La Terreur De L’Asile which is the second half of Stage/Fright
Genuinely not over my first time seeing this, readers. As soon as the first chords of the organ music began to play, I absolutely knew that we were in “Hammer Horror” type of territory.
A formal and very excellently detailed summary of the second half is as follows;
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The second act begins in a 1920’s hospital asylum where we visit the sinister consulting rooms of Dr Goudron. The entrance is through a bloodstained white door on the left and the room has dark grey walls and a worn wooden floor. The space is divided into two areas by a white curtain that can be pulled across to separate them. The largest area is the Doctor’s main consulting room at the front. On the left, next to the door there hangs a large oil painting of the Doctor’s late wife, a mature, dark haired woman in an elegant coat and matching hat. Beside the painting is a cream painted wooden unit with a gramophone on top and closer to us is a low metal trolley on wheels. On the other side of the room, facing the door there is a raised examination chair for patients that resembles a chunky, metallic dentist’s chair. Behind it is a powerful lighting unit on wheels that can be adjusted to shine down on the patient. Behind the chair is a section of rear wall lined with shelves. The shelves contain rows of large medical jars filled with colourful specimens. The wall on the right displays a partial human skeleton and an unusual looking eye test chart and below this stands another metal medical trolley.
When the curtain is drawn open, a narrow examination area is revealed at the back lit by a grimy skylight. Here there is a black leather bed, side on to us on the right and a well-used metal sink unit on the left. Between these is a white bin for medical waste and a tall silver Anglepoise lamp. Lining the walls are three sets of shelves containing more large medicine jars, which can light up.
A patient called Suzette arrives for a consultation with the Doctor. Suzette is a young white woman with blonde bobbed hair. She’s dressed in a fur trimmed, blue checked, knee-length swing coat, brown cloche hat with a turned-up brim and brown, heeled Mary Janes. Suzette clutches a blue hat box. Under her coat she wears a dropped waist, long-sleeved dress featuring light and dark brown vertical stripes. Later she dons a long, plain grey surgical gown.
A nursing matron, Cragg, is stern and middle-aged, wearing a starched long sleeved, calf length nurse’s uniform with white collar and cuffs, her dark hair under a white matron’s cap.
Hugo is a surgeon, with crazy quiffed black hair featuring a dramatic white streak, and a black twirly moustache. Under a blood-stained off-white apron, he wears a shirt with dark grey and off-white vertical stripes, dark grey trousers and braces, and a black tie. Dr Goudron is a stout, middle-aged white man, with slicked down dark hair and thick dark moustache. Over dark trousers, waistcoat, white shirt and tie, he wears a white doctor’s coat. We also meet a dark-haired, young male hospital Warden, whose uniform consists of a pale orderly jacket and dark trousers.
Later on, we meet Abby, a young front of house staff member dressed in her Theatre uniform of pale shirt, black trousers and burgundy waistcoat. Abby leads us into the final section of the show.
~
My thoughts on this aforementioned second half are as follows.
I had done many, many, MANY forms of research regarding ‘Theatre Du Grand Guignol’ and I had dug reasonably deeper and found ‘Le Baiser De Sang’ which (in my opinion) seems to be a massive inspiration for the poster for La Terreur De L’Asile.
One of the directors in the 1901 to 1926 of the “Theatre Du Grand Guignol” was a principal playwright called Andre de Lorde. The original shows would in fact feature torture, dismemberment, gushing blood, disembowelment and so on.
The characters within the shows (in 1901 - 1926) were ritually murdered on stage with scissors, axes, chisels, saws, hammers, garrots - The variations were endless and to add to this, the cruelty to the person could be entirely psychological.
A summary of who Marcus De Lorde is:
Marcus De Lorde began life as an actor, training at Rose Bruford for one year before leaving early in securing a small speaking role. (Not to forget that this isn’t a real person and is played brilliantly by Reece Shearsmith of The League Of Gentlemen fame.)
(This is as far as I've gotten with my notes so a probable part deux/two may be posted)
places i have been because of the league of gentlemen:
• bfi (for no9 previews)
• wyndham theatre (stage/fright)
• bretton hall (technically just saw it from behind a fence)
• south close (home of the flat where highgate house of horror was shot)
• old operating theatre (xmas special)
• soho square (tlog: apocalypse)
• canal cafe (we couldn’t get upstairs because there were rehearsals on so we sat and had an awkward expensive drink in the bar. gutted cos i wanted to see the stage)
• leeds (though my mum didn’t want to go to the park where one of jeremy’s stories is set. her loss!)
• outside the front of euston station (like geoff tipps)
Stage/Fright, but it's all of the suspected references/nods/allusions to IN9 episodes (also including likely nods to TLoG and Psychoville!)
