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Peep Show
Series 4 Première
- 13 April 2007, Channel 4, 10.30pm
Writers: Jesse Armstrong & Sam Bain
Starring: David Mitchell, Robert Webb & Olivia Coleman
Still so much more than a Mitchell and Webb vehicle
Since Peep Show transcended its original role as a low key oddity, Channel 4 has had problems dealing with its success. Critically lauded and a winner of numerous awards, the show has failed to attract the audience figures that the opinionated idiots at SSP feel it deserves. Judging by the first episode of this reluctantly commissioned forth series, it will once again please the fans far more than the channel heads.
Typically, the series opens with Jeremy and Mark being away from London. Sophie has invited Mark to her parents’ house in the country for her birthday and he brings along the reluctant Jeremy for support. Her family turns out to be so socially retarded that even Mark and Jeremy feel normal in comparison and they proceed to play on the weaknesses of the Londoners as Mark desperately tries to create a good impression with his potential in-laws. It is all played out with the subtlety and imagination that has makes the show so unique. Peep Show explores social inadequacy and human flaws with more perception than other any show on British TV.
With the elevation of Mitchell and Webb’s profile in the last 12 months, it would have been easy for writers to tone down the programme’s more strange and unpleasant humour to win a mass audience. Luckily for us, they are not seeking popularity at the expense of the product (although some would say this does not apply to the stars of the show). It remains a sitcom of rare quality.
Josh Widdicombe
