Sunday 25 November was a great day for British comedy, as the cult-classic TV-series Peep Show returned to UK screens for its 8th inning. The show, which was first broadcast in 2003 on Channel 4, has built up a solid following and succeeded primarily for its DVD sales. Starring comedians David Mitchell and Robert Webb, Peep Show is written by Jesse Armstrong and Sam Bain, and follows the lives of London-dwelling thirty-somethings Mark Corrigan and Jeremy Usbourne in a point-of-view style of filming. The painfully awkward and seemingly odd-couple relationship between the pair, complimented by a string of excellent support characters, has made for some classic TV moments over the years.
But onto the new series, and Peep Show picks up soon after the previous season ended; Mark asked Dobby to move into his flat with him, as Jeremy’s relationship with Zahra ended after making sexual gestures towards Super Hans’ German girlfriend on New Years Eve.
It turns out Dobby hasn’t yet moved into Mark’s flat, though, and is instead spending more time with an increasingly ill Gerard (tube up his nose). In a move of desperation to force Dobby into his flat, Mark begins destroying her appliances starting out with the microwave.
We also see Jeremy struggling to move out of the Croydon flat he shares with Mark to make room for Dobby (which was the plan from last season), while he still fails to pay any rent. He is found burning some of his stuff in his room with Super Hans, before taking Mark up on his offer of getting therapy. This leads to some onion-bhaji related humour, a threat to urinate in some plants, and Jeremy finding a new vocation in life (as usual)!
Meanwhile Mark, who is still unemployed, finds himself taking job advice from live-wire Super Hans, entering various interview situations, but also arranging the funeral of a support character who surprisingly bites the dust! As usual, though, Peep Show finds a way to make death and mourning an awkwardly hilarious occasion.
Episode 1 of Season 8, overall, was pretty good. The show has kept its style; while the filming appears to have been slightly improved, the jokes and writing is textbook stuff. It looks like the big challenge for Mark this season will be to get Dobby into his flat, while for Jeremy it could be anything; but expect to see a new, or perhaps even old, love interest enter the show soon.
More weird and wonderful comedy will be coming each Sunday over the next 5 weeks, and Peep Show is showing no signs of stopping as it has already been commissioned for a 9th series in 2013.
Main image: Peep show
