PEEP SHOW 5.1 - "Burgling"

Writers: Jesse Armstrong & Sam Bain

Director: Becky Martin

Cast: David Mitchell (Mark), Robert Webb (Jez), Sophie Winkleman (Big Suze), Dolly Wells (Paula), Susannah Wise (Heather) & Jack Bence (Burglar)


Jez persuades Mark to accompany him on a double-date, to help him get over his failed marriage. Meanwhile, a burglar targets their empty flat...

"Of course it's not AIDS; this isn't the 1980s. It's the best
STD: just cute, old, mostly symptom-less Chlamydia."

-- Jez (Robert Webb)

Despite its BAFTA successes and best-selling DVDs, Peep Show remains a low-rated cult for Friday nights, ever since it first arrived back in 2003. And I wouldn't have it any other way. Even after 5 years, Peep Show seems incapable of letting the quality slip, with writers Jesse Armstrong and Sam Bain crafting a continual stream of situations that every twentysomething can identify with. It's the uncomfortable years after adolescence and before "proper" adulthood, where many people (particularly men) just can't let go of their youth...

In this fifth series, stiff Mark (David Mitchell) and his layabout flatmate Jez (Robert Webb) are back living together, following the events of series 4's finale, where Mark ditched office sweetheart Sophie, minutes after marrying her. He's understandably depressed and upset, so Jez tries to cheer him up by arranging a double-date. Initially reluctant, Mark changes his mind when he sees the beautiful Heather (Susannah Wise), and agrees to Jez's set-up.

Sadly, the double-date involves a trip to the theatre, where a monumentally-bored Jez abandons Paula and heads home. Fortunately, Mark has already impressed Heather with his knowledge of Japanese samurai and has arranged a second date, only to find he gets stood up. Disgruntled, he returns home and bumps into Heather, who offers a plausible excuse for her absence, and agrees to accompany him home for drinks. But Mark's growing excitement that she might be "the one" turns to headaches when he catches a teenage burglar (Jack Bence) who's broken into their flat...

For an opening episode, I was slightly disappointed we didn’t get much fallout from the Sophie/Mark marriage break-up, as this story fell into something of a Peep Show staple: the uncomfortable, disastrous, foiled romance for Mark. That said, it's always great fun to see these characters do anything, and after years working together (in Peep Show, and other projects), Mitchell and Webb are a naturally entertaining double-act. Even if they don't technically perform together in this show, owing to its unique point-of-view style – where events are shown through the eyes of its characters, with a darkly humorous "vocalization" of their thoughts – meaning every actor is essentially acting to a single camera.

There's also an amusing subplot for Jez, who is told he might have Chlamydia by Paula -- but isn't concerned because it's symptom-less for men, and therefore doesn't want to tell his ex Big Suze (Sophie Winkleman) because there's a chance she's going to sleep with him. Of course, sensible Mark is adamant he tells Big Suze of his STD, as Chlamydia can make women infertile -- but can Jez be that selfless?

Burgling wasn't anything special in the big scheme of things, but the script is once again packed full of witty remarks and amusing lines. I particularly liked Jez trying to prove to Mark that plays are cool ("It's all different now. They've moved on. They use proper actors: Americans and people off the telly. And they're all based on films, so it's fine.") And does anyone else tape together all their remote controls to create "The Megatron"?

The supporting cast were all very good. I always find Sophie Winkleman amusing as posh Big Suze, and guest star Susannah Wise was engaging as Heather, even if all of Mark's potential dream-girls are written as the same basic character: the plain-but-quite-quite-attractive, intellectual and quiet type.

Still, I always feel genuinely saddened whenever events conspire to make Mark look like a weird loser, particularly as he gets very little back-up and help from anyone else, especially best-friend Jez. And that's the great secret to Peep Show; you can really identity with the characters, and they're a (worryingly) accurate reflection of kidults. I'm often quite amazed by how the inner dialogues of Mark and Jez resemble thoughts I've had myself, as Peep Show's format is the perfect device for getting inside peoples' heads. And it's a bizarre, dumb, sinister and hilarious place to be.


2 May 2008
Channel 4, 10.30 pm