Inside No 9: Season 7 Episode 5 A Random Act of Kindness

Indeed. I think that it's easy for Josh to forget that the majority of the shows he watches were originally broadcast decades ago, so he's surprised when someone like Jessica Stevenson/Hynes looks older in something more recent.

Right Said Brett

It doesn't make sense. It's nonsense. Either altering the timeline alters the present and erases the previous timeline, or it doesn't. This episode tries to eat its cake and have it too. It's arguably the worst episode of Inside No. 9 (the fact that a blind man could see the "twist" coming from several billion miles away doesn't help matters).

Right Said Brett

I'm pleased to see that at least someone understood my "hoot" pun. I get the feeling that the majority of those who upvoted your comment simply thought that you were calling me a twit for not enjoying episode 5.

Right Said Brett

Yeah, Jessica looks quite different. Voice was a giveaway though.

Z is for Zed

When I first watched this I figured out the twist quite early on.. so much so that I thought it may have been a "Tom & Geri" type situation where there'd be a twist on the twist. So I think I was mildly disappointed but it's not a bad episode. Next episode is fantastic though, stylistically it's one of the best.

Ben

If you like time travel stuff and don't mind a bit of a mindfuck you might enjoy the movie Primer. It's only 1 hour 17 minutes, it's written in a way that rather than explain what's going on to the audience, you're treated like you're a fly on the wall which gives it a bit of realism. I'm a fan of low budget indie films but had put this off for a while because people say it's impossible to follow, but I do love time travel stuff so decided to give it a go. It is quite hard to follow but I watched it and then watched an explanation video on youtube by a channel called LondonCityGirl which made a lot of sense and gave me a new appreiation for it.

Josh

i love time travel too - since you arent reacting to movies anymore, then a cpl time travel movies for you to check out in your own time - twelve monkeys and predestination

mwdoom

"She looked very different in this" - That's what 20 years will do to you 🤣

Jordan

Twit you

Ben

Another really weak episode and I'd figured out the twist within the first 10 minutes. Next week's episode is an absolute hoot though!

Right Said Brett

Don't be jealous. Maybe you will get the first comment next time. Work hard and you can achieve anything (within reason).

Perhaps that article was talking about 'reset buttons'? It is (usually) lazy writing to say "we're going to go back in time to before any of this ever happened!"

David Lyons

Maybe it's like Back to the Future, where you see something that shouldn't exist briefly before it fades away? (Like graves, letters, newspaper articles) 🤷 As for sending a digital message through time, maybe he had a microwave like in Steins Gate lol

David Lyons

Great episode- good on you for figuring out the twist prior to its reveal👍I certainly didn’t see it coming lol! I know it’s a bit nit picky but can anyone point out how Reece’s character was able to send a warning by email to himself from a timeline that no longer existed? I get that tv shows/movies tend to play a bit fast and loose with “the rules” of time travel but that one has always had me stumped.

King Bloo

Josh, you recognize the mum from every episode of Spaced lol.. and what you were saying about Time travel being lazy writing is more to do with the sci-fi genre.. it's based on the fact that things don't have to make sense.. You can just make something else up to cover you. Writing based on real life means things need to make sense, things have to conform to what we know, you can't bend the rules. But I agree with you absolutely. Really well written sci-fi is one of the hardest things to create and when it's done right it's spectacular. Much better than any soap opera or movie based on reality for me. (Edit: You realized the Spaced thing at the end)

Austin Stratton

Come on man, really?

Austin Stratton

Jessica Hynes was in an episode of Black Books as well. I didn't recognise her in this at first either. She was recently in a series with Tim Key called The Witchfinder and looked very different in that as well.

Keith Pratt

First!