Skip Channel4 main Navigation
Peep Show: Flings, Failed Conquests and Full On Relationships
Back in 2003, Peep Show’s “El Dude Brothers”, Mark and Jeremy, burst onto our screens and now, as the characters enter their fifth series, it finally looks like the denizens of Apollo House are to be parted. Or does it? At the end of series four, Mark finally married Sophie, and Jez was left chasing yet another past love.
So will Mark, the professional brogue wearer with a slightly worrying interest in World War Two, and Jeremy, the lazy waster with dodgy friends, ever be united to resume their incessant woman chasing antics of old? Watch the fifth series on Channel 4, Friday 10:30pm to find out. In the meantime, check out our rundown of Mark and Jeremy’s flings, failed conquests, and full on relationships…
Mark's Honeys
Sophie
Sophie’s now Mark’s wife, but how did Mark, the man who once said, “Sophie’s Poland: manageable, won’t put up too much of a fight,” actually pull this off? Well, Mark first met Soph in the seething cauldron of raging passion that is Mark’s workplace, the JLB. Despite swastika love on a Post-It and worries over abnormal testicles, Mark is on the verge of testing out his mantra, “First fuck is damage limitation; in, out, as much pleasure as I can give her, apologise and move on,” that is until they think Jez has died. Their relationship then takes a nosedive when Sophie realizes Mark’s been hacking into her email account. Jeff takes advantage of Mark’s faux-pas and his romance with Sophie moves up a gear. Later in the second series, Jeff and Sophie acrimoniously split-up to leave Mark to pick up the pieces.
Just when it seems to finally be falling into place for Mark, Sophie gets promoted and moves to Bristol. He decides the answer to this problem is to ask Sophie to marry him, and a weekend in Somerset in a four star hotel, using The Sunday Times Hotel MegaDeal vouchers, gives him the ideal opportunity to ask. However, a heart-to-heart with Jez on the moors finally clears Mark's mind, and he decides not to propose, but Sophie finds the ring and accepts his effective proposal before he can tell her about his feelings. In the fourth series Mark is adamantly against being trapped in a loveless husk of a marriage, but he leaves his fate to the flip of a coin: "Heads, I marry, lifetime of potential grinding resentment, tails I stay here become a social outcast and turn my back on the woman I may very well love?" He got heads.
Valerie
While Jeff’s worming his way in with Sophie, Mark gets back in the game with teen-goth Valerie who he meets whilst he’s putting ice cream in the freezer at a party. Even an argument over the merits of Peter Gabriel, and the arrival of Sophie and "seat-sniffer" Jeff doesn't seem to blunt Mark’s animal magnetism. "I've got to take Jeremy's advice more often. I'm out on a date with a teenage goth, smoking dope in the laser bowl toilets,” Mark says it all really.
April
A shopping trip to the shoe shop stars a long winding road leading back to the El Dude Brother's old Alma Mater Dartmouth University, in pursuit of sex, love and rock and roll. Mark casually swings by the old campus and just happens to bump into April, the shoe assistant of his dreams, who has that intoxicating mix of being insecure and attractive. Unfortunately for Mark, April believes him to be another undergraduate and wants to wait before ‘putting out’, as it were.
Merry
Mark's old college flame, Merry, turns up and gives Jez and Super Hans the keys to the pub left to her in her mum's will. However, before they can open the The Swan and Paedo, complete with washing machine and organic scrumpy, Merry’s 'kooky' personality goes into meltdown. As Mark says, "She's so hyper, she's probably really good at sex, but there's always the possibility I'll have the toilet seat slammed on my cock for no reason," and for that reason Mark declines Merry’s advances.
Sally Slater
While Sophie's off to Frankfurt for the Marketing Development Group with former boyfriend Jeff, Mark attends the Polefield school reunion. Which is no bad thing as it gives him ample opportunity to try and cop off with Sally Slater, the girl of his youthful dreams. Despite Jez's best efforts, Sally's still interested in Mark and arranges another date. Jez, amazed that Mark is being a dirty dog, lets him borrow his boss’s plush house as a venue for the abortive affair, but Sally’s husband disrupts the lusty shenanigans.
