is?
Speaker 2: Gabby French? My screens telling me I'll.
Speaker 1: Be friends who that is? Recognize her from anywhere?
Speaker 2: I'm guessing I should. Yes, I assume I'm going to
Speaker 2: assume she's in Doto now, but I don't know where. Oh, okay,
Speaker 2: she wasn't in the play? Was she?
Speaker 1: Yeah?
Speaker 2: Was she?
Speaker 1: She's Abby the usher? Was she? Yeah?
Speaker 2: That's so weird.
Speaker 1: I think she was in the West End one and
Speaker 1: the tour.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, I can. It suddenly came to me that
Speaker 2: it's like, yeah, she looks fake.
Speaker 1: Yes, yeah. And we didn't mention it at the time
Speaker 1: because I only found out after we'd recorded. But the
Speaker 1: other young lady in the play, the one who played
Speaker 1: the dope blond actress, Yeah, I think she was the
Speaker 1: one who was Reese's girlfriend in Yeah really yeah, So
Speaker 1: keeping it in the family.
Speaker 2: If you know they're good and reliable.
Speaker 1: Yeah, but yeah, she's very good, especially because she's Welsh. Yes,
Speaker 1: and she's doing a fantastic accent and improving in it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, improving a different accent must be really tough.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, I to.
Speaker 2: Consider how certain noise, certain vowel sounds work, or whatever
Speaker 2: in that particular word.
Speaker 1: Say that. I do that with my kids at work,
Speaker 1: Like when I want to get their attention, I just
Speaker 1: do a different accent and just start teaching in a
Speaker 1: different accent. Fair enough, But then I don't know if
Speaker 1: it's good enough to be on TV. So true? Whereabouts
Speaker 1: up north is this set? Do you think?
Speaker 2: I don't know. I am terrible with accents unless they're
Speaker 2: very obvious ones. I'm very I'm terrible. I'm going to
Speaker 2: guess some way over Leeds Way, but only really based
Speaker 2: on that that's where sort of Steve's from, so I assumed.
Speaker 2: I assume it'd be somewhere near where he grew up.
Speaker 2: Mm hmm, because it feels sort of so family focused
Speaker 2: that I guessed he would do that, but I don't know.
Speaker 1: Again, listening to the podcast, they were saying that Debbie Rush,
Speaker 1: she played the mum, was so northern herself, like she
Speaker 1: had these phrases she kept coming out with that even
Speaker 1: Steve had never heard used something like don't just stand
Speaker 1: there like Piffy never heard. No, No, I've never heard that.
Speaker 1: And he goes it must have been a very specific
Speaker 1: area up north. Yeah, and Reese goes, yeah, someone's house.
Speaker 2: But Granded has loads of those, like their equivalent is
Speaker 2: that's done there? Like Bolco's monument. There's a statue of
Speaker 2: a man called Bolco in Middlesbrough who doesn't obviously move
Speaker 2: because he's a statue. And a lot more pointless what
Speaker 2: like his favorite is oh, I come before you stand
Speaker 2: behind you to tell you something I known out about.
Speaker 2: I think that's a that's nick from somewhere I can't wear.
Speaker 2: But atop a hill there stands a mill. If it
Speaker 2: ain't gone tomorrow, it'll be there still. Oh my god,
Speaker 2: I'm like, great, useful, Granded.
Speaker 1: Thanks just reminded me of the you know, the Scottish
Speaker 1: hotel here in little Britain. He just stams out with
Speaker 1: these random little riddles.
Speaker 2: I've not seen that. I've never watched a lot of Britain.
Speaker 1: Oh okay, but I believe you. Yeah, AnyWho, we were
Speaker 1: on originally, we're on the prom dress, and I just
Speaker 1: you know, she's so sort of eager to have it.
Speaker 1: And it's like, because obviously we find out soon that money's.
Speaker 2: Tight, money's very tight.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and like she's at that age I guess where
Speaker 1: she's coming to understand how that stuff works.
Speaker 2: Food doesn't just appear.
Speaker 1: Yeah. I like how the mum says it's forty pounds
Speaker 1: and she's like, it's not forty pounds, it's thirty eight
Speaker 1: ninety nine. Yeah. Yeah, Again, there's a nice arc with
Speaker 1: that throughout the episode, which we'll cover, I'm sure as
Speaker 1: we get to it.
Speaker 2: But yeah, yeah, but yeah, we see the mom rip
Speaker 2: out the page and we'll save that for later. So
Speaker 2: what do we go on to next. Our dad's in debt.
Speaker 2: He's trying to reconsolidate his loans into one easy to pay,
Speaker 2: not to retainment or whatever the hell they. I don't
Speaker 2: know as much else happens at that one.
Speaker 1: No, although Gabby, sorry not Gabby, Mia Mia is in
Speaker 1: that scene and presumably overhearing that, yeah, and I think
Speaker 1: that's going into her head and sort of percolating, yeah,
Speaker 1: slowly dawning on her that Yeah, perhaps they can't afford things,
Speaker 1: m because.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and the next thing we see the mom hiding money,
Speaker 2: screwing away what she can and so this is this
Speaker 2: whole plot that's completely just improvised by this kid apparently,
Speaker 2: but about aliens. So I think this is one of
Speaker 2: the first ones of the plots that I thought was
Speaker 2: going to be important. But this was going to be
Speaker 2: aliens or something like. There was going to be a
Speaker 2: rug pull of oh, what of the world is happening
Speaker 2: now kind of thing which would be interesting, we love,
Speaker 2: But things like this do happen in this series. I
Speaker 2: suppose I'm not going to say certain episodes and spoil
Speaker 2: things in case people are watching along with us, but yeah,
Speaker 2: but yeah, I mean it's I don't think it's out
Speaker 2: of the realms of possibility.
Speaker 1: Now, I get that, I get that. I think for me,
Speaker 1: I just took it as it's just a bit of
Speaker 1: detail from his life that this happened at school, because
Speaker 1: I've been there. We've done this with kids at school
Speaker 1: when I worked in year one, our deputy head teacher
Speaker 1: put on an alien mask and pretended to be an alien,
Speaker 1: right and the kids, the kids all went into the
Speaker 1: hall and sat down so they could interview this alien
Speaker 1: and it was all about, you know, asking him questions
Speaker 1: about where he came from and this and that. It's
Speaker 1: about about forming questions basically. Okay, so we did have
Speaker 1: an educational value to it.
Speaker 2: But I thought you just would just mess these kids up.
