Although I consider myself to be one of Peep Show’s all-time biggest fans, I’m willing to hold my hands up and admit that I didn’t watch it from day one. In my defence, I was only 9 years old, so that would have been wildly inappropriate. However, I’ve more than made up for it since, and it’s no exaggeration to say that I’ve watched Peep Show countless times. I watch it when I’m sad, I watch it when I’m happy, I (especially) watch it when I’m anxious—it never, ever gets old. Myself and some of my best friends speak in a language that must be borderline imperceptible to a normalo. I fall into the incredibly annoying category of people who have made a TV show their entire personality, but I’m okay with it.
When people ask me why I love Peep Show so much, I half-jokingly quip that no matter how bad my life is, Mark’s and Jeremy’s will always be worse. It’s a huge comfort, but the sad reality is—I’m not really joking. Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong’s achingly funny creation has been a constant through some challenging times and I’m far from the only person who feels this way. The show has garnered a serious cult following over the years, with several podcasts dedicated to reviewing it, meme-and-merch extraordinaires Dobby Club taking the Twittersphere by storm, and Big Mad Andy’s Peep Show Quiz growing by the year (not to brag, but I did come second in one such Glasgow event). But what makes it so good? There are plenty of sitcoms out there, so why do we feel so passionately about this one in particular? I wanted to chat to some fans, so naturally, I assembled a smörgåsbord of McCoys, Ribena and a Twirl, and invited them round to find out.
Peep Show first graced our screens on the 19th September 2003, but in true Channel 4 fashion, it didn’t start off with great viewing figures. These picked up towards the end of the show’s run, and the final season in late 2015 was hotly anticipated. Unlike myself, who jumped on the bandwagon long after the show had finished, my assembled fan group remember watching the final series as it aired. There was a three-year gap between seasons eight and nine, during which time the show picked up a lot of fans. It’s a bit of a cliché that sitcoms often outstay their welcome and go on for too long, so perhaps Bain and Armstrong were waiting until they had a solid storyline before going ahead with the ninth season. The fans I spoke to all agree that it was worth the wait. Aidan, 29, says: “I loved the ending. There was a noticeable dip in quality in the later series but the very end of the show was brilliant and made some of it more worthwhile than we thought. A crap ending could have spoiled the whole thing.” John, also 29, adds: “I like how the last episode is just a normal episode – there’s no massive set piece, like a wedding or a christening or anything like that.” We do see Jeremy’s 40th birthday party, but this is very sparsely attended and there isn’t much fanfare. As Nicole, 28, states: “They’ve burned their bridges with everyone else, and they only have one another left.”
Unlike many of its contemporaries, one of Peep Show’s biggest strengths is the lack of character development in its protagonists. Neither Mark Corrigan nor Jeremy Usborne (played exceptionally well by David Mitchell and Robert Webb) fall into the stereotype of slightly flawed characters who work on themselves and eventually become better versions. Instead, they are actively horrible people, who routinely sabotage their own lives as well as the lives of those around them. And yet, they maintain an unlikely level of relatability, and fans always seem to see themselves in either Mark or Jez. John relates more to Mark, despite his awfulness, and often finds himself thinking, “I’m Louis Theroux, I’m Louis Theroux” in uncomfortable situations. Aidan, on the other hand, sees more of himself in Jez and even finds him a little endearing. “He’s a bit of a child, Jeremy. There’s a strange innocence to him despite his debauchery. Mark is cold and calculating, but Jez at least wants to be a good person.” This is demonstrated beautifully in the classic Christmas episode, ‘Seasonal Beatings’ (you know the one – “NO TURKEY?!”). Nicole disagrees, however, stating: “Jez’s only redeeming quality is his dedication to Christmas. He even turns down sex because he ‘believes in Christmas’.”
However, this isn’t Jeremy’s sole redeeming quality—he also has moments of extreme thoughtfulness; the most notable being when he organises Mark’s stag do. They may or may not end up barbecuing and eating a pet dog in the process, but you can’t deny that the thought was there. Nicole would argue that Mark isn’t all bad because he funds Jeremy’s entire life, but John refutes this. “Is that for Jez or for himself? It’s because he can’t bear to be on his own. Who is he without having someone to punch down to?” Equally, when Jez plans an elaborate Christmas for Mark, his motive is really to secure the kind of day he wants for himself. They are both selfish to their core, and no attempt to pretend otherwise is ever anything but a bid to obtain yet another unwitting woman (or man, in Jez’s case). Their relationship dynamic, and the actors’ chemistry on screen, is of course central to the show, leading us to the conclusion that, despite their relentless pursuits to find ‘The One’, they’ve already found that in one another.
