"Diddle Diddle Dumpling" is the fifth episode of the third series of the British black comedy anthology television series Inside No. 9. It was written by Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith, and first aired on 14 March 2017, on BBC Two. The episode, which was directed by Guillem Morales, follows the story of David, played by Shearsmith, a middle class stay-at-home dad, who happens across a lone black shoe. Much to the concern of his wife Louise, played by Keeley Hawes, he becomes obsessed with finding the shoe's owner. The episode follows the development of his obsession. Rosa Strudwick plays Sally, David and Louise's daughter, and Pemberton plays Chris, a family friend. Danny Baker voices a radio presenter, and Mathew Baynton also appears. The episode was inspired by Pemberton's own chance encounter with a single shoe. The episode is split into four, corresponding to the four seasons, and features extracts of Vivaldi's The Four Seasons. The cinematography features many views of symmetrical pairs of objects, as well as shots of empty rooms. The device of the seasons, as well as the music and cinematography, relate to David's emotional state. Critics responded very positively to "Diddle Diddle Dumpling", particularly praising Morales's direction and the performances of Shearsmith, Hawes, and Baynton. Production The third series of Inside No. 9 was announced in October 2015, and heavily publicised in January 2016, at which time Keeley Hawes and Mathew Baynton were named as guest stars in the series. "Diddle Diddle Dumpling" was the fifth and penultimate episode of the series, and the fourth of a run of five episodes beginning February 2017—the series's first episode being the December 2016 Christmas special "The Devil of Christmas". It first aired on 14 March 2017, on BBC Two. "Diddle Diddle Dumpling" was inspired by a chance encounter that Pemberton had with a single shoe on his way to work, leading him to consider the result of someone obsessively attempting to return it to its rightful owner. He claimed that the episode's premise then came to him "fully formed". He took Shearsmith to see the shoe, and the pair began writing the episode immediately. Coincidentally, Shearsmith also encountered a single shoe some days later, though it did not match the first. "You start seeing them everywhere," Shearsmith noted, "once you start looking." For Pemberton, this inspiration worked because it was completely random; were he to have gone out