Speaker 2: And was it convincing, Masker? Were they just there with
Speaker 2: like the regular.
Speaker 1: Well he was wearing his normal like jumper that he was.
Speaker 1: It was just but it was like one of those
Speaker 1: like you pull it over your head, like a sort
Speaker 1: of balaklava type thing. Yeah, blessing, he did look like
Speaker 1: a tit. Anyway, he's very excited about that, and he's
Speaker 1: made a little card.
Speaker 2: Yeah, oh so sweet.
Speaker 1: It is so sweet when he's like, I couldn't find
Speaker 1: any stars, so I just used that a round circle
Speaker 1: for for for a star. Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah, he's so cute.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I wonder if he's still acting. I was gonna say, yeah,
Speaker 1: how old is he now?
Speaker 2: All grown up? Now? That was like ten years ago.
Speaker 2: Oh it's only five years ago.
Speaker 1: Okay. I was gonna say, yeah, it's only further.
Speaker 2: Further further ago in time that I think it is,
Speaker 2: then it actually is. Whenever Gibbisia just said, and then
Speaker 2: we go on to driving practice and race pops.
Speaker 1: Up Uncle Alex.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well I didn't work this out. I think I
Speaker 2: got this from reading externally. I didn't know who the
Speaker 2: hell he was meant to be. Oh, if you really listen,
Speaker 2: it does say.
Speaker 1: But yeah, she calls him uncle AAO very brief.
Speaker 2: Like once, I think, but they never reference. I don't believe, like,
Speaker 2: do you know which how he's related to them? Obviously
Speaker 2: he's the uncle, but who's who's you?
Speaker 1: No, I haven't. I haven't thought of that to be fair,
Speaker 1: when actually I think it must be it must be
Speaker 1: Trevor's brother, because she's nagging at him about oh, he's
Speaker 1: so tight, he's charging his knee. Yeah, I feel like
Speaker 1: she would. She wouldn't if it was her brother. She'd
Speaker 1: just have it out with him, I suppose.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: But yeah, he's again quite a naturalistic role for Reese.
Speaker 2: Weirdly, he doesn't have any silly jokes or anything.
Speaker 1: No. Yeah, both of them are really down to earth.
Speaker 2: I think they play it very straight this week.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it was quite refreshing to see, quite nice.
Speaker 2: It lets them flex their sort of acting abilities as well. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 2: play it seriously for a once.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I never pointed out that Steve gets away his real
Speaker 2: hair for once as well. I don't know if he does,
Speaker 2: but Steve does.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, I find it's sad, how you know. They
Speaker 1: have this sort of conversation about the lesson and then
Speaker 1: off she goes, and then the mum's just like go
Speaker 1: and then with she crap. Yeah, a bit harsh.
Speaker 2: It is worrying that she doesn't really know how to
Speaker 2: do her gears and she's already got a test coming
Speaker 2: up very soon.
Speaker 1: That's true.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'd like to think i'd felt reasonably confident with
Speaker 2: at least have to drive, if not actually the test, Yes,
Speaker 2: before I did the test.
Speaker 1: Oh, she can't be sixteen, then she must be seventeen.
Speaker 2: Yeah, actually, yeah, she must be at least seventeen.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it might be.
Speaker 2: It might be like a sixth form problem she's going
Speaker 2: to or something. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I mean it's Christmas anyway, so it's a bit of
Speaker 1: an odd time to have a problem.
Speaker 2: We just say it's the Christmas problem, doesn't she all right? Yeah,
Speaker 2: so maybe they do one at that school at Christmas.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah, she's got one more lesson before a test, which
Speaker 2: feels a lot to learn in one lesson how to
Speaker 2: do the entirety of gears.
Speaker 1: She do like I do, and just do an automatic. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: I never drive.
Speaker 2: Well, I've driven my parents on like literally just turning
Speaker 2: it round on their drive, and I didn't like it.
Speaker 1: Automatic. Yeah, I didn't like it. It just went and I
Speaker 1: didn't like it. Yeah. No, I literally I learned automatic
Speaker 1: because I was like, it's one less thing to think about,
Speaker 1: and I don't regret it at all.
Speaker 2: Right, fair enough, I'd.
Speaker 1: Recommend it to anyone. My dad's big into cars, and
Speaker 1: he originally was like, oh, mastery of manual, you know,
Speaker 1: but even he's come around to automatic in more recent years,
Speaker 1: he said, back in the day when there was quite
Speaker 1: a difference between them, but nowadays the technology is good
Speaker 1: enough that it's fine. But yeah, this is not a
Speaker 1: motoring podcast. This is not top gear.
Speaker 2: Thank god for that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and on that bombshell, cars are on magic. As
Speaker 1: far as I'm concept winging a prayer.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's that great comic. I think I sent you
Speaker 2: of some cartoon of someone opening a bonnet. I think
Speaker 2: that probably you'll find here is the cartoonist doesn't know
Speaker 2: what a.
Speaker 1: Car looks like.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's just like springs and hamsters running around.
Speaker 1: Yeah. I thought it was quite realistic. Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah, So on today I mum has squirreled away this
Speaker 2: dress picture and she's having to go at making herself,
Speaker 2: which is so adorable. I don't really think it'd be
Speaker 2: much cheaper than buying it, to be absolutely frank with.
Speaker 1: You, No, if it's only forty pounds, yeah.
Speaker 2: You'll be spending at least half that on the two
Speaker 2: as at the end waste half of them because you
Speaker 2: do it wrong enough to buy them again. M it's
Speaker 2: got like rhinestones and things in it, or sequence.
Speaker 1: Rather, we'll just say she happened to have those as
Speaker 1: scraps and things. Yeah.
Speaker 2: They now don't have any curtains in the bathroom.
Speaker 1: I just had a picture of the shower curtain with
Speaker 1: like the dress shake cut out of it. Yeah.
Speaker 2: You watched Friday Night Dinner. Not really the character they
Speaker 2: don't like that lives down the street. Mark Keep's character
Speaker 2: gets invited along to their Friday Night special Jewish dinner.
Speaker 2: So he like plays along and he makes himself a
Speaker 2: yamaka to wear, and the mum compliments it and he's like,
Speaker 2: oh thank you, and turns around. There's just a big
Speaker 2: circle out the back of his shirt. But yeah, she's
Speaker 2: having a go at making this dress. She's really sweet.
Speaker 1: Yeah, wonder if me is going to be grateful. Well
Speaker 1: we'll find out.
Speaker 2: It's unlike you. We've still got like twelve days of.
