Reece Shearsmith confirms Inside No.9 series five is coming soon

eece Shearsmith has confirmed a fifth series of \'Inside No.9\' is coming soon.

The 50-year-old actor co-writes and stars in the black comedy anthology series with his \'The League of Gentleman\' co-star Steve Pemberton and he has taken to Twitter to announce the next instalment of the BBC show.

Alongside a picture of a weary-looking man, he wrote: "Inside No.9. Series 5. Soon. (Ish). I know the wait has been like..."

The programme - which first aired in 2004 - has a different setting and tone for each half hour episode, all with a dark, bleak or scary twist.

Reece\'s 211.2k followers were quick to share their excitement for the show\'s return and demanded to know when they could expect it on screens.

One asked: "How soon is soonish? Are you at liberty to make a vague statement?"

To which Reece replied: "No. No announcing yet."

Whilst others were just happy \'Inside No.9\' was returning after it last appeared on screens for a live Halloween special in 2018.

One fan tweeted: "God yes. never make me wait that long between seasons again pls (sic)"

However, Reece revealed the new series was ready to air back in April but was halted due to the BBC.

He confessed: "Was ready to show in April last year. Nothing to do with us!"

The most recent series aired in January, which followed the much anticipated return of \'League of Gentlemen\' late last year, which saw the long-running collaborators reunite on the sketch show with Mark Gatiss and Jeremy Dyson.

Speaking at the time, Reece admitted the classic comedy - which began on the radio in 1997 - has a "question mark" all over it, and suggested it would never get the green light these days with the spectre of political correctness hanging over the entertainment business.

He said at the time: "There\'s a question mark over all of it, if you get into the grey areas of everyone\'s particular taste. It\'s hard now to have a singular voice ... to write a drama without having it go through a process which tries to cater to everyone and ultimately caters for no one."