Talkative Spike from the Handle Me Gently removals firm comes to help May and Viktor move house, unaware that they are not what they seem. Forty minutes earlier May had discovered the real house owner Natasha was having an affair with her husband Charles and taken steps to thwart their plan to get rid of her. Carnage results.
This episode contains examples of:
- 6 Is 9: May removes a screw, and this is the result.
- Accidental Misnaming: May calls the moving service "Squeeze Me Tightly".
- Affably Evil: Natasha knew her boyfriend hired a hitman to murder May, but she does seem genuinely concerned for her father.
- All There in the Manual: Viktor's name is revealed by the credits since it's never stated in the episode.
- Back to Front: The entire episode is narrated in reverse chronology, in instalments of ten minutes from end to beginning.
- Blood from the Mouth: Percy spills blood due to the rat poison ingested.
- Boom, Headshot!: How Victor kills Natasha.
- Carpet-Rolled Corpse: Natasha ends up as one.
- Collective Identity: Keeps happening as a result of multiple instances of Mistaken Identity. May mistakes Viktor for Natasha's boyfriend, but her husband is. Natasha mistakes Viktor for Spike, who we see later.
- Crime After Crime: Viktor was tasked with killing one person; May. But thanks to May switching the number on Natasha's house, he ends up killing Natasha, her father upstairs, and her real estate agent to leave no witnesses. He looked like he was about to kill the removal man as well, when May and her screwdriver intervened.
- Double Entendre: May picks up on it.Mover: If I don't fill your slot today, it might be weeks before I can get up again.
- Dramatic Curtain Toss: A variation. Hugo pulls the sheet up off the couch — to reveal Natasha's dead body.
- Elmuh Fudd Syndwome: Hugo has a mild case of this.
- Farce: The story ends with a removal, and begins with an assassination. Everything goes wrong, and every character mistakes someone for the wrong person.
- For Want Of A Nail: The loss of a small screw unleashes a chain of disasters including the deaths of at least three people.
- Hollywood Cuisine: May complains about her husband not bringing the stereotypical German bratwurst from his trips to Düsseldorf.
- I Can Explain: May, after killing Viktor in front of Spike.
- Improvised Weapon:
- Hugo unsuccessfully attempts to smother Viktor with the bubble wrap Natasha was using for the house move.
- Also the screwdriver May uses to kill Viktor with.
- Instantly Proven Wrong: When May assures the mover that they are just a normal family moving house, the half-naked Percy comes down the stairs, spouting hammy lines.
- It Works Better with Bullets: Hugo grabs Viktor's gun only to find it's out of ammo.
- Karma Houdini: Charles, who hired Viktor in the first place still seems to be heading for a comfortable new life in Portugal. The only downside is that Natasha won't be joining him, and May knows that he hired Viktor.
- Karmic Death: While Natasha didn't hire Viktor herself, it's pretty clear that she knew about it, so it's fitting that she ended up taking the bullet instead. Likewise, ruthless hitman Viktor himself thoroughly deserves a screwdriver in his neck, especially from the woman he was supposed to kill.
- Large Ham: Percy.
- The Loins Sleep Tonight: The mover mentions his erectile dysfunction.
- Meaningful Titles: Once removed, a simple screw changes everything...
- This is also one of the few stories in the series where the number 9 itself actually plays a part in the plot.
- Mirror Scare: Hugo appearing behind the storage room door.
- Mistaken Identity: Many cases of this throughout the story.
- Murder by Mistake: Viktor kills Natasha thinking she's May.
- Murder the Hypotenuse: This is Charles's plan to get rid of May. Then she turns the tables, deciding that Natasha is the hypotenuse ...
- One Dialogue, Two Conversations: Happens when Viktor and Natasha chat in the living room. She talks about the moving business while he is referring to his line of work.Natasha: So do you enjoy doing removals?Viktor: I wouldn't say I enjoy it but...someone's got to do it. I just try to make it as painless as possible.Natasha: Do you do disposals as well?Viktor: I'll take care of everything. There won't be any loose ends.
- Phoney Call: Type A - Hugo tries to push a sale by faking a call about a rival offer on the house, only for the phone to actually ring when his mother calls to ask what he wants for dinner.
- Playing Possum: Hugo pretends to be shot by Victor but grabs his leg once the latter comes closer.
- Professional Killer: Viktor.
- Pulling the Rug Out: How Victor kills Hugo.
- Punch-Clock Villain: Some of Viktor's lines imply that he doesn't particularly like his job; and appears a little reluctant to bump off people who aren't his targets such as Percy and Hugo.
- Real Time: Inverted...somehow. The episode covers 30 minutes of time (and is 30 minutes long), but it happens backwards.
- Recorded Spliced Conversation: May does this to confirm her suspicion of Charles.
- Rewatch Bonus: Many things only make sense after a second watch, such as May not knowing the name of Natasha's removal company and seeming very nervous when her husband appears because she isn't Natasha, and he isn't her husband. May also mistakes the hitman for Natasha's boyfriend, when in fact he isn't. May's real husband is.
- Scatterbrained Senior: Percy, who thinks he is Andrew Lloyd Webber, and routinely mistakes other people for Webber's acquaintances.
- Skewed Priorities: Hugo's main concern on finding Natasha's body is the impact it will have on the value of the house.
- Stalling the Sip: When Viktor hands Percy the poisoned drink, the latter complains about it being too hot and lowers the cup. Then after a minute of rambling, Percy raises the cup to his lips and again is interrupted. Only on the third attempt does he take a sip. Minutes later he is dead.
- Tampering with Food and Drink: Viktor kills Percy with rat poison in his cocoa.
- This Is for Emphasis, Bitch!: When Victor reveals himself to May while performing a Dramatic Gun Cock:"Listen to me bitch, you do exactly as I say."
- Unplanned Crossdressing: Viktor is in a rush to change clothes due to the bloodstains on his shirt and picks Natasha's bathrobe.
