Peep Show | |
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Genre | |
Created by | |
Written by |
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Directed by |
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Starring | |
Opening theme |
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Composer | Daniel Pemberton |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Original language | English |
No. of series | 9 |
No. of episodes | 54 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Executive producers |
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Producers |
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Editors | Mark Davies Mark Everson Lucien Clayton Stefan Stuckert Jonathan Amos Paul Machliss Stephen Matthews |
Camera setup | |
Running time | 23–27 minutes |
Production company | Objective Productions |
Original release | |
Network | Channel 4 |
Release | 19 September 2003 16 December 2015 | –
Infobox instructions (only shown in preview) |
Peep Show is a British television sitcom starring David Mitchell and Robert Webb. It was written by Jesse Armstrong and Sam Bain, with additional material by Mitchell and Webb, among others. It was broadcast on Channel 4 from 19 September 2003 to 16 December 2015. In 2010, it became the longest-running comedy in Channel 4 history in terms of years on air.[5]
Peep Show follows the lives of Mark Corrigan (Mitchell) and Jeremy "Jez" Usbourne (Webb), dysfunctional best friends who share a flat in Croydon, South London.[6][7] Mark is a pessimistic, socially awkward loan manager who dreams of being an intellectual, while Jeremy is a perpetually-unemployed slacker who lives in Mark's spare room and who dreams of becoming a famous musician.[8] The show uses point of view shots—giving the programme its title—with the thoughts of main characters Mark and Jeremy audible as voice-overs. The contrast between the characters' stated thoughts and feelings and their actual intentions is a source of much of the show's humor.
The show has been described by Bain as portraying "the stubborn persistence of human suffering", and, through the exploration of existentialism and loneliness, as a realistic portrayal of "why ordinary people are evil",[9][10] while Armstrong said it was "about oddball male friendship, perhaps even 'masculinity'".[11]
Despite never achieving high viewing figures during its original run, Peep Show received consistent critical acclaim and has since become a cult classic. In April 2019, three years after its final episode, the series was named the 13th greatest British sitcom in a poll by Radio Times.[12] It has also been described as one of the best television programmes produced in the 21st century, and one of the best comedy series of all time.[13][14]