Series 5
Just finished the latest series, this was a bit of a hit and miss series IMO. Three very good episodes and three ok ones.
1. The Referee's A W***er
A football ref officiating at his last game, with two assistants of dubious ability, runs into trouble as the game , a vital relegation crunch match, descends into chaos and rioting. An unexpected twist as to why this has happened and the ref's motives .
2. Death Be Not Proud
This is an unexpected delight as Shearsmith and Pemberton's dysfunctional mother and son characters from Psychoville , Maureen and David Sowerbutts, reappear in a coda to that series popping up in this series. We left David (Pemberton) with his dead mother (Shearsmith) left in his bath being preserved by ice. What happens next.
Jemma Coleman a.k.a Clara from Dr Who also in this.
3. Love's Great Adventure
This one I struggle to get into. A family with problems at xmas do the best they can. Story told day by day as an advent calendar is opened, to mark the date of each scene, but door number 9 is skipped, what happened on December 9 ? The family's drug dealing son is the main cause for concern.
4. Misdirection
This is class. A brilliant tale of how a magician stole another guy's trick and gets his comeuppance. Years after stealing the trick from a now dead rival, and building his fame and fortune with the trick that involves levitating a chair, the thief is confronted by the dead rival's son.
5. Thinking Out Loud
This is another masterpiece. All the episodes of this series take place in a place numbered 9, hence the title of the show, but here something is wrong, as various characters talk direct to camera about their fears, lives, etc., all in different places, one in an American State Penitentiary. Can't reveal too much about this without spoilers. I learnt though about a severe psychological disorder and it effects one of the characters here. As she says herself....amazeballs.
6. The Stakeout
Two cops on a stakeout in their car in a cemetery at night. The previous partner of the senior cop died in mysterious circumstances in this graveyard. Will it happen again? Horror pastiche of mixed quality.
And here is a more in depth review of series 5.