The great thing about writing Peep Show,” says Sam Bain, co-creator of the cult Channel 4 sitcom, “is that you can put all your most humiliating, weird, embarrassing moments into a comedy, watched by thousands of people.” In fact, it was more – the show tended to pull in over a million – and it wasn’t unusual for Bain to insert his own surreal scrapes into the show. For example, “I did once sit on a burglar,” he admits, as he recalls the experience that ended up in the series five episode “Burgling”. “I also got stood up on a date, and then bumped into the girl who stood me up on the way home, which went into the same episode.”
Twenty years ago today, Peep Show premiered on late-night Channel 4, inviting viewers inside a beige Croydon flat with a sagging sofa and a mouldy bathroom sink. These bleak premises were the home of Mark Corrigan, played by David Mitchell (interests: the Battle of Stalingrad and chess), and Jeremy Usbourne, played by Robert Webb (interests: bongs and f*** buddies). Over nine series, their lads’ pad served as the setting for a show full of ludicrous predicaments, existential angst and unflinching insight into the male psyche, all against the backdrop of the Blair era and the financial crash.