Speaker 1: Christy teenagers and ever Yeah grateful. No, we will see we.
Speaker 2: Get day nine come up at last, but we'll skip
Speaker 2: straight over that one. Hmmm interesting, Yeah, I like that,
Speaker 2: the sort of so we finally got a bit of
Speaker 2: an inside number nine nous that there's some mystery happening.
Speaker 1: Yeah, to be honest, I never even noticed because I
Speaker 1: wasn't paying attention to the numbers really, Okay, I just
Speaker 1: just each number I just assumed was the next number.
Speaker 1: So yeah, I wasn't thinking, right, this is eight, then, you.
Speaker 2: Know, I wasn't until I was writing notes for this.
Speaker 2: So yeah, we skip over nine and we go straight
Speaker 2: on to ten. Of me are saying that she's not
Speaker 2: that fussed about the dress. She doesn't want it. Yeah, presumably,
Speaker 2: like you said earlier, listening to the dad talk about
Speaker 2: deferring payments and things.
Speaker 1: The cogs have turned round in her head and she's
Speaker 1: worked it out and it's really sweet of her that she's, yeah,
Speaker 1: she's come to that and she's like she wants them
Speaker 1: to know. Oh, it's it's totally fine, you know, because
Speaker 1: she knows, she knows she was a bit of an
Speaker 1: ungrateful bitch about it before. So yeah, that's very nice.
Speaker 1: And Trevor's arms in.
Speaker 2: A cast, of course, yes, skip right over that. So yeah,
Speaker 2: the dad's arms in a cast and he's got a
Speaker 2: black eye, Yeah, which I don't do we really address
Speaker 2: that even here.
Speaker 1: No, I think it's not.
Speaker 2: It's another day or two yet. No, on to day eleven.
Speaker 2: We're making mince pies. Have you ever made mince pies?
Speaker 2: Because I made them once and I was like, well,
Speaker 2: if you make mince pies and you buy a jar
Speaker 2: of mince meat from the shops, yeah, I feel like
Speaker 2: you've not really done anything more than just buying the
Speaker 2: mince pies from the shop.
Speaker 1: No exactly, it's like there's like cake mix or yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it feels like you've done the bare minimum.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: So I went to the effort of actually making all
Speaker 2: the mince meat as well one year.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and then it cost me something.
Speaker 2: It cost me an inordinate amount of money. The amount
Speaker 2: of her dresses I could have bought, but this because
Speaker 2: you end up with and you end up with jars
Speaker 2: and jars of it, because you can't just buy one
Speaker 2: jars worth of the fruit mix that goes in on
Speaker 2: one jar of the this that you end up with
Speaker 2: like twelve jars of the bloody stuff.
Speaker 1: Wow.
Speaker 2: And I took him into work and then but my
Speaker 2: colleague said that she loved mince meat stuff, but she
Speaker 2: doesn't like mince pies. She doesn't like the pastry. Right,
Speaker 2: So the next day has brought one of the jars
Speaker 2: and she just sat there with a spoony very weird.
Speaker 1: She was loving it though, good good. Yeah. I think
Speaker 1: I need to ask Ben because I think I know
Speaker 1: he's made one of his things he makes is like
Speaker 1: a Bakewell tart, but it's a mince meat version of
Speaker 1: a Bakewell tart. Oh yeah, but I think I think
Speaker 1: he probably just gets it from the shop, but I'd
Speaker 1: have to ask him.
Speaker 2: Oh, it is a lot of fath yeah, because they
Speaker 2: you get, like saltanas, they don't come in a bag
Speaker 2: of you know, fifty grams. They come in a bag
Speaker 2: of like five hundred grams or something.
Speaker 1: So it's all right, fav.
Speaker 2: Oh it's yeah, it's a lot of work.
Speaker 1: And you know what happens if you put too much in.
Speaker 2: Yeah, bubbles everywhere and it.
Speaker 1: All leaks out. Yeah, that's sweet as well. Like the
Speaker 1: baking together reminds me of the rare occasion that I
Speaker 1: used to bake with my mum. Yeah, and we always
Speaker 1: used to end up shouting at each other. She always
Speaker 1: used to say, oh, you're cat candied. Oh no, and
Speaker 1: I'm like, yeah, it's true, I am, but yeah, because
Speaker 1: my mum's ever been that confident in the kitchen either, right,
Speaker 1: And so I think we used to blame each other
Speaker 1: when things went wrong, but we laugh about it now.
Speaker 2: I don't remember baking much of my mum. I did
Speaker 2: with my grant a lot. That's nice, yeah, but it's
Speaker 2: nice to got carollers. Yeah, this is another one of
Speaker 2: those things. I was expecting someone horrible to go when
Speaker 2: she tells him to go out and go and see
Speaker 2: the carollers.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, you're just.
Speaker 2: Going to disappear, get abducted. Yeah, possibly by aliens, but yeah,
Speaker 2: nothing bad happens here, although the money has now gone. Yes,
Speaker 2: do you assume this money in the tin is a
Speaker 2: known thing or is it just her squirreling money away
Speaker 2: hidden secret for rainy days.
Speaker 1: I personally I assumed it was a you know, she
Speaker 1: and Trevor know about it. It's their little right, their
Speaker 1: little thing.
Speaker 2: But yeah, because the next day there arguing off screen.
Speaker 1: That's a great scene, isn't it when it's just folks done.
Speaker 2: The boy you're just making a cereal and.
Speaker 1: You just hear them, hear them screaming in the background.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I mean, I know he's only like five or
Speaker 2: whatever he is, but I'm not forgiving him for putting
Speaker 2: milk in first. It's weird.
Speaker 1: That is weird. I didn't notice that I was paying
Speaker 1: too much.
Speaker 2: Put any cereal in like five flakes of conflicts going
Speaker 2: that bowl.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's weird. Got a lot of learning to do. Yes,
Speaker 1: Instead of traffic light method, they should be focusing on
Speaker 1: the correct way to make cereal life skills people. So, yeah,
Speaker 1: Christmas is effectively canceled. No money, They can't afford anything. Obviously,
Speaker 1: this takes some significance later.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, but as far as you know, at the moment,
Speaker 2: the dad's nicked it. On today thirteen, he's talking with
Speaker 2: what's race called this week Alex. His explanation is that
Speaker 2: he's falling off a ladder. Yes, some useless person at
Speaker 2: works knock him off a ladder and you should soon
Speaker 2: because but it's not pizzahu so it's okay. Oh yeah,
Speaker 2: so we get the impression that Alex will see anyone.
