List of Peep Show characters
This article possibly contains original research. (November 2015) |
Peep Show is a British sitcom starring David Mitchell and Robert Webb. The series follows the lives of two men from their twenties to thirties who live in a flat in Croydon, London. Mark Corrigan (Mitchell), who has steady employment for most of the series, and his lodger, Jeremy "Jez" Usbourne (Webb), an unemployed would-be musician, are the main characters of the show.[1][2] It was shown on Channel 4 from 2003 to 2015.
Major characters
Characters appear in all series unless otherwise specified.
Mark Corrigan
Mark Corrigan (played by
Mark is convinced that Jeremy's laziness, lack of logical rigour and indifference towards cultural pursuits are markers of low intellect, but often looks to him for social guidance. He is plagued by paranoia as to how others perceive him, and by doubts over whether his actions are normal. In spite of his thoughtful and sensible exterior and his tendency to act as the moral centre of his surroundings, he has frequent bouts of selfishness, schadenfreude and impulsive behaviour. He loathes many aspects of modern culture, such as drug use and openness of sexuality; Mark often simply endures activities that others around him enjoy, as “the price you pay to avoid loneliness”. Despite this, Mark has a chronic fear of loneliness throughout the show, and continuously perseveres with doomed and irrationally motivated romantic relationships as a result.
Mark's political sympathies are arguably the most developed of any character on the show, and yet they retain some ambiguity. He appears to be politically rational, if socially the exact opposite. Mark is mildly
When the series starts, Mark has already been a loan manager at a London branch of JLB (a Frankfurt-based loan and credit company) for around four years, at least judging from the timing given by Jez in Series 2. His time at JLB comes to a close when the branch closes down in the first episode of Series 6; later on, Mark works as a waiter at the Mexican restaurant Banditos, a bathroom equipment salesman at Bath, Bathrooms, and Fittings, and finally again as a loan manager at the fictional Met City Bank with his former boss Alan Johnson. He is fired in the series finale, partly because of Jeremy's belated reaction to an abusive loan Mark had set up for him at the bank.
Mark's obsession with Sophie and his relationship with her (which is his first), is a major storyline of the first four series. She is seen almost exclusively through his eyes, showing her as merely kind-hearted and preventing the audience from understanding her real personality or motivations. By the third series, however, she is revealed to be narcissistic, boring, impulsive, and abrasive. These revelations coincide with Mark finally getting the chance to get together with her, but Mark is shown to be by this point increasingly apathetic towards her. Nonetheless, he perseveres neurotically with what becomes a passionless relationship bereft of mutual understanding. Mark appears completely unable to comprehend what type of man Sophie wants him to be. She takes no interest in his personal interests, such as history, fueling him to attempt to lean into his masculinity (which, to her horror, leads him to briefly carry a large knife around). The two become increasingly frustrated and disinterested in one another, but Mark is in denial about what a healthy relationship looks like and refuses to accept that theirs is doomed. Mark’s paranoia surrounding loneliness reaches fever pitch when he determines he must marry her or she will eventually leave him. While on a weekend trip with Sophie to Somerset, during which he plans to propose, Mark realises with Jeremy’s help that he doesn’t actually love her and should break up with her. However, she finds the planned engagement ring before he can tell her this and “accepts”, apparently mostly out of a desire to have children. Mark feigns happiness out of fear of humiliation. The pair spend an agonising next few months preparing for a wedding neither truly want (especially Mark), with Mark and Jeremy coming up with increasingly outlandish schemes to get out of it that Mark could never actually pull off.
Following their disastrous wedding and separation immediately afterwards, he pursues a series of other women during series 5, wondering whether each could be "the one". After having sex with Sophie following their breakup, she becomes pregnant and later gives birth to Mark's son.
Mark's only other relationship is with Dobby, whom he meets at JLB shortly after splitting from Sophie. Like with Sophie, Mark gradually succeeds in getting closer to Dobby and ultimately entering a relationship with her, but Dobby leaves him at the end of series 8 for a job in New York. She returns in series 9 with an American boyfriend, a new look and a more upbeat attitude, and Mark becomes less attracted to her as a result.
In the final series – 9 – he has a fling with April, whom he knew briefly years earlier, who is now unhappily married to a middle-aged man, Angus. Mark tries to poach her, but fails in the show's finale when he allows Jeremy and Super Hans to kidnap Angus and hold him captive in their flat, which she discovers.
