Analysis of 'Inside No.9'

First select ONE episode of a UK TV series or serial, and analyse its narrative structure, in relation to the whole series/serial. Secondly, compare it to the advice on structure given in ONE UK screenwriting manual, THEN drawing conclusions about how closely your analysis fits with the advice given. Finally, say what implications are there for understanding how most TV drama is structured.

According to Robert Mckee (1998, p. 33) an event in a narrative is merely a change. Mckee states however that an event should be meaningful and should be used to evoke emotion in a character that will often lead to another event or conflict. Powerful events evoke powerful emotion from the characters and undoubtedly leads to more conflicts or events which drive the story forward. Conflicts are obviously conflicts of ideas or emotions between characters whereas events are also used to express ideas but not necessarily in an argumentative form. Events also add ‘story values’ says Mckee (1998. p. 34). ‘Story values’ are fed off events or coincidences. If an opening shot is of a violent storm which is destroying a house then this would not count as an event because it’s a random coincidence but it would evoke a negative value alongside the values of death, destruction and survival.

Robert Mckee outlines how a beat is an exchange of actions and reactions (1998. p. 37). An engaging dialogue constitutes to the beats of the scene and emphasises the ideas of each character that we have in our heads. In an argument between two characters the beats consist of the responses from each character to the others points. This composition of beats can develop tension or generate humour and add the momentum of the journey and sequence. Often these beats make up a conflict and these conflicts lead up to a main event. Mckee states how every one event is usually in one scene so an event is a scene in his terms.

Mckee (1998. p. 38) a sequence is a collection of scenes that will culminate with the scene with the most change and so by the end of the sequence the outcome is completely different to how it the story was at the start. There is usually in this climactic scene a reversal of ‘values’ which lead us on to the next sequence. Mckee also talks about Acts in his book (1998. P.41), Acts are a collection of sequences but with a thirty minute TV show sequences and acts can be hard to define from each other. The ‘story climax’ is usually the very final scene at the end of the last act which brings about an absolute and irreversible change.

Finally on talking about McKee’s principles of structure I will touch upon his three plot designs. McKee (1998. P. 44) says how there are three designs of a plot there’s the ‘archplot’, the ‘miniplot’ and the ‘antiplot’. The ‘archplot’ is the classical design which includes causality, closed ending, linear time, external conflict, single protagonist and a consistent reality. This is the type of plot that is the timeless and is the most culturally widespread type of story used. Its principles says Mckee (1998. P. 45) are found in books from the dawn of literature such as the Gilgamesh a 4000 year old book. The ‘antiplot’ is another plot structure which is characterised by coincidence, non linear time and inconsistent realities which reverses the ‘archplot’s’ traits. Finally a ‘miniplot’ is a plot that strives to be more minimalist with just four main ingredients open ended story, internal conflict, passive protagonists and multiple protagonists. This last plot type is good for stories with a twist because it features many characters that the audience may question and the open ended story allows to dwell on the final conclusion after the story has finished.

‘Inside No 9’ is a TV series written by Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith. Each episode is independent from each other in the sense that no episode has a contextual attachment to another one. However I am by no means saying that every episode is different in its tone either. They all share common narrative structures, and characters in different episodes have similar traits.  The genre is horror mystery yet there is always an undertone of dark satire present and as Pemberton (2004) responds in an interview with Bruce Dessau from The Independent there is always the ‘desire to wrongfoot the viewer’.

The episode (‘La Couchette’ 2015, the first episode of the second series) is the first in the second series and is situated as the name suggests within a sleeper carriage on a train to France. The narrative structure of the episode is accustomed to the small space like a lot of the other episodes. The name of the show Inside No 9 is a play on the idea that every episode is situated in a house, apartment, couchette etc. with the number 9 on the door. By doing this they link up the anthology nicely but not in its contextual relation to the other episodes but within the way it almost treats the viewer like a postman. The episode begins with Maxwell the protagonist closing the curtains of the coach trapping the viewer into the uncomfortable environment and from here the beats begin.

