Matthew Kelly has joined the cast of “Inside No. 9”.
The former Stars In Their Eyes presenter, who hosted the singing competition on ITV between 1993 and 2004, will be part of the upcoming ninth and final season of Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith’s spooky horror comedy anthology.
As filming for the final series of episodes – set to air on the BBC in 2024 – is underway, Matthew is confirmed to be a cast member.
The 73-year-old star made his first on-screen appearance in the 1980s sitcom “Holding the Fort” and, after leaving “Stars In Their Eyes,” went on to appear in “Bleak House,” among others.
The series features “This Country” star Charlie Cooper, Mark Bonnar, Dorothy Atkinson and “Happy Valley” actress Siobhan Finneran.
“Derry Girls” star Philippa Dunne was also announced alongside “Plebs” actor Joel Fry, Vinette Robinson, Eddie Marsan, Adrian Scarborough and recent “Taskmaster” favorite Susan Wokoma.
In their commentary on the final season, the creators of “Inside No. 9”, Steve and Reece, admitted that they had “mixed feelings”.
In a statement, they said: “It is with mixed emotions that we announce that we have begun filming the final season of ‘Inside No. 9.'”
“We recently heard some crew members refer to us as ‘a couple of Wonkas’ and that seems to be an apt description.
“We take the best ingredients (star cast and creative minds) and mix them with our secret recipe to create unique candies that are delicious and often deadly.
“It has been the greatest privilege to be able to make 55 completely different episodes and we will miss the annual challenge of entertaining and surprising our audience.
“We honestly feel like we’ve won a golden ticket – which makes us not a pair of Wonkas, but a pair of Charlies.”
Meanwhile, Jon Petrie, the director of BBC Comedy, said the show would be “much missed”, although Reece admitted there was a chance it would be performed again in the future.
Jon added: “Reece and Steve have once again presented a line-up of outstanding guests to star alongside them in their witty, beautifully crafted and totally original scripts.”
