Inside No. 9 just keeps finding ways to innovate and keep us surprised: the BBC has announced that a Halloween special for the dark anthology series will broadcast live on October 28th.

The Beeb’s official press bumf sums up the live episode’s story thusly:

“When Arthur Flitwick (Steve Pemberton) finds an old mobile phone in his local graveyard, he makes the mistake of trying to contact the owner. But some mysteries are best left unsolved, and as Halloween draws near Arthur is plunged into a nightmare of his own making.”

Entitled Dead Line, the episode was penned by series creators Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith. Barbara Wiltshire will direct and by Claire McCarthy will produce. Stephanie Cole will guest star.

Doing a live episode “was actually the BBC’s suggestion,” Pemberton states in the press notes, “and when someone puts that challenge down it is really impossible to ignore. Especially as we have done other things like a whole silent episode, a musical episode and one set entirely in a wardrobe. We like the idea of putting a challenge into what we are doing.”

Shearsmith, who will play a vicar in this episode, said, “We thought it would be a different thing to do because we’re always striving to do storytelling in a different way and thought it would be a nice event. Also it harks back to the ethos of No.9, which is a Play For Today and Armchair Thrillers thing.”

To watch this unique episode live, you’ll need to tune in to BBC Two on October 28th at 10pm.

We’ll keep you posted as we hear more Inside No. 9 news.