INCLUDES HEAVY SPOILERS !! Read at your own risk. I warned you :]
Before I begin, I'd like to thank @spcvarney, @wintersoulwitch, @eliebluebell, @tynatheavocado and @somuchwatersoclosetohome for noticing some of these, too! BA (Hons) in Stage/Fright Studies continues!
Disclaimer: By no means are half of these even confirmed to be proper callbacks, it's more so based on mine and a few other people's findings. I'm not Reece nor am I Steve, so of course I'll never know if all of these were intentional or not intentional, and therefore I am not claiming these as being either!
ACT 1
The theatre sketch is set during a performance of Hamlet, similar to the TLoG sketch where theatre-goers comment on Hamlet as if it were a football/soccer game. (Multiple performances, seen in TLoG Live at Drury Lane)
"A House Divided" reveals that Reece's character in the theatre sketch is named Haig, perhaps a reference to the moviegoer with the same name who was pestered by Henry and Ally. (TLoG)
A character having a severe peanut allergy, being killed by sprinkling peanuts on his food in order to kill him off. (Similar to Maureen and David’s original idea on how to kill Robin in season 2 of Psychoville.)
The text messages appearing on stage, as well as the phone just not being great at picking up voice-to-text, autocorrecting terribly. (A Quiet Night In)
Steve’s character getting electrocuted. (Dead Line)
Haig's voice reportedly becoming somewhat more Edward Tattsyrup-ish as the run has progressed. (TLoG)
"Chekhov's pun", while obviously being a play on "Chekhov's gun", is related to the episode Riddle of the Sphinx.
The joke about Reece having to do a "really quick quick-change" and needing something funny to cover the fact that he was slipping off stage. While not an exact reference, I'm sure we're all aware of the fact that Reece, Steve, and Mark are the masters of incredibly quick and intricate quick changes. (TLoG)
The characters of Tommy and Len, as well as just the whole sketch. (Bernie Clifton's Dressing Room)
A kidnapping sketch. (Kid|Nap)
The kidnappers being the burglars. (A Quiet Night In)
The kidnapped celebrity's house is aptly on Mulberry Close.
The number on the bin is 18.
Kidnapper/Eddie!Len is similar in mannerisms to both Barry Baggs and Tubbs Tattsyrup. (TLoG)
Kidnapper/Ray!Tommy is similar in mannerisms to both Geoff Tipps and Lisgoe. (TLoG) ("Y'know I've got this gun don't you??")
Len tries (and fails) to use a gnome to break the security light. (Mulberry Close)
Big emphasis on "no names!" (The Bill, "you're the one who mentioned Susie, you said no names!")
Male hostages wear a paisley dressing gown, just as Squires does in Riddle of the Sphinx.
A relatively broad one (one of many to come, I'm afraid), but Len getting the kidnapped celebrity's show or character name wrong is similar to Jonah calling Devonshire a different county name every time he saw her. (The Curse of the Ninth)
Tommy referring to the kidnapped celebrity as "the commodity". (Psychoville)
The phone call to Lady Linda Lockwood involves the kidnapped celebrity pretending to be someone else (the live-in lover of Lady Linda Lockwood), specifically involving singing over the phone. (Last Gasp)
The wardobe full of people as the kidnapped celebrity tries to hide inside. (Sardines)
The single black shoe in the wardrobe. (Diddle Diddle Dumpling)
Tommy having to knock and ask Len to invite him back into the house. (The Stakeout)
During the call with Spengler, he mentions that Len/Eddie and Tommy/Ray are “brown bread, dead”. This could be a reference to the use of Cockney rhyming slang from Mother’s Ruin, as well as the fact that the exact line is in Psychoville, too.
While on the phone with Spengler, Tommy finds out that the house they were supposed to go to is a bungalow, and not a house with stairs up to another floor. (TLoG anniversary specials, where Geoff seemingly murders Pauline.)
The paper with the address on it was upside down, causing Len to go into the wrong house. (Once Removed and Wuthering Heist.)
Len mentions the fact that the job 'next week' is going to steal a painting from another house. (A Quiet Night In.)
The gun "having the safety on", but going off and killing the kidnapped celebrity anyway. (Wuthering Heist, as well as TLoG Apocalypse [RIP Mark Gatiss 1966-2005 /j].)
ACT 2
The phrenology bust in the background. (The Trolley Problem)
The various jars of body parts. (Private View, Love is a Stranger, as well as the TLoG vinyl collection.)
This is the second time we see an IN9 character played by Reece get hypnotised. (Zanzibar)
Funnily enough, this is also the second time we see an IN9 character played by Reece brutally have a portion of his leg chopped off. (Mother's Ruin)
The break of tension when Abby comes in to deliver the drinks order is similar to the break of tension seen in Seance Time when the crew reveals themselves to Tina.
Also similar to Seance Time, Vince is very self absorbed, much in the same way as Anne. (Referring to past theatre/TV experience, etc.)
