Peep Show (British TV series)
| Peep Show | |
|---|---|
| File:Peep Show DVD front cover.jpg The front cover of the DVD release of Peep Show's first series. Mitchell is on the left and Webb is on the right | |
| Genre | Sitcom |
| Created by | Jesse Armstrong Sam Bain |
| Starring | David Mitchell Robert Webb Olivia Colman |
| Theme music composer | Daniel Pemberton |
| Opening theme | Harvey Danger - Flagpole Sitta (series two onwards) |
| Country of origin |  United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of episodes | 18 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Andrew O'Connor |
| Producer | Phil Clarke |
| Camera setup | Single-camera |
| Running time | 25 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | Channel 4 |
| Release | September 9 2003 – Present |
Peep Show is a British sitcom starring David Mitchell and Robert Webb. The programme is written by Jesse Armstrong and Sam Bain, with additional material by Mitchell and Webb themselves. It has been broadcast on Channel 4 since 2003, and finished its third series in December 2005. It has been recommissioned for a fourth series[1], amid speculation that it was to be axed after pulling in only 1.3 million viewers per episode on average.[2]
About the show
The show is unusual in that the events of the two main characters' lives are seen almost exclusively from their own points of view (and those of other characters they interact with) to the extent that a working title for the programme was 'POV'. Scenes in the show are often filmed using cameras strapped to the actors' heads[3], to give the viewer a point of view identical to that of the protagonists, and the two main characters' internal monologues (or interior thoughts) are presented to the audience as voiceovers. On occasion, this viewing style is dropped in favour of a more traditional third person view, usually for establishing shots and flashbacks.
The third series, which started on Channel 4 on 11 November 2005, finished its run on 16 December 2005. The DVD of series 2 was released on 14 November 2005.
The theme tune for the first series was an original composition by Daniel Pemberton. Since the second series the theme music has been the song "Flagpole Sitta" by the American band Harvey Danger.
Although at the beginning of 2006 there were rumours the show would not be commissioned for another series, it has now been confirmed that a fourth series will be broadcast in 2007[4] [5]. The first two series had become a success on DVD just prior to the transmission of the third, whose ratings (of just over a million viewers) were therefore seen as slightly disappointing - although this can be attributed partly to its late night timeslot, hence the decision to produce a fourth. Series 3 was released on DVD on 6 November 2006.
On 13 December 2006, following the third series, Peep Show was honoured with the British Comedy Award for best TV comedy[6].
Synopsis
Peep Show features the often sexually frustrated lives of two twenty-somethings, Mark Corrigan (Mitchell) and Jeremy Usbourne (Webb) - former university companions (they sometimes refer to themselves as 'The El Dude Brothers' in reference to their student days) who now share a flat in Croydon, south London.
Mark is a loan manager and the more financially successful of the two but is extremely uncomfortable socially and pessimistic about nearly everything. Jeremy, who at the start of the first episode has recently split up with his girlfriend 'Big Suze', now rents Mark's spare room. He usually has a much more optimistic and energetic outlook on the world than Mark, yet his 'talent' as a musician is yet to be recognised, and he is not as socially popular or sexually attractive as he would like to think.
Characters
Mark Corrigan
(Played by David Mitchell): Loan manager Mark Corrigan is one of the show's two co-protagonists and owner of the flat in which they live. A middle-aged man in a twentysomething's body, he is sensible and careful, but often has moments of impulsive and erratic behaviour, such as urinating in the desk of a hated work colleague and attacking people in a cinema. Obsessed with his workmate Sophie to the point of insecurity, he appears to have had a somewhat miserable upbringing, with a domineering father, a mum who has flings fairly often and a switch from private to state education that has left him troubled in adult life. He achieved 7 GCSEs ("back when a GCSE actually meant something"), and is a graduate in Business Studies from Dartmouth University. He has a special interest in History, specifically Ancient History (which he wanted to study at university, but was apparently forced to do Business Studies by his father) and the Second World War.
