| Series: | Inside No. 9 |
| Director: | Barbara Wiltshire |
| Producer: | Claire McCarthy |
| Length: | 32 minutes |
| Guests: | Stephanie Cole as Moira O'Keefe |
| Prev: | Tempting Fate |
| Next: | The Referee's a W***er |
"Dead Line" is a Halloween special episode of the British black comedy anthology television programme Inside No. 9. Written by Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith, the episode was directed by Barbara Wiltshire and was first broadcast live on 28 October 2018, on BBC Two. It stars Pemberton, Shearsmith and Stephanie Cole.[1] [2] [3] The episode was filmed at Granada Studios, infamous for supposedly being haunted, and its many disasters.
Arthur Flitwick (Steve Pemberton) returns home with a phone he has found and wishes to give it back to the owner. He calls the last number dialled, Moira O'Keefe (Stephanie Cole). She says it belongs to Elsie Mitchelle, and says to contact the local vicar, Reverend Neil (Reece Shearsmith). At evening, Neil enters the house.
Technical issues arise, and the characters are inaudible. After some time, an announcer (Becky Wright) apologizes for the issues with the sound, and the issues prove to be unfixable. As a replacement for the episode, "A Quiet Night In" is rerun. The rerun is also marred by technical issues, with distorted music and glitchy visuals. A spirit is seen outside the house, begging for attention. The announcer apologizes once again, but after her apology, she asks "Is someone there?" and screams.
The episode cuts to live CCTV footage of the set. It then suddenly cuts to footage of an infamous incident of live filming going wrong. During filming of Public Enemy Number One, Bobby Davro was put in stocks, and the prop failed, nearly killing Davro. There is another cut, to a feed of Pemberton and Shearsmith complaining about the technical issues, and the episode in general.
The episode cuts to an episode of Most Haunted that discusses the hauntings that occur within Granada Studios. It then jumps back to studio footage of the phone ringing. Cole picks it up and talks for a while with an unknown person. Meanwhile, Pemberton and Shearsmith are reading through the various disasters within Granada Studios. They then discover they are being broadcast.
Rehearsal footage is then shown. Arthur is covered in blood, holding a knife, as Moira helps herself into his apartment. She says she has received a "very strange message" from Neil. Arthur hastily dresses up, and denies that he ever met with Neil although Neil's folding bicycle is visible in the background. Moira decides to heat an egg for Arthur, and discovers Neil's head inside the microwave oven. Arthur claims that Neil murdered Elsie for money from her will, and that he knew this as Elsie told him this on her phone. As Pemberton moves away from the camera, a figure is visible behind him.
Back to live studio footage, Shearsmith comes to talk with Cole. She seems possessed, and talks about the spirits in the studio. Shearsmith leaves to make a cup of tea, and Cole kills herself by slicing her neck. A water bucket falls over by itself, and television screens shut off. The Most Haunted episode is then played, where they discuss that just opposite Granada Studios, the Church of St John's has a graveyard with 22,000 bodies.
The broadcast cuts to Shearsmith's bodycam, making tea. He hears banging, and investigates the electrical room. Pemberton puts down the prop of Neil's head, and he jumpscares Shearsmith. The electricity goes haywire, and Pemberton is electrocuted, and paralyzed.
A fabricated news broadcast is played of "Alan Starr", who supposedly hanged himself in Granada after suffering schizophrenic episodes and paranormal incidents. He recorded "voice phenomena" of a spirit saying "let us be". Genuine archive footage of a news broadcast is played. Costumes, sets, and props for The Jewel in the Crown were stored in a Granada building, which was set on fire, destroying everything. The episode cuts back to Shearsmith, who runs around the studio asking for help. The lights go out, and Shearsmith seems to be alone. He gets increasingly panicked, and the camera is increasingly glitchy. He is then jumped by the spirit of Alan Starr.
Footage of The One Show is played, of an interview with Shearsmith and Pemberton, where Shearsmith denies the existence of ghosts. A clip of "A Quiet Night In" is played, of Shearsmith and Pemberton getting shot, repeated constantly, at increasing speed. A cut to black, and a whisper is heard: "Let us be".