Maggie had initially asked for a chai latte. (The Stakeout)
Vince didn't have enough time to finish the cryptic in the Guardian. (Riddle of the Sphinx)
Sherry's audition tape is for 'Amazon's Dante's "Inferno"/"The Divine Comedy" show'. Tim Key name drop. (Plodding On)
Technically speaking, Amazon's show is the same as, or at least similar to, the Ninth Circle. (Simon Says)
The whole idea that there is a ghost backstage messing with the cast of "La Terreur de L'asile". Sherry being spooked by a fake head. (Dead Line)
"We'll give the role to Sheridan Smith." (The 12 Days of Christine)
Marcus gets Abby's hopes up about potentially taking the role that Sherry was scared into abandoning, only to crush them. This is similar to Rosie Cavaliero and Steve's exchange about the part in "The Divine Comedy". (Plodding On)
The head falling to spook Sherry earlier fell in the exact same place as the light that fell and killed Steve, a physical reference to "it wasn't a ghost, it was a warning." (The Bones of St. Nicholas)
Reece and Steve both dying after finishing season 9, meaning they've both died after finishing their 'ninth symphony'. (The Curse of the Ninth)
The mention of Reece and Steve's inside joke of whoever gets to the office first pretends to be dead, waiting for the other to come in and see. (Mentioned in both Plodding On and The Party's Over.)
"I can't believe the twist was that you were a ghost all along!" "It’s pathetic. We really have run out of ideas." (Plodding On, "we've only done it three times.")
Reece being a ghost all along and being the cause of Steve's death is very similar to Maureen being a ghost for all of Death Be Not Proud and being the ultimate cause of David's death.
Reece's distaste of his understudy "fucking little Toby". A stretch, perhaps, but certainly reminiscent of themes in The Understudy.
Reece intending to kill Toby, though accidentally killing Steve instead. Similar to Maxwell unknowingly intending to kill Jorg, though killing Yves instead in La Couchette.
The entire amazing performance that is Tears of Laughter. (Bernie Clifton's Dressing Room)
The wordplay near the end of Tears of Laughter is incredibly similar to the wordplay featured in lots of IN9 episodes, more specifically Wuthering Heist and Zanzibar. The "plethora, that means a lot!" line, for example, is in Wuthering Heist.
"We'll leave the light on so you don't get lonely!" - Toby leaving the light on for Reece and Steve is like how Beattie leaves the radio on for Maureen and David. (Death Be Not Proud)
Other small things, and a slight plug for Percy's running celebrity guest list (huge props to them!):
As of 05/04/25, Joe Pasquale, Joel Dommett (host of The Masked Singer UK), Jonathan Ross (judge on The Masked Singer UK) and Jason Manford have all appeared as the kidnapped celebrity. This is just funny to me as Joe and Jason are mentioned by name in the show, and The Masked Singer is mentioned as well.
In the 25/10/25 evening show at the New Victoria Theatre in Woking, and at the 05/11/25 show at the New Theatre Oxford, Basil Brush was the kidnapping victim! The show that Len kept getting wrong was Crackerjack, of course mentioned in BCDR.
Mark Gatiss, a fellow member from The League of Gentlemen, was a kidnapped celebrity (much earlier in the run than a lot of us thought he'd be, let's be honest). I am jealous of that audience.
When The Actor Kevin Eldon was the kidnapped celebrity, he caused Reece to start singing the Hokey Cokey, a reference to Henry's consequence of being hypnotised in Zanzibar. I am also very jealous of that audience.
When Denis Lawson was the kidnapped celebrity, the comment Len makes about their job next week was slightly altered to mention the fact that they were stealing a painting from a man who looked very similar to Denis Lawson, a nod to the fact that Denis played Gerald in A Quiet Night In. I was in that audience!
When Elaine Page was the kidnapped celebrity, her and Steve did a small portion of “I Know Him So Well”, sung in Empty Orchestra. (My Empty Orchestra loving heart is overjoyed.)
Several kidnapped celebrities obviously referred to Reece and Steve being in The League of Gentlemen. David Walliams said that he "preferred when they worked with Mark Gatiss, AND JEREMY DYSON!" Also mentioning their TLOG past, Jonathan Ross reportedly praised Mark Gatiss’ “swan-like neck”, while saying that Steve looked like a hedgehog, and Reece was “easily forgettable as a short, bland, fairly handsome guy”. Ironic, as he then forgot to mention Jeremy Dyson.
In the last performance at the Eventim Apollo on 06/01/26, the hostage was Bernie Clifton :)
GOD WAIT OKAY, the bit right at the end of tlog s3, where geoff's bandaged up in the hospital and surrounded by visitors and he's making them all laugh, is it a fucking METAPHOR for reece feeling most comfortable and confident when his face is hidden (i.e. under makeup/behind a character)???