Speaker 1: He's very Yeah, well he's tight, isn't he.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I'm also just laughing at my note for this scene
Speaker 1: because it just says it just is Christmas tree brew
Speaker 1: my pass.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I've got falling off like a pizza dollars mum
Speaker 2: with tree.
Speaker 1: Because yeah, I mean, how many times have you heard
Speaker 1: people say that of stick a brew at myth?
Speaker 2: I was going to say, that's not just an up
Speaker 2: North thing, is it?
Speaker 1: No? No, you hear that all time. Yeah, you just
Speaker 1: going to sit there with your friggin bruise.
Speaker 2: I don't really know how much help they can be
Speaker 2: at moving a tree, but to be fair, yeah, it
Speaker 2: very much feels like a one person job unless it's
Speaker 2: over twelve foot.
Speaker 1: So is it the next day we've got the Christmas
Speaker 1: big shop.
Speaker 2: Do you have that thing where your mum will have
Speaker 2: a drawer of things that can't be touched till Christmas.
Speaker 1: I know it's I know, it's a thing I do.
Speaker 1: Like the line about tangerines they're not for eating. No,
Speaker 1: And she's like, what do you mean they're not for eating?
Speaker 1: What are they for then? Decoration?
Speaker 2: I thought it was more therefore Christ, like, my mum
Speaker 2: will get a load of stuff that's not to be
Speaker 2: eaten till Christmas.
Speaker 1: No, I know, I'm I'm just joking, like, I know,
Speaker 1: I know that's what. Yes, they mean, they're not for
Speaker 1: eating until Christmas? Right is the point, isn't it. But
Speaker 1: but it's just a funny phrase when she says they're
Speaker 1: not for eating.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but then we'll have Mum will do all that,
Speaker 2: and then we'll have a big meal on Christmas and
Speaker 2: no one wants any of this stuff because they're all
Speaker 2: fall from.
Speaker 1: The actual dinner exactly.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and there'll be that pile of nuts and stuff
Speaker 2: that's there for the rest of January, Yeah, because no
Speaker 2: one actually wants them. We also get the hint of
Speaker 2: something to come of someone called Patrick has been seen
Speaker 2: at the pub.
Speaker 1: Yeah, first mention of him, and it's obviously created a
Speaker 1: bit of a ripple around the room.
Speaker 2: We don't know who this is. This could be anyone it.
Speaker 1: Could be, although I'm pretty sure when I watched it
Speaker 1: the first time, I think you just you do assume
Speaker 1: that that must be Conners farther because the parents of
Speaker 1: Connor have been conspicuously absent. Yes, so it kind of
Speaker 1: makes sense. Yeah, because obviously it's not me as child,
Speaker 1: so there must be another child.
Speaker 2: Well, another story, I see. I kind of assumed it
Speaker 2: was going to be her child.
Speaker 1: Oh, her son. Oh wow, that would have been dark
Speaker 1: because he's like, maybe he's six and she's only seventeen. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that would have been Yeah.
Speaker 2: I guess I'd not really considered quite how young she
Speaker 2: was because I think she looks a bit older than
Speaker 2: she is.
Speaker 1: Oh she does, Yeah, definitely. Julia says that she might
Speaker 1: drive down see if she can find him.
Speaker 2: God promises not to. So got the singing tree?
Speaker 1: Singing tree?
Speaker 2: I used to have one of these dudes? Yeah, I
Speaker 2: think I had that same one, very annoying my choice
Speaker 2: or I can't remember. I think I got it a
Speaker 2: Christmas present one year. Okay, I can't what he sang now,
Speaker 2: I can't remember, but he was quite I thought it
Speaker 2: was quite funny. And then he very much become annoying
Speaker 2: as hell.
Speaker 1: Very annoyingly. Yeah. Yeah, and me as passed the test.
Speaker 2: Which is surprising. I'm not gonna lie. Yes, maybe she
Speaker 2: thinks she's worse than she is. Maybe I'm tangling Christmas lights.
Speaker 1: Yeah, which is a sweet little scene tickle time. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I love this how despite obviously the stresses of money
Speaker 1: and everything, they're having a fun time and having a
Speaker 1: nice time as a family.
Speaker 2: Yeah. The family time doesn't have to cost anything so exactly. Yeah,
Speaker 2: you enjoy that. But then Patrick comes home.
Speaker 1: Look him rough.
Speaker 2: Yeah, he needs a good wash and a shave. M hm.
Speaker 2: So then we work out obviously he is the dad,
Speaker 2: he's their son. Stuff's been happening. He's not had a
Speaker 2: good time.
Speaker 1: No, he's really hard to watch. I find he's very
Speaker 1: awkward with his son, like it doesn't know how to
Speaker 1: be with him. Yeah, and obviously very troubled obviously the
Speaker 1: drug issue. Yeah, it's just very awkward to watch, I find.
Speaker 2: Yeah, he plays it so well though. I think he's
Speaker 2: my favorite actor in this.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I think he does such a good job, especially in
Speaker 2: a scene later on. Yeah, and he feels very present
Speaker 2: in the episode, even if he only comes in about
Speaker 2: a third away from the end. Yeah, but he's very impactful.
Speaker 1: Yeah. I mean Connor's clearly very excited to see.
Speaker 2: Him, Yes, which is sweet. How old is this kid
Speaker 2: meant to be? Six? There?
Speaker 1: Do you say? Do they?
Speaker 2: Right?
Speaker 1: Yeah?
Speaker 2: Yeah, so six year old? If he doesn't see him
Speaker 2: very often, that's like an incredible amount of time that
Speaker 2: since he's last seen him.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: So it's nice that he's he's so friendly and not
Speaker 2: sort of who are you? What's going on? Like?
Speaker 1: Mm, so what do we think? Obviously you know he's
Speaker 1: he's got a drug addiction, but I mean, what's happened? Like,
Speaker 1: how has he got to this place?
Speaker 2: Idea? You know, he never even touches on it.
Speaker 1: Does it? No? And like the situation where he's you know,
Speaker 1: they hear via word of mouth, via the grapevine that
Speaker 1: someone's seen him down the pub.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that is very northern. It's just everything gets heard
Speaker 2: about like that. You can't do anything without everyone finding
Speaker 2: out about it up here.
Speaker 1: But I just just you know, it seems like he's
Speaker 1: not in contact with them, and yet he's able to
Speaker 1: let himself in and so.
Speaker 2: Well they just lave a key lying out at the back,
Speaker 2: don't they. I'm assuming it's kind of one beyonder a
Speaker 2: frog at the front or something.