Jeremy 'Jez' Usbourne
(Played by Robert Webb): A wannabe musician, Jez is a 'work-shy freeloader' who is naïve, childish and has a tendency to easily fall in love. Seemingly oblivious to the outside world, he considers himself very talented and attractive. He tends to be more sociable than Mark, but sometimes he can be quite malicious and hurtful when he wants to be, saying Mark does "posh spazzy things" and makes references and jeers to his "Weird nuts." Jeremy is a self-styled libertine, with a penchant for trying 'cool' drugs, and his alternative music. Like Mark, Jeremy is a "graduate" of Dartmouth ("Darty") University, but only in the loosest sense of the term as his degree classification remains something of a mystery. It is, however, stated in one episode during which Jeremy is attempting to flunk an interview for a clerk position at JLB Credit that he used to work as a nurse. On what level this was conducted is unknown, since in another episode he seems unsure as to whether cancer is "catching"; however, it is clear from Jeremy's character that being a nurse may not suit his self-centred and tunnel visioned perspective.
Super Hans
(Played by Matt King): Jeremy's 'band-mate' and part-time friend. In series 2 Hans becomes addicted to crack cocaine and openly smokes it at a social gathering claiming that it's "really moreish". His drug-fuelled political opinions on nearly all matters usually contradict Jeremy's ideas. He’s an untrustworthy shyster and fantasist, the kind of guy who makes up his own nickname. He was once involved in a drug-addled homosexual romp with Jeremy ("the bad thing"). He also likes to think of himself as being superior to others. In season three, he wanted to name the bar he owned with Jeremy "Free The Paedos". In season two Jeremy becomes extremely bored because Super Hans is back at work 'on the rig' suggesting that he is spending time in prison. 'Working on the rig' is a term often used as an excuse to explain a prolonged absence. Hans' addiction to crack cocaine, and his insistence that the pub in series three be called "Free The Paedos" supports this. In season one he works in a recording studio.
Sophie Chapman
(Played by Olivia Colman): Sophie is a work colleague that Mark is infatuated with during the first two series, and she becomes his girlfriend in series three. In Mark, she recognises someone who is on her wavelength. The trouble is, he's such a bag of neuroses, that he manages to self-destruct as soon as things start going well. In series three she has finally started a relationship with Mark, after a number of false starts, but it soon becomes apparent that they in fact have very little in common, which puts a strain on the relationship.
Alan Johnson
(Played by Paterson Joseph): First appearing in Series 1 Episode 4 as a visiting loan manager giving pep talks, Alan Johnson (usually referred to and addressed simply as "Johnson") becomes friends with Mark and asks him to join him in Cardiff, yet calls it off when Jeremy tells him that the reason for Mark's obsession for working with him is actually homosexual affection. Johnson is a big fan of his BMW 5 series, although is unperturbed when Mark crashes it, as he's "insured out of [his] arse, mate". Returning in Series 2, Johnson is now Mark's boss at 'JLB Credit'. Although a smooth, cool and professional businessman, he was previously an alcoholic for 15 years and refers to it in Series 2. The DVD commentary for Series 3 Episode 6 by Mitchell and Webb reveals that an early draft of that episode ended with Johnson committing suicide, an idea which was rejected as being too dark.
Jeff Heaney
(Played by Neil Fitzmaurice): Hailing from Liverpool, Jeff is Mark’s work enemy. A confident bully, his handling of everyday situations is the opposite of self-conscious, self-deprecating Mark. He is "stereotypically" masculine in nature, enjoying pursuits such as kickboxing, poker and chasing women. He holds the view that men were created to 'kill and knob'. Mark is usually the butt of Jeff's jokes at work and he is also Mark's main rival for the affections of Sophie. Mark takes great enjoyment at office rumours that Jeff sniffs the seats of female co-workers.
Toni
(Played by Elizabeth Marmur): Next-door neighbour of Mark and Jeremy and the object of their lust throughout Series 1. She is sexually liberal and opinionated. Toni appears in two episodes in Series 1 in which she attempts to get Jeremy to join a 'pie scheme' which is, in her words, 'not pyramid selling' (it's actually 'network marketing'). Toni has recently split from her husband and makes seemingly bitter references to him in the first series. Toni re-appears briefly in Series 2 when she is having a party to announce that she and her ex-husband Tony are to be re-married. This swiftly falls apart and she pressures Jeremy, recently married to Nancy "partially for Visa reasons", into sleeping with her.
