	Writers Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith, who had previously worked together on "The League of Gentlemen" and "Psychoville", took inspiration for "Inside No. 9" from "David and Maureen", episode 4 of the first series of "Psychoville". This episode, in turn, was inspired by Alfred Hitchcock's "Rope". "David and Maureen" took place entirely in a single room, and was filmed in only two shots. At the same time, the concept of "Inside No. 9" was a "reaction" to "Psychoville", with Shearsmith saying that "We'd been so involved with labyrinthine over-arcing, we thought it would be nice to do six different stories with a complete new house of people each week. That's appealing, because as a viewer you might not like this story, but you've got a different one next week." As an anthology series with horror themes, "Inside No. 9" also pays homage to "Tales of the Unexpected", "The Twilight Zone" and "Alfred Hitchcock Presents".