Maxwell the character who we follow the most in the episode is trying to get to sleep in the carriage but every time he tries to sleep he is disrupted by someone coming in and disturbing the silence. The grunts and moans of the rude German traveller although not actual words or phrases are still beats which Maxwell reacts to with at times a tut or a sigh or at other times a firm word. With every messy, disgusting action the German makes there is a disgruntled reaction from Maxwell the doctor and this action from the doctor causes a reaction from some of the other passengers who find his reaction funny. This composition of beats develops tension in Maxwell and humour in the other characters adding the momentum of the sequence. This dialogue constitutes to the beats of the scene and emphasises the ideas of each character that we have in our heads.

The first sequence is an introduction of the first two characters built amongst the dialogue of each of them trying to get to sleep. You could say that each sequence is for each set of characters coming in and getting introduced. Here is where the identification of sequences, scenes and acts can become unclear especially in a short half an hour episode. Mckee says that a sequence is made up of a few scenes but in ‘Inside No.9’ some sequences only have one scene in them (Mckee 1998. P. 38). Because of this I am inclined to think that the writers weren’t too concerned with scenes, sequences and acts but had a looser grip on the formalities of these inclusions. I see (‘La Couchette’ 2015) as a two-act play and believe it was structured like this deliberately. The first act finished with the main event and the second act is an exposure of the characters’ hidden truths.

The Main Event takes place after the first few scenes where the characters are being introduced. This finishes the first Act bringing about a complete and irreversible change that fits with Mckee’s principles. A dead body is found in the carriage suddenly the previous annoyance, disgust and humour of the beats between characters is extinguished. Now negative ‘values’ are evoked such as horror and mystery. The viewer is now wondering who has done it.

By the nature of ‘Inside No.9’ we know that there is going to be some kind of twist leading off this dead body and suspect that perhaps one of the characters is responsible. In all the episodes of the show there is always a reference to a death: it’s not always shown and is sometimes only mentioned in passing between characters but it is always present. For instance in the episode (‘Cold Comfort’ 2015) the audience follow the workers at a help line for the depressed and death is talked about over the phone. I see this as a linking element to the narrative structure of the series. Not only does the twist often arise from the death or a conflict or mystery that needs to be solved but when the viewer knows that there’s undoubtedly a death around the corner then they are always guessing what the mystery is.            

There is a sudden conflict of ideas between what should be done with the body between the characters. There are ‘values’ of guilt and innocence in the characters as warning the guards would disrupt their important journeys. The beats between characters are conflicts between each other and their own morality most with a good argument to back up their reason not to tell the guards. The rhythm of the beats slow down as the journey comes to an end and the conflict is resolved as the characters decide not to tell anyone about the body. This brings us to the final scenes of the second act where the ‘story climax’ takes place.

The ‘story climax’ in (‘La Couchette’ 2015) is right at the end when all the characters are leaving the train. Mckee (1998. P. 42) says that the ‘story climax’ is where the part of the story where any conflicts that previously had a foothold are resolved, any people who weren’t friends make up and some characters who were say, previously shy and miserable, are now victorious and confident. In (‘La Couchette’ 2015) the two travellers who were previously arguing are now going to go off exploring together and the couple who had a conflict of emotions over the dead body are now happy.

Finally, when everyone has left the carriage Maxwell says to the dead body ‘terribly sorry, but there can only be one candidate…’ (Maxwell, 2015). Maxwell the doctor, who was so eager to get an undisturbed sleep for his interview, was the murderer who committed the crime so that he wouldn’t have any competition for the job. Contrary to the viewers expectations the drunk German is the doctor rather than the dead man. Here are two huge twists of character profiles that fit in with the Mckee’s principles of a ‘story climax’.

