Inside No. 9 (TV Series) Paraskevidekatriaphobia (2023) User Reviews

Paraskevidekatriaphobia

[Prismark10 · 7/10 · 6 May 2023]

Paraskevidekatriaphobia is a fear of Friday 13th. Gareth (Reece Shearsmith) is a superstitious man who fears Friday 13th. He stays at home that day, pulling a sickie for work.

This Friday the 13th does not go according to plan. A postwoman Sue (Samantha Spiro) making a delivery wants to use the toilet and gets locked in.

Barry (Steve Pemberton) is the locksmith called in but he also brings his granddaughter who he is also looking after.

Just the recipe for everything to go wrong. However it is all a set up orchestrated by Gareth's wife Dana (Amanda Abbington) to snap her husband out of his superstitions.

The episode opens with some silent comedy type antics as Gareth is bothered by a black cat.

The set up in this episode are a series of incremental twists. You still wonder if this will have a happy ending or not.

Enneaphobia

[southdavid · 8/10 · 7 May 2023]

Whilst I'd say that my favourite episode of "Inside Number 9" are usually the ones with strong horror elements, I would say that second on the list is the farces, and this episode is another one in that category, albeit one with a grim sting in the tail.

Gareth (Reece Shearsmith) has a crippling fear of Friday the 13th and so takes the day off work to hide at home. His fearful peace is interrupted by the arrival of the postwoman, Sue (Samantha Spiro) who needs him to sign for a package. Desperate for her to leave, he's beyond frustrated when she gets locked in his toilet and a second person, locksmith Johnny (Steve Pemberton) arrives to let her out.

As a simple farce it worked for me, but it did step up a gear when it was revealed what was actually going on, a reveal that for once I didn't see coming. Again, as with last week, it's not entirely new ground we're covering here. Shearsmith has played obsessive nutcases several times in the run and it was the episode "Diddle Diddle Dumpling" that I thought we were veering close to again here, particularly with Amanda Abbington playing Gareth's obviously frustrated wife, but again, the revelations took us away from that. Samantha Spiro and Pemberton are good, with the opportunity to play two sets of fairly broad characters. Moyo Akande's arrival dressed as a Las Vegas showgirl further pushed me towards the idea that this was all taking place in Gareth's mind, or towards an idea that show actually flirts with at the end.

Funnier than last week, and ending on a late sting. Good Stuff.

May 4

[bobcobb301 · 7/10 · 10 May 2023]

A good, not great, episode of Inside No. 9 here tonight. I'm not going to even try to pronounce the title of the episode or the syndrome, but I have to admit to having a little bit of this in me, but thankfully not as much as Gareth does.

I guess there was a good "twist" at the end with his wife perishing from a "car accident" after opening the umbrella indoors and being under it.

But this had that signature Inside No. 9 comedy to it, and combined with a very intriguing premise and concept. Hopefully this gets this eighth season back on the right track and we can get some more classics from the show.

Yep, it's a real word, great episode.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 9/10 · 5 May 2023]

Gareth suffers with a major phobia of Friday 13th, so much so that he can't leave the house, one day

First of all I had to do a Google search, and I can confirm that Paraskevidekatriaphobia is an actual word, truly the fear of Friday 13th.

So the main questions, where did those teeth come from, and what exactly happened on that day, Friday October 13th 1978....

I have a feeling this is going to be one of those episodes that develops something of a cult following, I truly think it's that good. I'm only surprised that the guys didn't do a superstitions themed episode earlier on.

Those teeth and that hair both were funny, finally Samantha Spiro appears on the show, she's fantastic.

It's amazing to observe just how superstitious many people are, consciously and unconsciously, seeing people skirting around ladders or tipping the wink towards a single magpie.

The twist at the end was so unexpected, a great shock.

9/10.

A chaotic and entertaining episode!

[becky-92346 · 10/10 · 19 May 2023]

Paraskevidekatriaphobia - Inside No.9 S8 E3 (2023) follows a man who is afraid of Friday the 13th, and he finds his fear is confirmed when a series of mishaps take place in his home. This is yet another perfect episode of Inside No.9! It has the perfect amount of dark comedy and a cast full of brilliant actors.

The cinematography is incredibly subtle, with some professional camerawork and clear shots. The lighting is well done too. In terms of other visual aspects, both the set design and costume design are very visually pleasing in this episode!

The sound design in this episode is very fun, and perfectly over-the-top. The original score itself is anxiety inducing and tense, flawlessly capturing the emotions that the lead character is going through.

The characters, as always, are written with a lot of depth and the dialogue is quick and witty to go alongside. Reece Shearsmith really shines in this episode, his character is incredibly interesting and at times deeply relatable. I sympathised with him a lot!

Lastly, the pacing is very consistent making for a fun and high tension watch! It's super chaotic with many twists and turns and it pulls off the tonal shifts extremely well. What really impressed me is the ending, which is perfectly comedic and horrifically dark. It made me gasp and laugh at the same time!

