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"La Couchette" is the first episode of the second series of British dark comedy anthology ''Inside No. 9''. Written by Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith and directed by Guillem Morales, the episode is set in a sleeper carriage on a French train. English doctor Maxwell, who is traveling to an important job interview, climbs into bed. He is disturbed first by drunk, flatulent German Jorg, and then by English couple Kath and Les. Later, while the others sleep, Australian backpacker Shona brings posh English backpacker Hugo back to the cabin, but the pair make a surprising discovery. The episode stars Pemberton, Shearsmith, Julie Hesmondhalgh, Mark Benton, Jessica Gunning, Jack Whitehall and George Glaves. The story was inspired by the intimacy of sleeper carriages, in which people aim to sleep in close proximity to strangers. "La Couchette" draws upon the literary tropes associated with stories, such as ''Murder on the Orient Express'' and ''Strangers on a Train'', following characters unknown to one another while traveling. The various characters—played by actors somewhat typecast—correspond to British comedy archetypes, and much of the episode's story and humour derives from the characters' unlikability. Critics responded positively to "La Couchette", commending the cast and script, but noted that ''Inside No. 9'' is something of an acquired taste. On its first showing, the episode was watched by 1.1 million viewers (6.1% of the audience). ==Production and development== The second series of ''Inside No. 9'' was written in 2014, and then filmed from the end of 2014 into early 2015. As each episode features new characters, the writers were able to attract actors who might have been unwilling to commit to an entire series. Jack Whitehall, who was a fan of the show, says that he "may or may not have nagged Reece and Steve to find a Jack Whitehall-shaped hole in the second series", and was "very thankful" when they did. In addition to Pemberton, Shearsmith and Whitehall, "La Couchette" stars Julie Hesmondhalgh, Mark Benton, Jessica Gunning and George Glaves.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05p65sn/credits )〕 Hesmondhalgh commended the cast, saying that, for her, it was a "no brainer" to appear in the episode. For Whitehall, working with Hesmondhalgh was "very exciting, but also quite weird", given the recent suicide of Hesmondhalgh's ''Coronation Street'' character, Hayley Cropper. Whitehall called Benton and Hesmondhalgh "an amazing little double act". The pair had previously played a husband and wife on the radio.〔 "La Couchette" follows six characters on a sleeper carriage travelling from Paris to Bourg St. Maurice.〔 Shearsmith said that the writers aimed to exploit the intimacy of the setting; the unusual situation which is created by trying to sleep in what is potentially a room full of strangers. This was, for Shearsmith, an "odd frisson" to play with.〔〔 Discussing the filming, Whitehall said that the set was "definitely the most intimate location I have ever been on ... It's all on springs so it moves around like a train carriage – and I suffer from very bad motion sickness so on the first day I threw up. I had to literally run off the set half way through a scene and throw up in the loo. So it was quite an auspicious start."〔 Hesmondhalgh also commented on the intimacy of the filming, saying that it was the tightest location used for ''Inside No. 9'' since "Sardines", the first episode of the first series. Nonetheless, she had "such a fun week" filming the episode, noting that, despite the limited space on-set, it is "amazing how quickly you become institutionalised".〔 Similarly, Pemberton noted that the filming resulted in "a tough week", but that it was "really fun, because it's a very fun episode". Prior to filming, director Guillem Morales worked hard on a story board. For Shearsmith, the small space added to the need to meticulously plan the production process; he explained that every shot was worked out in advance.〔 The set, which was situated in Twickenham Studios for the filming,〔 was shaken manually by an assistant director to create the effect of motion;〔 something which surprised Hesmondhalgh.〔 The production crew filmed the episode by removing walls from the "carriage" one at a time, and shooting from the various angles, meaning that they had to effectively dismantle and reassemble the set five times.〔〔 Benton noted that the tight space created a challenge for the camera crews, but, for the actors, it was "great".〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「La Couchette」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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