Although there are female characters in Peep Show, they are always used as a plot device to showcase either Mark’s or Jez’s abhorrent behaviour. Sophie is the most prominent of the female love interests, and we see her character change dramatically from episode to episode, depending on what the plot requires of her. This is not necessarily a criticism—I have no evidence to suggest that a more consistent Sophie or a better-rounded Dobby would add anything to the show—but it is interesting that men and women find the show equally entertaining. “I think a lot of shows that focus on women’s experiences get pigeonholed as a women’s show and then don’t get the reach that they should, and men don’t enjoy them as much, which says a lot about our culture. But I think for this show to be as successful as it was and to appeal to the widest audience it had to be about two male characters,” says Aidan. This is especially pertinent given that a US remake with two female leads is in the works.
As a group, we are unsure how successful this will be, given Peep Show’s uniquely ‘British’ identity in everything from its humour down to the way the characters look. Aidan calls this brand of British humour “dry and awkward,” while Nicole talks about the “British cringe factor.” I, for one, was physically curled up in a ball when I first watched it, but it has become slightly less cringy with each rewatch.
It’s reasonable to assume a British sitcom wouldn’t translate elsewhere, but would the exact same series even work today? A scene in which Jez sports blackface was removed by Netflix and the T-slur is also used at one point. At various points, we see Mark, Jez, and the wacky Super Hans engage in predatory behaviour, and in ‘Jeremy’s Mummy’, sexual assault is often the butt of the joke. On the other hand, Nicole argues, some strands of the plot were quite progressive, such as Jez starting a relationship with a man in the final series. John says he imagines there would have been some backlash to this, despite Jez’s fluid sexuality being referenced several times earlier in the show. For example, when Sophie laments having only slept with four men in ‘Conference’, Jez thinks to himself: “Jesus, I’ve had sex with more men than that, and I basically only sleep with women.” There’s also ‘the bad thing’ in series one, and mention of Jez’s exploits with their offscreen friend, Pedge. On balance, I think the moments that stand out as being racist, predatory or transphobic jar because, overall, it stands up fairly well. When you choose to write a show starring truly loathsome people, they are going to do and say loathsome things, but the show never tries to portray these actions or thoughts as the correct moral position.
In celebration of the twenty-year anniversary of our favourite show, I had to ask the fans about their highlights. John makes a very good case that episodes with Jeremy’s name in the title are the best ones; ‘Jeremy Makes It’, ‘Jeremy Broke’, ‘Jeremy’s Mummy’, ‘Jeremy’s Manager’ and ‘Jeremy at JLB’ all spring to mind. “‘Jeremy at JLB’ is hilarious, but it’s also a great turning point episode,” says John. I unintentionally back this up by suggesting ‘Jeremy Therapised’ as a favourite of mine (“He’s died of flu? That is so Gerard.”). According to Nicole, ‘Jeremy Broke’ is experiencing a cultural renaissance as the cost of living crisis hits us all hard (“And no razors. If you’re poor, grow a beard”). Finally, ‘Spin War’ is also cited as a fan favourite, marking the transition from the Sophie era to the Dobby one, and squeezing in a plethora of quotable lines in the process.
In case this wasn’t obvious, I genuinely believe Peep Show is the greatest sitcom that has ever been made. Each of the characters, even those who appear in only one episode, bring something different to the show, and, as Aidan says, “it’s a great snapshot of the Blair years in Britain.” “It’s also a very quick way to get to know new people. If you slip in a cheeky little quote and they respond in kind, you’re like ‘oh, hello’,” says John, and he’s absolutely right. All it takes is for someone to understand what I mean when I say “this is not all my chickens coming home to roost, and don’t stand there thinking it is,” and we’ve got a bond for life. Mark is right, life is relentless, and it’s nice to know Peep Show will always be there to brighten it up a little.
All nine seasons of Peep Show are available to watch on Netflix in the UK (thanks to a reversal of their decision to remove it earlier this month).
Words by Gillian Reynolds
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