Speaker 1: All right, so next, is this the Julia giving me
Speaker 1: other homemade dress or if I skipped something important?
Speaker 2: Yes, you've missed, You've missed the amazing soup.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, it's sad, isn't it. It really is. Clearly
Speaker 1: he doesn't have any decent meals.
Speaker 2: Or he's trying to be nice as well.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's really sweet.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but yeah, yeah, mainly it's the dress.
Speaker 1: Mm hm, oh this is awful.
Speaker 2: I hate this.
Speaker 1: This is a hard scene. Yeah, brilliantly played.
Speaker 2: I feel so bad for the mom. She's putting all
Speaker 2: this work. Yeah, she's been working on this, probably for
Speaker 2: quite a while, and she's you know, you do something
Speaker 2: for someone you just want to see their eyes light up.
Speaker 1: And oh absolutely, that's very much not how it goes.
Speaker 1: It's just so sad because it's not. It kind of
Speaker 1: would have been easier if she'd just been like, oh,
Speaker 1: this is awful. It's the fact that she's trying so
Speaker 1: hard to be like, oh, you know, thank you, and
Speaker 1: the mum's like she can see that she doesn't like it,
Speaker 1: and they're both trying to be really nice to each other, Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's so painful it is.
Speaker 2: I mean, I don't even think it looks bad. I mean,
Speaker 2: we'll really get to.
Speaker 1: See it very well. I can say. I can't tell. Yeah,
Speaker 1: the camera doesn't focus on it long enough for me
Speaker 1: to notice whether it's good or not.
Speaker 2: But it'd be hard for it to be that good
Speaker 2: if he's not been able to fit it to or
Speaker 2: anything exactly.
Speaker 1: But yeah, yeah, And there's this little laugh that she
Speaker 1: the mom does when she's like, oh, you know, you know,
Speaker 1: I'll probably have to alter it anyway or something, and
Speaker 1: that she's trying to just like be breezy about it
Speaker 1: when she's put so much energy into it, so sweet
Speaker 1: and sad. But then equally, you know, if it is
Speaker 1: as bad as Mia thinks it is, there's no way
Speaker 1: she can wear it this thing.
Speaker 2: No, but if it was me, i'd have worn it
Speaker 2: anyway and then got changed at your friend's house. Like
Speaker 2: the mom doesn't need to know that.
Speaker 1: She'd actually yeah, although then she might be looking to
Speaker 1: see photos from.
Speaker 2: It, or maybe yeah, I didn't take any But yeah,
Speaker 2: if at least if you do that and you get
Speaker 2: found out, you've got the excuse of going When I
Speaker 2: really tried to save your feelings one like exactly.
Speaker 1: Yeah. I suppose it's just you know, she's put on
Speaker 1: the spot, isn't she, Yeah, open it in front of her.
Speaker 1: And also it's the fact when she thinks she might
Speaker 1: have actually got her the dress, when she says, oh,
Speaker 1: for tonight, our mum, you haven't and she's opening it, you.
Speaker 2: Know, Yeah, which makes the lie afterwards even less believable.
Speaker 2: If she's all dead set on whatever plan she's come
Speaker 2: up with, yeah, to wear something for her friend or whatever.
Speaker 1: Yeah, poor Julia, Yeah.
Speaker 2: Bless her. Patrick sets a call and disappears, Yeah, which
Speaker 2: don't look good.
Speaker 1: You can see where his priorities are with addiction. It's
Speaker 1: like that is that is your top priority in the world.
Speaker 1: So yeah, and she's the man's watching him out the window, curious.
Speaker 1: And then the next thing we know her carte's fixing interesting.
Speaker 2: Yeah. So she's chatting to Alex and he wants to
Speaker 2: pay for it because he feels guilty.
Speaker 1: I love that. Yeah, when he'd had that all that
Speaker 1: moaning previously and then suddenly he comes of his own.
Speaker 1: I don't get the impression Trevor's had a word with him.
Speaker 1: I think he genuinely has come to that himself.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so it's what I was saying about the kind
Speaker 1: of realism of it, and that like, it's not just
Speaker 1: these characters are far from two dimensional. They're very three
Speaker 1: dimensional and real and complex.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and the most skin flinty people will be very
Speaker 2: generous when they want to be. Yeah, just because he's
Speaker 2: been you know, penny pension here and there, general life
Speaker 2: with the people he loves, who will give away what
Speaker 2: you can. Then we get to find out what happened
Speaker 2: on the ninth. The nineteenth and the ninth are pretty
Speaker 2: much the same thing, just telling you what happened on
Speaker 2: the ninth, Yeah, because this is where Patrick had really
Speaker 2: entered the story, and he'd come in, stole his mum's
Speaker 2: money and had a fight with the dad that ultimately
Speaker 2: ended up with him the black eye and a broken arm.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I mean I don't think he intended obviously the broken arm,
Speaker 2: but no, just will have fallen badly. But yeah, yeah,
Speaker 2: it's a tough scene.
Speaker 1: Very difficult. Yeah. What do you make of how Patrick
Speaker 1: says that he feels that Trevor humiliates him in front
Speaker 1: of Connor Because I did obviously Trevor's not intentionally doing that. No,
Speaker 1: that's just Patrick's insecurity, isn't it.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Plus Patrick's barely there, so every interaction will seem
Speaker 2: so much more magnified to him. Yeah, and what it
Speaker 2: does to Trevor.
Speaker 1: I think Patrick's jealous of Trevor's connection with his son. Yeah,
Speaker 1: Trevor's not doing anything wrong. No, but Patrick just feels like,
Speaker 1: you know, he's jealous, and he's just like, oh, you're
Speaker 1: humiliating me. You're making me feel that big in front
Speaker 1: of my son.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and making you know, over embellishing the story to
Speaker 2: make himself feel like he's justified in feeling how he feels. Yeah,
Speaker 2: sort of where is me type thing?
Speaker 1: Mm hm at this point as well. I just I mean,
Speaker 1: obviously we don't know, but my question was where slash.
Speaker 1: Who is Connor's mother?
Speaker 2: Yeah, another story I expected to be important.
Speaker 1: Yeah, she's never even mentioned.
Speaker 2: No, not even in passing.
Speaker 1: I don't think. No.
Speaker 2: Presumably had baby ran away like yeah, to be seen again,
Speaker 2: but Patrick's on drugs. Who knows what the mom might
Speaker 2: have been the same situation, yeah, exactly. Yeah, she might
Speaker 2: not even be alive anymore, for all we know.