Jeremy Usbourne
Jeremy 'Jez' Usbourne (portrayed by Robert Webb) is a "work-shy freeloader" who lives in the spare room of Mark's flat. He is selfish, juvenile and arrogant, but considers himself to be immensely talented and attractive. He is confident, but can sometimes come across as spiteful and stubborn. Although more socially skilled than Mark on a superficial level, his over-confidence and narcissism mean that in practice he is equally socially inept.
Jez displays a readiness to engage in actions that are detrimental to his friends for his own gain, including ganging up on Mark with a bully, overdosing Mark on
Jez attended Dartmouth with Mark and graduated with a
Jez is free-spirited, popular with women in the short-term, and enjoys recreational drugs as well as casual sex, although he has several emotionally attached relationships. His first major love interest during the series is Nancy, whom he marries in order to allow her to stay in the UK; she leaves him after he admits to having sex with Toni. He later has a fling with Big Suze, whom he split from shortly before the series began. She leaves him when he tries to convince her to have sex with Johnson for money. During series 6, he has a relationship with Elena, during which he discovers that she is in a long-term same-sex relationship relationship with Gail; he later reveals the affair to Gail. In series 7 he has a fling with Zahra, who lives with her partner Ben. After Zahra and Ben separate, Jez resumes his relationship with her, but she leaves him after he attempts to have sex with Super Hans's girlfriend. In series 8, Jeremy discovers he is in love with Dobby and ruins Mark's plan to propose to her, thereby putting a six-month hiatus on their friendship. In series 9, he enters a same-sex relationship with Joe - who is over a decade younger than him. Jez pretends to be a year younger than he is, which leads to Joe leaving him at his 40th birthday party, in the finale.
Super Hans
Portrayed by Matt King, Jeremy's bandmate and friend, ’Super’ Hans is an untrustworthy selfish fantasist who very frequently uses recreational drugs. His musical skills are implied to be only marginally better than Jeremy's, and at least part of his role (which in Season 2 Jeremy is briefly asked to fill in for) seems to be merely to front for other bands, "hit a few keys on the sequencer, make a bit of a show". Hans's real name is Simon (as revealed during his wedding to Molly in series 9). He experiences a crack cocaine addiction in the second series, remarking "that crack is really moreish", later referenced again in the final episode of the third series and in the seventh series.
In spite of the damage he routinely causes to his brain, he is portrayed to be a fast thinker, and the drug-addled stream-of-consciousness that passes for his normal speech is occasionally insightful and indicative of a huge volume of pop-culture knowledge. His professed political beliefs appear to be closer to the
Hans' contentious opinions often contradict Jeremy's ideas. His tough-love attitude towards Jeremy thinly masks a readiness to betray him whenever it suits him, e.g. edging him out of band projects, stealing his love interests, claiming sole ownership of shared song credits or having Jeremy take the blame for his own drug use and then leaving him temporarily homeless in order to save his marriage. His relationship with Mark, on the other hand, is tolerant - although the two have very little in common, Hans seems less concerned by Mark's social awkwardness than others, and even expresses sincere and unprompted appreciation of Mark's character and friendship on the evening before Hans's wedding, while Mark is often surprisingly forgiving of Hans's eccentric and destructive behaviour.
He works in a recording studio in the first series. At the end of series five he and Jeremy join a religious
Alan Johnson
Alan Johnson (portrayed by
Sophie Chapman
(series 1–7, guest series 9) Portrayed by
After she begins a relationship with the more manly Jeff, Mark becomes extremely jealous, partially as a manifestation of the sense of emasculation that Jeff provokes or after Sophie is promoted to a position Mark applied for. By series two, Jeff and Sophie are in a serious relationship. Mark routinely humiliates himself in futile attempts to remain close to Sophie, which include convincing her to take part in a charity bungee jump with him (in which he panics and has to be taken down), pretending to be gay, and hacking her email (which she eventually discovers). Sophie eventually leaves Jeff due to his abusive nature, but moves to Bristol shortly afterward, complicating Mark’s lingering romantic interest in her. It is only around this time in which Sophie’s personality is really shown to the audience. Her “normal” aspects are shown to be either boring or generic, or merely cover for her hedonism, heavy drug use, and impulsivity. She is shown to casually lie and act insubordinately, and has an utterly ruthless desire to get exactly what she wants. As a result of the move to Bristol and her increasingly debauched behaviour, Mark becomes less and less infatuated with Sophie, but remains close to her out of his chronic fear of loneliness. When they finally begin a steady, if dull and mostly passionless, relationship, he fails to recognise this. Mark also seems equally unable to understand what she thinks of him or wants from him. The two begin to drift.
