For the past nine years Peep Show has emerged as a staple of British comedy. As other programmes have been and gone, the cult show has remained consistent in its quality. Continuing to churn out sidesplitter after sidesplitter, the neuroses of the flatmates has provided a ton of mirth thanks to David Mitchell’s snooty bumbling and Robert Webb’s scathing, jaw-dropping idiocy. Always tending to divine laughs from character rather than situation, Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong’s formula hasn’t grown wearisome yet – which is no mean feat when the show has been running for the best part of a decade. Having said that, this eighth series isn’t quite as good as others.
Last time we caught up with Jez and Mark, the El Dude Brothers were going their separate ways with Dobby moving into the flat, leaving Jeremy to find digs elsewhere. Picking up a few months down the line, Dobby is dragging her heels when it comes to moving in and Mark’s getting increasingly frustrated – both with her stalling and with the slew of suitors trying to usurp him as her boyfriend. First of all she’s getting a lot of attention from Gerrard, then her ex Simon shows up, before even Jez takes a shine and decides he’s in love with her. In the meantime, Jeremy has found a vocation in life-coaching while Super Hans relishes being able to boss Mark around at work.
In all it’s by no means a bad season and it’s still miles better than most of the shit to hit the telly nowadays. The main issue though is that it feels a little hamstrung by the fact there’s only six episodes. With the repercussions of last season providing the situation for this one, it’s annoying when it just doesn’t have enough episodes to progress thoroughly enough to get its own arc. The other issue is that this season is a little Mark-heavy, leaving Jeremy a bit sidelined. As such, the banter between them is a tad sparser and the series suffers for it. All in all it feels a bit like a filler season where nothing much happens.
Still, having said that, series nine is due later in 2013, which should see some progression. As for this one though, it’s still good fun and there are plenty of belly laughs to be had. As mentioned, Peep Show has never needed solid plotting to keep it afloat, as the characters can carry it. It’s just a bit funnier when they have better storylines to riff off – such as being in love with a lesbian or knocking up an ex. Generally though, it’s by no means the beginning of the end for Peep Show, just a slightly weaker series of one of the most hilarious sitcoms of the past ten years.
Overall verdict: Good fun but not as brilliant as previous series. After nine years though, it’s still worth a peep.
Special Features:
Deleted scenes
Bloopers
Reviewer: Jordan Brown