Speaker 1: I was thinking that. Yeah, I didn't want to say it.
Speaker 1: I didn't want to bring the mood down too much.
Speaker 2: But yeah, he's done that for the last hour. So yeah,
Speaker 2: day twenty. So this is a bit with a really
Speaker 2: good acting I remember from Patrick especially, Yeah, finding out
Speaker 2: about the loan shark and yeah, what's happened, and how
Speaker 2: much he whne he owes a lot, and you know,
Speaker 2: the dad's all like, well, you're part of the family,
Speaker 2: like we're here for you kind of thing. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I love that it doesn't.
Speaker 2: Belittle him or make him feel.
Speaker 1: Like a burden or he's so supportive. Yeah, even though
Speaker 1: this is awful. I mean, you know, this is such
Speaker 1: an awful situation. Yeah, he's such like a supportive dad. Yeah.
Speaker 1: When he says to him, you know, he can't take
Speaker 1: what we haven't got, can he?
Speaker 2: Yeah, like finding the right side?
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, so sweet.
Speaker 2: At no point does he tell him off about it
Speaker 2: or make him feel bad or like and obviously this
Speaker 2: is bad for the parents, like if you've had enough
Speaker 2: for a family that had money, let alone a family
Speaker 2: that doesn't clearly doesn't have anything.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Also when he says about I don't want you
Speaker 1: involved in this or something, and he says, Hey, we
Speaker 1: are in this, so your parents or whatever. He says, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: very sweet it is.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Bobby Schofield that plays Patrick does a fantastic job here,
Speaker 2: especially Yeah, obviously Steve's great, Steve's always great, but.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I feel like you could really tell the improvised
Speaker 1: nests as well. In this scene. There's a line that
Speaker 1: Steve has where he sort of rewords it as he's
Speaker 1: speaking two or three times, and it just felt so natural.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I think it's when he says about do they know,
Speaker 1: does he know? Does he know you're here? Or whatever?
Speaker 1: He says, Yeah, it's really really really well's one that's good.
Speaker 2: Day twenty one. We try and lighten the mood a
Speaker 2: little bit. Well we don't, but do you think there's
Speaker 2: going to be like a break in or something? Yeah,
Speaker 2: and then it's just a Christmas tree lights up and
Speaker 2: start singing and he takes a cricket back.
Speaker 1: Yeah. I don't blame him.
Speaker 2: Yeah, which is a nice little break.
Speaker 1: From the coming. Yeah.
Speaker 2: Oh, we never mentioned it in the last time, but
Speaker 2: we get a reprise now of grandmar snickers.
Speaker 1: Yeah. I thought we deliberately skipped over it because yeah,
Speaker 1: oh no, I didn't. Yeah, I mean, yeah, it's the thing,
Speaker 1: isn't it. Yeah?
Speaker 2: Why not?
Speaker 1: Yeah? So a nice family dinner, it's really nice. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and it's obviously got to be because to provide the contrast.
Speaker 1: Yes later, but yeah, lovely. They're all getting really well.
Speaker 1: Patrick's joining in the games. One of my favorite lines
Speaker 1: is if you want to smirk, go outside, which only
Speaker 1: works in that accent. I I love that so much.
Speaker 1: It's such a dad joke.
Speaker 2: Yeah, oh, massive dad joke, an Northern dad joke. Yeah.
Speaker 2: I gets wracked by a knocks at the.
Speaker 1: Door, very scary.
Speaker 2: Yeah, bundle lever on u upstairs. Patrick goes get a knife.
Speaker 2: This is another thing that I feel why I'm not
Speaker 2: such a fan. It feels a bit Chekhov's knife, that
Speaker 2: it's sort of setting up something that never happens, which
Speaker 2: I don't know.
Speaker 1: I think to that, I would say that something like
Speaker 1: Chekhov's gun, that kind of device is only really relevant
Speaker 1: in more traditional narratives, and I think this is so
Speaker 1: untraditional in the way that it's sort of, you know,
Speaker 1: they've done it very sort of improvised, and they've sort
Speaker 1: of pieced it together through these tiny little vignette I
Speaker 1: feel like it's it doesn't necessarily follow those same expectations.
Speaker 2: No, no, I agree, I agree, and it does. It
Speaker 2: does sort of set up that, you know, you're thinking
Speaker 2: something's happened. Yeah, like they do the whole thing of
Speaker 2: these vignettes, and then you have the gaps in between,
Speaker 2: and you'd left to wonder what happened.
Speaker 1: Yeah, because it's just realistic. He would wouldn't heed be
Speaker 1: terrified and he did want to protect himself.
Speaker 2: Yeah. At least he didn't run though, which is nice.
Speaker 2: He didn't like leave his dad alive.
Speaker 1: Yeah, he stood his ground. Yeah. I think. Yeah, it
Speaker 1: builds up the you know, the thing of oh, this
Speaker 1: is something really bad, and then you find out in
Speaker 1: the next scene what's actually happened. It's the contrast is
Speaker 1: really good.
Speaker 2: Yeah, because Patrick of you know, a week and a
Speaker 2: half ago, probably would have run away, Yes, and they
Speaker 2: wouldn't see him again for three months.
Speaker 1: Yeah. I think that scene you mentioned with the dad
Speaker 1: was really pivotal, Yeah, with him feeling that he actually
Speaker 1: does have the support.
Speaker 2: Yeah, he's not just on the zone in this So
Speaker 2: next day my main note is really sad wife dead.
Speaker 1: Yeah. It felt like a very much like a last
Speaker 1: minutes sort of, Oh, let's give him a bit of
Speaker 1: character development, like, yeah, here's a quick cry and gets
Speaker 1: it over and done.
Speaker 2: It's going to say it gives Reese a chance to cry,
Speaker 2: like everyone else cry. I want to cry, Yeah, show.
Speaker 1: That I can. And then when he's done that for
Speaker 1: about two seconds, it's like, I'm done, I'm done.
Speaker 2: Yeah, let's go back to the plot. Yeah, so here
Speaker 2: we find out that the loan chart's been hit by
Speaker 2: a car. Whoo, which was Now I don't know if
Speaker 2: you'll be impressed here or not knowing how you think?
Speaker 2: So he said it was hit last last Tuesday. Yeah,
Speaker 2: So therefore I've now worked that back and I've labeled
Speaker 2: every day of the week to work out what.
Speaker 1: I care, what day? I like it, I like it,
Speaker 1: it upsets.
