Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton test the format of their anthology show by performing a live episode. Surely nothing could go wrong?

SPOILERS AHEAD!!

This is a spoilerific review; it’s the only way we can discuss the episode. If you haven’t seen it yet, go watch it now.

Ok, this started like a regular episode, with Steve playing Arthur Flitwick, an old man who found a mobile phone in a graveyard. A few minutes in and the sound starts coming in an out, and then goes entirely. A white card from BBC2 apologises for the technical difficulties and promises that they’ll be back soon. The programme returns but the sound is still not there.

Cue lots of real world tweeting and messaging (myself included) on the audience’s part and the resigned acceptance that live shows can go wrong. Another previous episode starts to be shown in its place, but something’s not right. It’s not gremlins in the works, it’s ghosts in the machine – namely the spirits of the bodies on whom Granada Studios has been built. We see Reece and Steve chatting in their dressing room, realising they’re being transmitted live on BBC2, and then guest star Stephanie Cole cuts her throat and ghosts appear in the corner of the screen.

Of course, the joke was on us, or at least those of us who fell for the initial rug pull. What else should we have expected from the fiendish twosome on a Halloween Special?

Verdict: Sitting somewhere between a segment in a portmanteau horror movie and 1992’s horror mockumentary Ghostwatch, Messrs Shearsmith and Pemberton once again prove that the format of the show can be twisted to any form you can imagine. It was a trick, and most certainly a treat. Bravo, gentlemen. 9/10

Nick Joy