I would say (‘La Couchette’ 2015) is a ‘miniplot’. The main ingredients of this are an open ended story, internal conflict, passive protagonists and multiple protagonists. Maxwell you could say is the main character because we start with just him and finish the same but Mckee highlights that if the episode is split into smaller sub plot-sized stories each with a separate protagonist then this denotes multiple protagonists which is a trait of the episode. We follow numerous characters intentions and ambitions in the episode not just one. The ending is left open ended because Maxwell is just left there on his own with the body looking at it in horror at what he has done. The viewer is left trying to work out what is going to happen next. The internal conflict is present in the arguing between characters in what to do with the body and the passive protagonist is the German in this argument because he neither says leave the body or call the police.

‘La Couchette’ shares many aspects of narrative structure with the other episodes in the Inside No.9 series. In the episode ‘Sardines’ the characters are crammed into a cupboard in a game of sardines and from here the characters are introduced in the claustrophobic space like ‘La Couchette’. ‘Sardines’ also follows the ‘miniplot’ style with multiple protagonists and a passive protagonist and makes use of an increase in tension with the increase in the number of characters that get introduced and therefore the intensity of beats. It includes a climactic scene at the end of a first act which brings about new conflicts and finishes with a ‘story climax’ which reverses our preconceptions of the characters in the cupboard. All in all the whole series follows a similar narrative structure.

In ‘Poetics’ (1999), Aristotle discusses tragedy and comedy and suggest that comedy is the presentation of less desirables, an imitation of people ‘worse’ than the average… a falling from the ideal into one single form of such degeneracy, the ridiculous.’ (1999, P. 41). Inside No.9 is a comedy in its presentation of undesirables, capitalising on the naivety of their judgement and their immoral tendencies.
Most TV drama’s certainly do follow the principles of screen narrative put forward by writers such as Robert Mckee and Aristotle. If you were to analyse most TV shows they would fit the patterns and styles mentioned in these guides. Most Screenwriters have been taught the craft in school and university or have taught themselves with these guides and so they do follow these principles put forward. Its worth mentioning however that we have a basic understanding of how to compose stories anyway, an almost natural skill which we inherit.
Some screenwriters rely on their natural judgement and don’t follow these principles and this method can produce very interesting and experimental work. However just because you are not adhering to the principles doesn’t mean to say your are thinking outside the box, you can use principles as tools to think outside the box.
Kenneth Mcleish states that ‘Aristotle in poetics seems persistently to imply, without saying explicitly, that if more writers of the present followed the routes taken by geniuses of the past – routes he sets out in detail – both drama and its spectators would be far healthier.’ (1999. P.ix). Although what he says may sound detaining writers can still follow geniuses of the past whilst also being geniuses in themselves.
Mckee makes clear that his book is about ‘principles, not rules’ (1998. P.3) rules being necessity and principles being an aid. He says that ‘all notions of paradigms and fool proof story models for commercial success are nonsense’ (1998 P. 3). He’s keen to point out that it is false to believe that following his principles is a route to success.
‘La Coachette’ follows both Mckee’s and Aristotles principles whilst still maintaining the ability to surprise the viewer and this shows skill and ingenuity. The writers of ‘Inside No.9’ achieve surprise by mastering the art of the twist and achieving in misleading the audience. Greatness in screenwriting is about adhering to the principles of screenwriting whilst also maintaining individualism and adding to the craft.

Bibliography

Mckee, R. (1998) Story .London: Methuen Publishing limited

Dessau, B. (2014) ‘Gentlemen in a league of their own: Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton discuss their new series’ The independent, 2^nd Febuary. Availaible at: http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/gentlemen-in-a-league-of-their-own-reece-shearsmith-and-steve-pemberton-discuss-their-new-series-9099014.html (Accessed. 16th November 2015)

Inside No.9 Season 1 (2014) BBC Two Televison, 26^th March.

 ‘A quite night in’ Episode 2, BBC 2 Television 12^th February

‘Sardines’ Episode 1, BBC 2 Television 5^th February

Inside No.9 Season 2 (2014) BBC Two Television,

‘La Couchette’ Episode 1, BBC 2 Television 26^th March

‘Cold Comfort’ Episode 4, BBC 2 Television 16^th April

Aristotle, Poetics. Translated by Kenneth Mcleish London: Nick Hern Books, 1999.