Speaker 2: I don't know if it would be realistic that her
Speaker 2: driving test was on a Sunday.
Speaker 1: Okay, they probably don't do them on a Sunday.
Speaker 2: I can't remember, but she did have a driving lesson
Speaker 2: on a Saturday, which is probably likely if it was
Speaker 2: your uncle doing it.
Speaker 1: Okay, so what day are you taking it that she
Speaker 1: went out in the car.
Speaker 2: Well, presumably it has to be the day of the soup.
Speaker 1: Yeah, when he gets the phone buzz and goes off quickly.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah, because then the day the next day the car
Speaker 1: need's fixing.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and it couldn't have been the day before because
Speaker 2: Patrick Roone just turned up that.
Speaker 1: Day unless it was the day of the car neid
Speaker 1: in fixing.
Speaker 2: Well potentially, so they have that driving practice on the Saturday.
Speaker 2: He does say, you know you've got another We'll see
Speaker 2: you again on Saturday. Oh okay, So presumably it's a
Speaker 2: Saturday thing they go out and do driving lessons.
Speaker 1: But maybe they do do test north on Sunday, don't Maybe.
Speaker 2: I don't remember. I can't remember it so a while
Speaker 2: since I failed several times, but they were all weekdays.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I like that.
Speaker 2: M hmm, I thought you might.
Speaker 1: Yes, I remember in my twelve days of Christine working
Speaker 1: out all the years and boring everyone to tears with that.
Speaker 2: So Christmas of that year fell on a Wednesday, if
Speaker 2: anyone wants to know, Okay, so yeah, Loan Sharks will
Speaker 2: know over he's in critical care.
Speaker 1: So I feel like if there is a twist in
Speaker 1: this said, it's that that Yeah, Julia was responsible for that,
Speaker 1: although it's not made explicit, but you have to be
Speaker 1: two and two together.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I didn't. I think I thought that it
Speaker 2: was Alex that had done it. Oh, because he taught,
Speaker 2: he's the one that says about it, and you know,
Speaker 2: family will do whatever and all that kind of stuff.
Speaker 2: M I kind of think I thought it was him,
Speaker 2: or that he was covering and it was actually Mea
Speaker 2: had done it, not intentionally, and like in one of
Speaker 2: their driving lessons or something, and he's covering up this
Speaker 2: horrible thing that his niece has done. Yeah, but yeah,
Speaker 2: I think it is much more obvious that it's Julia really.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, and it's nice that both parents have secretly
Speaker 1: done something to support Patrick without wanting anyone else to know.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Nice symmetry there.
Speaker 2: They're all on his side.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: We've got a last little section of just Trevor and
Speaker 2: Julia wrapping presence Christmas Eve. He confesses or she confesses
Speaker 2: to knowing that he didn't take the money.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that Patrick's told her, Yeah.
Speaker 2: Which is good. I think he's owning up to what
Speaker 2: he's done.
Speaker 1: Yeah, cut your credits. Yeah, it's a sweet ending when
Speaker 1: they tell each other they love each other and everything
Speaker 1: and embrace. It's very sweet, and they refer to plodding On, Yes,
Speaker 1: which obviously comes back as a title later on.
Speaker 2: Yeah, apparently that was the we were going to call
Speaker 2: it that originally, Yes, this episode.
Speaker 1: But yeah, on the podcast Steve Goes, we couldn't call
Speaker 1: it that. Can you imagine watching an episode called plodding On?
Speaker 2: So yeah, it is nice, is like we said at
Speaker 2: the start, for what it is, it is nice exactly. Yeah,
Speaker 2: I think it's good. But if it were true inside
Speaker 2: number nine, like considering how I find Alex looks a
Speaker 2: little bit shifty and a little bit weird, Like if
Speaker 2: it had been a regular episode and number side number nine,
Speaker 2: he would still in the uncle. He would be the
Speaker 2: father of this child. The mother would be mea. There'd
Speaker 2: be some horrible like incestuous situation has gone on, yeah,
Speaker 2: and like and then the aliens would have turned up.
Speaker 1: Yeah, completely, just an episode put some.
Speaker 2: Horrible interst situation. I wouldn't be surprised at I'm sure
Speaker 2: I saw some interview with Reese where they talked about
Speaker 2: this and everyone assumed he was the bad guy.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think on the podcast he said that people
Speaker 1: assumed he was a pedophile because there was this line
Speaker 1: where he says about me, oh don't she look lovely
Speaker 1: or something, and apparently everyone was like, oh, he's a
Speaker 1: dodgy one, yeah, because he always is. Yeah, but he
Speaker 1: was like, no, that was just genuinely just being nice, like, yeah,
Speaker 1: you try to be a nice KUYD. None believes you.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but yeah, I fully expected the kid to get
Speaker 2: abducted or the sun to have an overdose or something
Speaker 2: horrible to happen, and obviously that's not nice, But that
Speaker 2: felt much more in keeping with the series.
Speaker 1: Yeah. I suppose it is in a way comparable to
Speaker 1: something like Empty Orchestra, where it's like quite a happy
Speaker 1: ending and there aren't any major sort of disasters.
Speaker 2: He is a happy ending.
Speaker 1: Yeah, everyone bought the drug dealer, Yeah, shark sorry, Yeah, then.
Speaker 2: He might pull through it be a Christmas miracle, who knows,
Speaker 2: but hope not. But when your sort of twist is
Speaker 2: there isn't really a.
Speaker 1: Twist, it's a little bit disappointing.
Speaker 2: It just feels a bit like, oh, you've built up nothing.
Speaker 2: M I saw that. Steve said it's his favorite episode
Speaker 2: or one of his favorite episodes. Yes he did, yes,
Speaker 2: which seems so weird.
Speaker 1: Do a lot of people like this episode or dislike
Speaker 1: this episode.
Speaker 2: Do you think I think it's usually on the bottom
Speaker 2: of the in the sort of bottom ten percent of
Speaker 2: rankings kind of thing.
Speaker 1: Yes, because you did. You did mention last week after
Speaker 1: we finished recording something, and then I'm going to try
Speaker 1: and recreate the noise that I made when you told me.
Speaker 1: But oh, I remember that. Yeah, so what was it?
Speaker 2: You found a TikTok list a ranking of all the episodes,
Speaker 2: and someone had put this as their number one.
Speaker 1: Oh, I think I missed some noise like that, and
Speaker 1: you said I expect that exact noise when I tell
Speaker 1: it on the podcast next week. I've forgotten that. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: it was quite a shock that it would be someone's
Speaker 1: number one.
