Blake Chambers is the protagonist of the Inside No. 9 episode "The Trolley Problem".
He was portrayed by Steve Pemberton, who also played Eddie, Migg, Professor Squires, Adrian and Mr. Edwards in the same show, Tubbs Tattsyrup, Pauline Campbell-Jones, Harvey Denton, Herr Lipp, Pop and Lemuel in The League of Gentlemen, David Sowerbutts, Hattie and Dr. Friedrich Ehrlichmann in Psychoville and one of the Vogons in The Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy film adaptation.
Biography[]
The episode opens with Blake, a therapist who recently moved to an isolated house in the countryside, bringing home a stranger named Drew who he has just talked down from jumping off a bridge. Blake attempts to offer therapy to Drew, who is unreceptive (not helped when Blake admits he got his degree from a diploma mill) but eventually admits that he might have killed somebody, though he will not give any details.
Drew excuses himself to go to the toilet, and Blake notices that he has a gun in his waistband. Fearing that Drew may be dangerous, Blake tries to distract him by getting him to do some art therapy before slipping sedatives into his drink. However, Drew also drugs Blake's drink and Blake ends up being the one to pass out, waking up handcuffed to the kitchen counter while Drew stands over him with his gun.
Drew explains that he isn't really suicidal and was trying to lure Blake out, having been watching him for some time. Blake unsuccessfully tries to talk his way out by telling Drew that his son Robbie, who is on a night out with friends, will be home soon. After some back and forth, Drew tells Blake why he's here: he is the father of Ellie Dawson, a former patient of Blake's who came to him with depression. Blake got her addicted to anti-depressants before coercing her into sex; when she became obsessed with him, Blake took out a restraining order on her, which he then broke by visiting her at her hotel one night to confront her. When he arrived, he found that she had taken an overdose of antidepressants, but chose not to raise the alarm in order to avoid incriminating himself, instead allowing her to die.
Drew explains that he wants Blake to write a full confession to causing Ellie's death. Blake agrees and gets Drew to release him so he can write it out, but just before he starts writing he notices a potato fragment in Drew's gun and realizes it's a spud gun. He plays along long enough to get hold of a knife and stab Drew in the leg before trying to call the police; however, he realizes that this may lead to his role in Ellie's death being discovered. Instead, he goes back inside and prepares to beat Drew to death and claim it was self-defence against a burglar, before deciding against it as there would still be an investigation. He instead plans to take Drew back to the bridge and force him to jump off, staging it as a suicide.
As Blake prepares to drive Drew back to the bridge, Drew tells him he has something of interest in his coat, which he left inside. Blake goes to get it, finding that it's a mobile phone with a number written on it. Dialling the number, he hears his son Robbie's voice on the line. Robbie tells him he has been kidnapped and buried alive. Blake goes back outside and finds Drew pouring petrol over himself; Drew explains that he kidnapped Robbie as an incentive for Blake to confess, and that if he agreed he would have given him the information to save him. He didn't confess, so now Drew is going to kill himself, and Blake's only chance to save Robbie will die with him. He tells Blake that he didn't kill Robbie, but rather Blake let him die, before setting himself on fire, leaving Blake staring in horror as the episode ends.
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League of Gentlemen Psychoville Inside No. 9 | ||