Lucy
Jez organizes a stag do for Mark aboard the canal boat christened the ‘Stag Aquatic’. Things gets into top gear after Jez buys two yards of ales and they chat up sisters, Aurora and Lucy in a local pub. A few shots of vodka, and a low-speed water chase later they seem to have finally struck lucky. Well, lucky if you’re Jez. Mark isn’t particularly fond of Lucy, but with the promise of a management job to a run call-centre in India from her high-powered dad, he’s certainly considering her as a potential suitor, until Jez eats her dog that is.
Jez's Hotties
Toni
Toni ends up being the object of both Mark's and Jez's affections, which probably has more to do with the boys’ sex-starved nature than anything else. Her label of divorcee singles her out as a target for their passions, and both the lads decide that they should have sex with her. Jez gets the closest to her in the first series when he uses his uncle’s death as an opening to try and get a sympathy fuck from Toni. He doesn’t get it, but he manages to get a hand job out of the situation, so it’s not all bad news. Then, Jez destroys his short-lived wedding bliss with Nancy when a discussion about Robin Williams' movies with Toni turns into a full-blown affair.
Nancy
In the second series, Jez meets his to-be wife, Nancy, in Rainbow Rhythms dance group. She feels indifferently about him, but her taboo breaking philosophy is to try everything once, so gives Jez a go. She's not prepared for monogamy, which Jez originally thinks could be cool and leads to an open relationship. He soon changes his mind at a sex orgy where he ends up as a spectator: "This is good, this is like watching a porno except I can't see anything, I haven't got a hard-on and I want to cry." Nancy’s visa eventually runs out and Jez is more than happy to marry her, although she sees it more as an administrative procedure rather than anything to do with love. The wedding bliss ends after Toni and Jez have a full on affair.
Michelle
There’s a phrase, “three’s a crowd”. Now this did nothing to prepare Jez for his threesome with his girlfriend, Michelle. His part of the deal was to get, erm, bummed with a strap-on. Big Suze says in this particular episode, "My friend Jen tried a threesome once, she said she cried for about an hour afterwards, but I'd still definitely like to try it some time." Jez may well be crying for more than an hour after his ordeal.
Big Suze
In series three, Big Suze, the former love of Jez’s life, comes back after three years away and he discovers that Big Suze has returned with a hunk of monk for a boyfriend. Their love is rekindled in a country house, though Super Hans going cold turkey in the same hotel room as them is not the ideal accompaniment. As Jez says, "If there wasn't a junkie in my room shitting and retching and puking, this would be like Pride & Prejudice." Jez’s relationship with Big Suze hits rock bottom when he accepts Johnson's indecent proposal for £530.
Sarah
Mark’s sister Sarah turns up after Apollo House after splitting up with her husband and much to his dismay, Jez claims to be in love with Sarah, and exploits her vulnerable emotional state for a shag. Sarah's incessant chatter and alarming similarities to her brother soon lead Jez to conclude she's not 'the one', and he embarks on a campaign to win Suze back.
Carla
Jez put his libido before the law when he’s put on jury duty, as he ends up banging the defendant Carla before banging her up.
Sophie's Mum
Jez then puts his libido before his best friend’s marriage by getting with Soph’s mum to be like a true James Bond figure, or at least that’s what Jez thinks.
Sophie
Jez completes the Chapman double when he follows Big Suze to Kettering to win her back, things get complicated when he accidentally manages to sleep with the one person he's not allowed to – Sophie. Jeremy even tells Mark this on his wedding day – news which Mark is surprisingly happy about!
Aurora
During Mark’s stag do aboard the Stag Aquatic canal boat, Mark’s getting pre-occupied with promises of management jobs in India, while Jeremy’s getting on splendidly with Aurora. Well, he is until he kills her dog and eats it.
