"The Devil of Christmas" is a Christmas special of the British dark comedy anthology television programme Inside No. 9, and the first episode of the third series. It was first aired on 27 December 2016 on BBC Two. The episode was directed by Graeme Harper and written by Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton. Stylistically, it took heavy inspiration from classic 1970s anthology programmes, such as Beasts, Thriller, Tales of the Unexpected and Armchair Thriller, and was filmed using authentic equipment. Pemberton intended the episode to be a recreation of this kind of classic programming, with critics characterising it as a homage, pastiche or loving parody.
"The Devil of Christmas", which is set in December 1977, begins with an English family (played by Pemberton, Rula Lenska, Jessica Raine and George Bedford) arriving at an Austrian Alpine chalet, where their guide (played by Shearsmith) tells them the story of the Krampus. It shortly becomes apparent, however, that viewers are watching a film, and a director (voiced by Derek Jacobi) provides commentary on the events. The critical reception of "The Devil of Christmas" was very strong, with praise directed at the writing, acting and production. As a recreation of 1970s anthology programmes, it was considered a success. The ending, critics noted, was extremely dark; though many offered considerable praise for the final twist, a minority criticised it as gratuitously unpleasant.
Production
The second series of Inside No. 9 aired from 26 March to 29 April 2015. In May, Shearsmith said that he and Pemberton had talked about doing a third series, and were hopeful that they would be able to, but that the BBC had not yet requested one. A third series was confirmed by the BBC in October 2015. Further information, including hints at settings and confirmed performers, was released in January 2016, when the series began filming. "The Devil of Christmas", the first episode of this third series, was released as a Christmas special in December 2016, with the remainder of the series following in 2017.
The episode can be understood as a part of the tradition of Christmas ghost stories, which includes the works of Charles Dickens and the BBC's A Ghost Story for Christmas series. The inspiration for the use of the Krampus myth came from Pemberton's reading, while stylistic influence, according to Pemberton, came from "old '70s style" episodes of Beasts, Thriller and Tales of the Unexpected. For Pemberton, the 1970s style of the episode was a literal representation of what, metaphorically speaking, Inside No. 9 had been doing since the first series.
The episode was variously described as a recreation or re-enactment of this source material, or else as a homage, a pastiche a "loving, but merciless" parody, or spoof of it. In addition to those influences mentioned by the writers, commentators identified Acorn Antiques, Psycho, Tales from the Crypt, Dead of Night, Whistle and I'll Come to You, and Garth Marenghi's Darkplace as potential influences.
"The Devil of Christmas" was filmed "in the style of a '70s portmanteau horror episode". This entailed the use of non-standard methods and technologies. The whole filming process took only two days, with the cast taking minimal breaks between shoots. For the actors, it was thus more like appearing in a play than a typical 21st century television filming experience.
The episode was filmed on a set constructed at Studio D in the BBC Elstree Centre, run by BBC Studioworks, and authentic 1970s costumes and props were rented for the filming. The studio was retrofitted with cameras and lighting equipment that would have been used on a 1970s set, including three Ikegami HK 323 cameras and a single Ikegami HK323P camera, all provided by a company called Golden Age Recreations. The filming of the episode thus differed from the series's usual single-camera setup approach. Adam Tandy, Inside No. 9 producer, said that "Studio D has the heritage and familiar atmosphere that I remember from when I worked at Elstree in the 1980s; however, a lot of modernisation has taken place since then and this has allowed us to monitor our 4:3 625-line PAL pictures in BBC Studioworks' state of the art HD production gallery." For Shearsmith, the result was that "it looks shit, but it's brilliant".