Nancy
(Played by Rachel Blanchard): Nancy was a major supporting character in Series 2 when she acted as Jez's main love interest. She is very liberal and bohemian yet a devout but unconventional Christian. Her possible backstory, suggested by the production team on the DVD commentary, is that she comes from small-town America and has been liberated from this conservative upbringing by coming to England. From first meeting her at a new-age dance class, Jez fell in love with her, whereas her feelings for him were markedly lukewarm, seeing theirs as an open relationship. She is only monogamous for a short spell immediately after their phony (to everyone but Jez) wedding. When Jeremy cheats on her, they break up as a relationship, but remain married, even though their relationship is "little more than a husk". Although Nancy is not seen in series 3, as of episode 4 she and Jez are apparently still married.
Big Suze
(Played by Sophie Winkleman): Big Suze lived with Jeremy in a shared flat (which Jez calls the "love shack") for a year and a half around 2002, just before the start of series 1. She was often mentioned but never seen until her introduction as a major supporting character in series 3. While for Jez their time together was a halcyon time of love and laughter, it seems to have meant a lot less to her, as she claims that they were "Never really...". Mark also became infatuated with her for a short time, even though it was not apparent whether she felt a similar affection. Suze is incredibly posh, and would like to be more bohemian than she is. She is apparently an actress but works in a café between roles. At the end of series 3, she and Jeremy apparently get back together.
Plot summary
Series One
In the first series, Mark and Jeremy begin with similar aims of bedding their next door neighbour Toni, though Mark is also tragically obsessed with his workmate Sophie, who is more interested in the more macho Jeff. Over time, Jeremy's lust for Toni grows, and he contemplates the opportunity of having a "next-door fuckbuddy", including having intercourse through the wall. Both Mark and Jeremy go through awkward periods throughout the series, as is seen by Mark's confusing and sexual admiration for Johnson, while Jeremy remembers a "Bad Thing" he did while high on drugs, which turns out to be having oral sex with friend Super Hans. As the series develops, so do their frustrations, climaxing in the two teaming up to prank call Sophie and launch a pepper spray attack on Jeremy's friend and Toni's short term lover, Super Hans. By the end of the series, Mark nearly succeeds in having sex with Sophie but this chance is ruined by Jeremy's apparent overdose, while the latter claims that he has a terminal illness in order to receive a handjob from Toni.
Series Two
In series two, Jeremy's luck is far greater as he meets and falls in love with Nancy and has a little more success with his music career with Super Hans. Meanwhile Mark is on a downward slope: Sophie plans to move in with Jeff, and Mark forges a short friendship with a Neo-Nazi, and falls for a similarly socially inadequate student, before losing her after an ill-judged return to his old university, where she is currently studying. However, the tables turn once more at the end of the series when Jeremy admits to Nancy - now his wife -that he has been in an affair with Toni ("by mistake"), leaving his marriage a 'husk', while Sophie dumps Jeff and very nearly begins a relationship with Mark. During this series Jeremy's friend Super Hans discovers a love of crack cocaine, failing to understand why, in the 21st century, "a nice relaxing smoke of crack" is socially unacceptable.
Series Three
This series sees Big Suze re-enter Jeremy's life. Meanwhile, Mark and Sophie have finally become a couple, yet Mark is left alone once again when she is relocated to Bristol. Other developments include Jeremy seducing Mark's sister while Mark falls for Big Suze, and Jeremy and Super Hans attempting to run a pub. In the last episode, Mark plans to propose to Sophie but changes his mind upon realising that they have very little in common. Nonetheless he ends up agreeing to marry her to avoid "embarrassment" after she gets wind of his original plan and accepts a proposal which he has not actually made. Meanwhile Jeremy's efforts to get back together with Suze are hindered somewhat by Super Hans' attempts to go cold turkey.
Future series
Series Four
Series 4 is due to return Friday 13th April at 10.30pm, on Channel Four.
Amazon.co.uk are already taking pre-orders for a series 4 DVD, with release date listed as November 2007.
Series Five
Series 5 was commissioned on March 2007, before series 4 was broadcast.[2]
References
- ^ "New series for 'Peep Show', 'IT Crowd'". Digital Spy. 2006-03-01.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ a b "News - Peep Show gets a 5th series". British Sitcom Guide. 2007-03-21.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "British Sitcom Guide - Peep Show". BSG. 2007. Retrieved 2007-02-01.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "O'Grady heads Channel 4 line-up". BBC. 1 March 2006. Retrieved 2006-09-17.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Bio section of Mitchell and Webb MySpace page. Accessed 17 September 2006.
- ^ "Merchant takes top comedy honour". BBC. 14 December 2006. Retrieved 2006-12-14.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help)
External links
