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"Last Gasp" is the fourth episode of the first series of British dark comedy anthology television programme ''Inside No. 9''. It first aired on 26 February 2014 on BBC Two. The story revolves around the ninth birthday of the severely ill Tamsin (Lucy Hutchinson). Tamsin's parents Jan (Sophie Thompson) and Graham (Steve Pemberton) have arranged with charity WishmakerUK for singer Frankie J Parsons (David Bedella) to visit as a treat for their daughter. Frankie dies after blowing up a balloon, leading to arguments between Graham, WishmakerUK representative Sally (Tamsin Greig) and Frankie's assistant Si (Adam Deacon) over the now-valuable balloon containing Frankie's last breath. The story, written by Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith, was inspired by someone Pemberton had seen on television who collected air from different places. The episode is more comedic than others in the series, and critiques celebrity culture and human greed. "Last Gasp" received a fairly negative critical response; in retrospect, Shearsmith claimed that "people hated" the episode.〔 Several critics, including Gerard Gilbert of ''The Independent'', Jack Seale of ''Radio Times'' and comedy critic Bruce Dessau—though complimentary of ''Inside No. 9'' generally—considered "Last Gasp" to be weaker than the previous three episodes, but not unwatchable. Other reviewers gave a more positive response, but a particularly scathing review by columnist Virginia Blackburn was published in the ''Daily Express''. On its first showing, "Last Gasp" drew 872,000 viewers, lower than any previous episode. Pemberton subsequently sold a balloon containing his own breath on eBay, with proceeds going to a Sport Relief charity. ==Production== "Last Gasp" was inspired by someone Pemberton had seen on children's programme ''Multi-Coloured Swap Shop'' who collected apparently empty jars which actually contained air taken from different places. The idea, which he considered "bizarre" but "very special", had "haunted" him. This gave him the idea of collecting the breath of celebrities. The death of Michael Jackson and the death of Amy Winehouse, along with the associated collecting of memorabilia, also served as inspiration. For Pemberton, the family and house in "Last Gasp" were very "normal".〔 The episode was filmed on location in what director David Kerr called an "utterly freezing" house.〔 The finished episode, for Kerr, had a degree of "suburban darkness" in that, though the events unfold in a relatively unremarkable setting, the darker side of human nature is revealed. At the same time, the characters' arguments lead to humour.〔 Shearsmith described "Last Gasp" as like a ''My Family'' episode "gone wrong". As the format of ''Inside No. 9'' requires new characters each week, the writers were able to attract actors who may have been unwilling to commit to an entire series. In addition to Pemberton—who played Graham, the father—"Last Gasp" starred Sophie Thompson as Jan, the mother; Lucy Hutchinson as 9-year-old Tamsin; David Bedella as popstar Frankie J Parsons; Tamsin Greig as Sally, of WishmakerUK; and Adam Deacon as Si, Parsons's assistant. It was the first episode of the programme not to star Shearsmith.〔See *(【引用サイトリンク】url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03w7w6x ) *(【引用サイトリンク】title= A Quiet Night In ) *(【引用サイトリンク】title= Sardines )〕 For Kerr, the typical difficulty associated with the use of child actors was not present in "Last Gasp"; for him, Hutchinson "was superb. She was brilliant; she had maturity beyond her years." Pemberton and Shearsmith had been keen to use ''Inside No. 9'' as a vehicle to work with new people, and had been keen to collaborate with Greig for some time. Kerr said that "one of the real joys of ''Inside No. 9''" was the opportunity to see actors in very different roles to those in which they had previously starred. He used Greig as his example, saying that the character of Sally was somewhat different from the roles in which Greig had previously performed.〔 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「Last Gasp (Inside No. 9)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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