Mark eventually comes to the ultimatum that he must either get married to Sophie or risk losing her, and the “normal life” he naively believes she offers. This is not only despite their complete lack of common interests or heart-to-heart conversations - the pair do not even live together - but also Mark’s increasing resentment of her. The real reason Mark seems so determined to marry Sophie is due to his own paranoia and a desire for them both to comply with societal expectations. Mark uses the last of his Sunday Times mega-vouchers to take her to the Quantocks for a weekend in which he will propose to her; however, he lets Jez accompany him, who in turn brings along Super Hans to supervise him as he attempts (disasterously) to go cold turkey. Sophie and Mark have nothing to say to one another, and she begins to behave erratically, such as stuffing his guide book into a postbox and getting stranded with a strange elderly couple out on the moors. Completely in denial about their doomed relationship, Mark’s inner monologue shows his remarkable annoyance towards Sophie (“Why won’t that stupid bitch let me propose to her?”).
After wandering the moors one night, Jeremy asks Mark what he actually loves about Sophie, and to Mark’s own bewilderment Mark cannot name a single aspect of her personality he has genuine affection for. Mark suddenly realises he doesn’t love Sophie and therefore doesn’t have to marry her, and becomes ecstatic. Jeremy and Mark then argue about which way to get back to the hotel, with Mark stubbornly insisting on going off on his own in what turns out to be the wrong direction. After getting lost and wandering all night, Mark arrives the next morning back at the hotel in a dishevelled state (his legs sodden after pissing on them “in an attempt to stay warm”) only to find that Sophie has found his engagement ring in his bag. After discussing that neither of them “are getting younger” and her desire to have children, to Mark’s horror, she accepts his proposal. Mark goes along with it out of embarrassment. The next months before the wedding prove agonising for Mark, who is tormented by his lack of love for Sophie and his own cowardice, he rationalises that the marriage might prove successful while also acknowledging to himself that he is only marrying Sophie due to his overweening fear of loneliness, and Sophie is only marrying him because she would be willing to marry anyone so long as it meant she "had a baby this year". They do eventually marry, but Mark hides with Jeremy before the ceremony, causing Sophie to realise he does not love her. She leaves him immediately after the ceremony.
Her family, who are wealthy
Jeff Heaney
Portrayed by Neil Fitzmaurice. Jeff is a colleague of Mark and Sophie's at JLB and an intimidating, manly bully from Merseyside. He repeatedly clashes verbally and occasionally physically with Mark, not least for the attentions of Sophie, who chooses Jeff but leaves him after he kisses another woman. In the later series, as Mark and Sophie's relationship takes its course, he is frequently seen mocking Mark. After their relationship falls apart, Jeff appears to be gradually getting close to Sophie again. Mark's anger over this peaks when Sophie even considers naming their child 'Geoff'. However, Sophie sees no connection between this name and that of Mark's rival, instead claiming that she takes it from her uncle. In series 7, he becomes the baby's godfather when Mark and Jez both fail to turn up on time, and it appears that Jeff and Sophie are back in a relationship by the end of the series, which is a major torment to Mark, who constantly believes that his son will think Jeff is his father. Jeff confirms they are back together when he comes to Mark's house to collect the baby in series 8. Jeff returns in the very last episode in series 9, no longer with Sophie but once again working for Alan when Mark is fired from his new job.
Dobby
(Series 5–9) Portrayed by
Big Suze
(played by Sophie Winkleman, series 3–7) Big Suze lived with Jez in a flat (which he nostalgically refers to as the "love shack") for around a year and a half, prior to the start of the first series of the show. She is occasionally mentioned from series 1 but does not make an appearance until her introduction as a major supporting character in the third series. Suze is posh and is an actress, but between roles works as a waitress in a café. Jez is desperate to get back together with her, and although they reunite briefly, she later leaves him for Alan Johnson. Her nickname comes from her being tall. Her appearance in the third series was intended for Nancy, but Rachel Blanchard was unavailable.[6] During series 6, her relationship with Johnson is troubled, leading to their breakup in series 7, and her throwing a separate New Year's Eve party, resulting in Johnson relapsing into drinking alcohol.
Minor characters
April Danecroft
(Catherine Shepherd, (s2 & 9). A Dartmouth University student and shoe salesgirl who has the magical combination of beauty and low self-esteem. Mark pretends to be doing the same course as her at Dartmouth in order to meet her there. He fails in his attempt to have casual sex with her. She returns in s9 as a successful historian and is unhappily married to boring middle-aged historian Angus. She has a fling with Mark.