The day before Saturday the 14th

[safenoe · 7/10 · 31 October 2023]

Paraskevidekatriaphobia is the third episode of season 8 of Inside No. 9, and it has the slapstick or slapdash approach that brings out the laughs with the heavy humor and all that init. Paraskevidekatriaphobia guest stars the statuesque Moyo Akende who pretty much steals this episode of Inside No. 9. Anyway, Paraskevidekatriaphobia brings out all the western superstitions and plays it to the hilt, with a ladder, umbrella (which was the sad punchline at the end), salt, black cat, you name it init.

Paraskevidekatriaphobia seems to divide audiences just like most Inside No. 9 episodes but it's worth watching. I loved the reference to the Friday the 13th movie.

Oh no.

[srrrrdjw · 7/10 · 6 May 2023]

Not my favorite, not a particularly pleasant experience either. I have to imagine this was completely unintentional, but it was similar to an episode from the 1980s reboot of the Twilight Zone. For anybody who might remember, perhaps the Card (credit card episode) or something like that, just a very in your face incarnation of folklore and superstition with heaps of irony and absurdity. It makes for a memorable story -- but not in a wholly positive way. There are two or three ideas that are best represented by the image of people screaming "You've got to believe me!" "Can't you see what you're doing?!" and "Don't tell me you can't remember!"

It's really not that bad, but it is extremely uncomfortable. And the episode is about a man with a fear of Friday the 13th, although it sounds like he got through the film without any major issues.

Torture

[PunkynPye · 1/10 · 29 March 2024]

This was not entertaining, it was absolute torture. I don't understand why the homeowner didn't just speak up and let his needs be known. He should have not even let the first person in his house, let alone the second, third and fourth person. A simple no, you can't come in should have worked just fine. And then afterwards, a lovely cake waiting in the green room? Um, no, there should have been a swift good bye, don't let the big door hit you where the good Lord split you. I know the English are unfailingly polite, but this goes above and beyond polite. Even had he not been right, it's his home-he should be able to hide in it if he wants to.

Pemberton and Shearsmith serve up some more mediocrity

[declantill · 5/10 · 5 May 2023]

After a weak episode last week where there was little plot with awful dialogue, Pemberton and Shearsmith have served up some more mediocrity in the form of Paraskevi.... You get the idea.

Centering around a perpetually nervous and superstitious man, Gareth who has a fear of Friday 13th and any bad luck routines that accompany his protection from universal bad luck.

The idea in itself (especially around the routines) is a nice one, but where the story headed completely ruined it for me personally.

I applauded Shearsmith's performance in last weeks episode, but my, is he awful in this. The incredibly fake posh accent and busy-body nervous posture is that we've seen all too often from him.

If the story kept on the trajectory of all this random happenstance, I think this would've been up there with the worst episodes they'd ever done, but to my relief, it seems making Gareth go through ridiculously arduous superstitious faux pas was the intention of his wife and therapist (still incredibly far fetched.

Now one of my biggest gripes with Pemberton and Shearsmith is how they often write northerners as if they're jut some big bag cliche full of 'Ey up lad, fancy a brew, I'm a miner me by heck!' As two thoroughly well educated men, and from background research (as contrary to this review I very much like the duo and prior work) they were huge fans of Willy Russell, Jim Cartwright who were two terrific northern playwrights, but you wouldn't know.

I KNOW, that they get away with this here 'technically' as they're played by actors who are very posh and think that northerners are just gravy drinking sausage roll scoffers, but it seems far more like a device to write northerners like that than hmm yeah, these are integral to the story. They're guilty of this far too often.

The whole thing wraps up however rather nicely in the end, and the ending (and Dermot O'Leary) are fantastic. There is a mirror shot when he breaks it, and that's fantastic, but it's rather wasted as we've had no time to develop any emotional connection as this man has just pathetically chased people around his own house.

It feels like if you look hard enough, and squint there could've been something very good here. However, theres too much rubbish hiding it, from Shearsmith's performance, all the cartoonish wahay! Action, the pathetic dialogue etc.

I hope for better next week.

Cringe and slapstick

[syfb-49058 · 1/10 · 3 June 2023]

Probably the most boring episode, saved only by the soundtrack composition which tries to give the audience a sense of false suspense..

The deliberate over-the-top acting is cringeworthy, giving off a strong feeling of second-hand embarrassment.

The makeup effects on the main character's shoulder mishap in the upstairs bathroom scene are cheap and tacky.

The iconic "twist" at the ending was ridiculous and induced eye-rolls.

Genuinely have nothing positive to say about this episode:

• the plot was weak
• dialogue was strange
• too much chaos for a build up that leads to nothing
• unnecessary celebrity cameo
• weird character backstory

Very disappointed in this one.