2.3 The Trial Of Elizabeth Gadge. “It’s like The Crucible, but with a few extra gags thrown in” – Steve Pemberton on this week’s episode The third instalment of this series of Inside No. 9 took us back to a perilous, and ridiculous, time in British history – the witch trials of the 17th century. In the small town of Little Happens, witchfinders Mr Warren (Shearsmith) and Mr Clarke (Pemberton) arrive to trial local woman Elizabeth Gadge for the crime of witchcraft. Employed by Justice of the Peace Sir Andrew Pike to find her guilty (or innocent. But, this being a witch trial, probably guilty), the visitors take statements from her son-in-law Thomas and her daughter Goody Nutter, local cobbler Richard Two-Shoes, and neighbour George Waterhouse, while making time for some interrogation and torture, and coming face to face with a demon mouse called Snowflake. And this week’s players are given some great gags. There’s imaginative use of old-English colloquialisms, creative euphemisms, and lots of crudity slipped into the antiquated patterns of speech – ‘teat’ jokes have never sounded so high-brow. There’s some fun with the inherent ridiculousness of the witch trials that swept through the world all those centuries ago, and opportunities for word play aren’t skipped by (the pay-off for Kaye’s character name of ‘Two-Shoes’ not coming until the 17 minute mark with a “Bring forth Goody Two-Shoes!” from Warner). Jokes about the time period never get too knowing beyond a scene playing on the 1600s’ lack of cameras; no A Knight’s Tale anachronisms are slipped into the scenery for cheap laughs. Though, even the cheaper laughs in The Trial Of Elizabeth Gadge are pretty fantastic, as Shearsmith and Pemberton can always be relied on for great comedy. Pike’s erotic fascination with the witchfinders’ instruments of torture, and need for specifics on exactly where Gadge is accused to have kissed the devil (“Was it right on the hole, or just the cheek?”) bring laughs, as does Kaye’s fight for his wife’s honour with an effusive description of her oral sex skills. It speaks to Inside No. 9’s variety that a blow job gag can sit comfortably next to an episode as emotional as last week’s Christine. Last week’s Inside No. 9 may have made you cry; the week before, scratch your chin with what the final twist could possibly be. This episode will make you laugh, which is a nice spot of relief from the intensity we’ve had from this series so far. The Trial Of Elizabeth Gadge might not be as flashy as La Couchette and The 12 Days Of Christine, but it sure is a good bit of fun. Read Phoebe-Jane’s review of the previous episode, The 12 Days Of Christine, here. Follow our Twitter feed for faster news and bad jokes right here. And be our Facebook chum here.