Gerard Matthew
(
Gail Huggins
(Emily Bruni, s6-8). Elena's long-term girlfriend, a member of Mensa and a musician. She manages a Mexican restaurant, hiring Mark until she fires him shortly after in s7. In s8, she campaigns to be chairman of the freehold committee in Apollo House.
Simon
(Mathew Baynton, s7 & 8). Dobby's boyfriend for part of s7. During s8, Simon tries to get Dobby back after she reveals she is going to move in with Mark.
Ian Chapman
(
Zahra
(
Elena
(
Nancy
(Rachel Blanchard, s2 & 4). Arriving in Britain from the US where she had a conservative upbringing, Nancy is hedonistic and carefree. Her attitude towards love and relationships is affected by her upbringing and her Christian beliefs clashing with her personality and desires, leading her to send her boyfriend Jez very mixed messages, from having adventurous, frequent sex to abstaining completely. She marries him to stay in the UK, but does not reciprocate his love for her.
Toni
(Elizabeth Marmur, s 1–2). The next-door neighbour of Mark and Jez, and an object of their affections throughout the first series of the show. She separates from her husband Tony (
Ben
(Danny Babington, s7). Jez and Mark meet Ben - who is in a coma - and his partner Zahra in hospital where Mark and Jez accompany Sophie, who is giving birth to Mark's son. Jez works for Ben in order to spend time with Zahra, enabling Jez to have a fling with her.
Sarah Corrigan
(Eliza L. Bennett, s3 & 6-8). Mark's sister, a solicitor who aids Mark in regard to custody rights over his son. She first appears having split up with her husband. Jez quickly seduces her, much to Mark's chagrin which worsens when he has sex with her the same night they meet. Jez finishes with her very soon after he finds out Suze is single, but she continues to show a sexual interest in him every time she appears. Although Jez tries to avoid her, he briefly moves in with her and her son Joshy in s8, when he agrees to move out of Mark's flat but realises that he has nowhere to go.
Megan
(
Joe
(Bart Edwards, s9). Megan's boyfriend. Jez has sex with him on an impulse, which results in an ongoing relationship between the two. Jez also has sex with Megan, but chooses Joe over her. His older age prevents him from keeping up with Joe, and Jez pretends to be a year younger than he actually is when Jez's 40th birthday approaches. Joe buys him some tickets to spend a whole week raving together, but Jez declines, so Joe returns to Megan.
Big Mad Andy
(Liam Noble, s3 & 8). An emotionally volatile handyman whom Jez manages to befriend after Andy is tasked with repairing a bathroom door destroyed by Super Hans. Jez attempts to 'life coach' Andy in a futile and self-serving effort to treat Andy's patently urgent mental health problems. Andy is a heavy drinker who punches people when intoxicated in order to provoke a fight and have his own thoughts "punched out of him".
Jerry
(Tim Key, s9). Mark's colleague who moves in to Jeremy's old room. Although mild-mannered, cheerful, and ostensibly sharing a lot of Mark's more cultured interests (books, history), Jerry proves an irritant, and Mark wishes to return to his more low-brow domestic arrangement with Jeremy.
Overview
Actor | Character | Seasons | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | ||
David Mitchell | Mark Corrigan | Main | ||||||||
Robert Webb | Jeremy Usbourne | Main | ||||||||
Olivia Colman | Sophie Chapman | Supporting | Supporting | |||||||
Matt King | Super Hans | Supporting | ||||||||
Elizabeth Marmur | Toni | Supporting | ||||||||
Neil Fitzmaurice | Jeff Heaney | Supporting | ||||||||
Paterson Joseph | Alan Johnson | Guest | Supporting | |||||||
Rachel Blanchard | Nancy | Supporting | Supporting | |||||||
Sophie Winkleman | Big Suze | Supporting | ||||||||
Isy Suttie | Dobby | Supporting | ||||||||
Jim Howick | Gerard Matthew | Guest | Supporting |
References
- ^ "Peep Show – Jeremy Usborne". Channel 4. 2013. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
- ^ "Peep Show – Mark Corrigan". Channel 4. 2013. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
- ^ "Brand 'rejected for Peep Show role'". BBC Newsbeat. 16 April 2008. Retrieved 16 April 2008.
- ^ Armstrong, Jesse; Bain, Sam (24 June 2008). "Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong". The Culture Show. Season 5. Episode 4. BBC 2.
- ^ Graham, Jack (10 December 2021). "Peep Show: One Quote From Each Character That Perfectly Sums Up Their Personality". ScreenRant. Retrieved 10 February 2024.
- ^ "Peep Show: "Shrooming"/"Sistering"". The AV Club. 22 April 2013. Retrieved 3 February 2019.