Speaker 2: I could understand some people really love it for whatever reason. Yeah,
Speaker 2: but it to actually be the top one seems a
Speaker 2: stretch in a way says to me that you don't
Speaker 2: it's not this.
Speaker 1: Show you like, yes, exactly, like you've liked a different
Speaker 1: show exactly.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, be try watching EastEnders or something. But that,
Speaker 2: in a way is the great thing about this series
Speaker 2: that Yeah, yes I don't like it. I'm not a
Speaker 2: big fan, but listening for everyone like someone else really
Speaker 2: loved it. If anyone wants to make the Poirot vampire story,
Speaker 2: oh I'm here for someone to pitch that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that would be very entertaining.
Speaker 2: Boy has to team up with with what's his face?
Speaker 1: Van Helsing?
Speaker 2: Van Helsing? That's the one. Yeah, mean has been murdered
Speaker 2: and yeah, what's going on?
Speaker 1: So, I mean, we've been putting off this question, but yeah,
Speaker 1: what we're going to rate it?
Speaker 2: Well, you go first. It seems slightly more positive.
Speaker 1: I'm so stumped.
Speaker 2: I am.
Speaker 1: I'm so stumped because I'm looking at my lower end. Yes,
Speaker 1: I'm looking at what I've put towards the bottom of
Speaker 1: my list, and Empty Orchestra's got a one and and
Speaker 1: the Winner has got a two, And I'm trying to
Speaker 1: decide would I rather watch I'd rather watch this than
Speaker 1: Empty Orchestra? Yes, because I just find that so difficult
Speaker 1: to watch. Yea, and the Winner is it's probably on
Speaker 1: a part. So I think I'll give this a two
Speaker 1: as well. Even though I think it's really good, I
Speaker 1: just don't think it's a good episode of in Souvenumber nine.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's the thing, Like, if I'm ranking it as
Speaker 2: just in general, no, it's probably a six or some
Speaker 2: six or seven or something of just a regular drama,
Speaker 2: like it's a very very good episode of EastEnders.
Speaker 1: Like yeah, but then are we being unfair? You know?
Speaker 1: But will be saying, well, you can't do something different
Speaker 1: with this, so you know it's hard, isn't it.
Speaker 2: You've kind of taught me around in all of this chat,
Speaker 2: and I've been surprised at how much we've had to
Speaker 2: talk about. And I'm looking back at previous episodes and
Speaker 2: I think I'm going to surprise you, say a three.
Speaker 1: Wow, Okay, Yeah.
Speaker 2: I'm trying to give it the benefit of what it did. Yeah,
Speaker 2: because I've ranked that the same sort of level of
Speaker 2: the Understudy okay, which I wouldn't really want to watch
Speaker 2: either again massively really higher than Winner Is Empty Orchestra.
Speaker 1: Yeah. It's funny because I started this saying I think
Speaker 1: I liked it more than you, and I've given it
Speaker 1: a lower number.
Speaker 2: Now, Yeah, well I was expecting to do a four
Speaker 2: or five.
Speaker 1: Yeah, but I'm looking at others and I'm like, last gasp,
Speaker 1: I gave a three, and I quite enjoy that. There's
Speaker 1: some good bits in that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I gave that a four and I'm thinking that
Speaker 2: was I'd probably just rather rewatch that than they.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I just I wait now for the moment
Speaker 1: when I put up our rankings on social media at
Speaker 1: the end of the series. Yeah, and you always get
Speaker 1: people commenting and like in shock at what we've given
Speaker 1: some episodes. Yeah, yeah, sorry, but that's how it works.
Speaker 2: That person that ranked it at the top won't be happy.
Speaker 1: No, they won't any clue where the hair was, you know.
Speaker 2: What, I completely even forgot to look for it. It
Speaker 2: could be fucking anywhere.
Speaker 1: I haven't supotted it for ages.
Speaker 2: Where do we think it was?
Speaker 1: I'm guessing, well, somewhere in the house. I was going
Speaker 1: to say, somewhere in the kitchen. That's really helpful, isn't it,
Speaker 1: because the whole episode is in the kitchen.
Speaker 2: I completely forgot to look.
Speaker 1: I'm going to guess on the microwave if they have
Speaker 1: a microwave.
Speaker 2: Oh, it's quite a tricky one. It's in their sort
Speaker 2: of Welsh dresser in the bit like the coveredy bit
Speaker 2: at the top with the glass. It's on the bottom
Speaker 2: shelf in there. And did you support our episode title.
Speaker 2: We'll be back to tell you next week where that was.
Speaker 1: We will we're back with Misdirection next week. Hm.
Speaker 2: Another one I haven't seen since it aired, have you know?
Speaker 2: I'm very excited for I haven't watched it again. I
Speaker 2: don't know why. Yeah, I remember enjoying it.
Speaker 1: Though, Yeah, I remember really liking it. Yeah. Just before
Speaker 1: we finish, I want to share another lovely message that's
Speaker 1: comeing to us.
Speaker 2: I like these these are nice.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's lovely, isn't it. This one is from Katie. Hi, Katie,
Speaker 1: she says, can I just say that you guys are
Speaker 1: my favorite podcast at the moment. It will be a
Speaker 1: somber day when you finally discuss series nine, Episode nine,
Speaker 1: Episode nine. I think she means episode six.
Speaker 2: She's done at once, removed and we flipped tipside down.
Speaker 1: Yeah, if you ever desire to create a podcast that's
Speaker 1: asking the other works of Stephen Reese, just now I
Speaker 1: will be there to listen and love. Keep up the
Speaker 1: wonderful work.
Speaker 2: Oh so sweet, it's Katie.
Speaker 1: Yeah, thank you. We really do appreciate hearing people who enjoy.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's lovely.
Speaker 1: Because yeah, we're just waffling away at me and yeah,
Speaker 1: nice to know that people actually listen and enjoy. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it is, but yeah, I don't think there's anything else
Speaker 1: to say. We'll see you next time for misdirection indeed,
Speaker 1: But until then, I think it's time to close the
Speaker 1: advent calendar door or number nine.
Speaker 2: But you never really leave, do you.
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening to the Ninth Degree. If you'd like
Speaker 1: to get in touch, you can find us on Instagram, Twitter,
Speaker 1: and TikTok at ninth Degree Pod, or email us at
Speaker 1: ninth Degree Pod at gmail dot com. You can also
Speaker 1: leave us a rating or a review wherever you get
Speaker 1: your podcasts