David Mitchell (I)

It's been a busy 2009 for David Mitchell and Robert Webb, what with their sketch show, countless panel games and, perhaps most memorably, cross-dressed Webb prancing his way to victory on the Comic Relief celebrity talent contest Let's Dance. Now the duo return as stars of this ever-improving sitcom. The sixth series finds the hapless flatmates still in denial about one of them fathering Sophie's baby. Mark (Mitchell) wangles Jez (Webb) a job and continues his pursuit of IT girl-geek Dobby. Naturally, his dreams are soon scuppered - this time, by a routine fire drill.

David Mitchell and Robert Webb return for the sixth series of their sitcom. It continues to follow the life and times of the anorak and the wastrel, although by now the characters are getting longer in the tooth. The credit crunch has hit Croydon, the twentysomethings have turned into thirtysomethings, fatherhood looms on the horizon and the anorak celebrates his promotion at work by splashing out on a boiler. Unlike a classic comedy that appeals to all ages, Peep Show targets a peer group who identify with the preoccupations and insecurities of the characters expressed through internal monologues. "[Its success] has a lot to do with being honest about what your life is like and the reality of living in London," says Mitchell.

Good on Channel 4 for keeping faith with Peep Show, despite viewing figures so small they can barely be seen with the naked eye. Now entering a sixth series, socially inept and emotionally stunted flatmates Mark and Jeremy (David Mitchell and Robert Webb) are trying not to think about the inescapable fact that one of them is the father of pregnant Sophie's baby. Wails Mark, "The baby is too big. You can't look at it. It's like the sun." It's up to the decrepit, drug-addled Super Hans (Matt King), who looks increasingly like a monster in a German Expressionist film, to keep the boys from one another's throats. But Mark's world turns to ashes when there's a fire drill at his office and the egregious Johnson (Paterson Joseph) makes an announcement in the car park. If you know little of Peep Show, then probably nothing short of the offer of a free cruise will persuade you to watch it. If you love it, rest assured, age has not wearied writers Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong's perfect little blackly comic gem.

What more could you want from a panel show than the brilliant Frankie Boyle and Andy Parsons? Well, probably just one more thing - the sharp and sure David Mitchell, always a hoot on these sorts of things. His fellow guest is the likeably down-to-earth Sarah Millican.

David Mitchell and Robert Webb on Peep Show: interview

The writing duo behind Channel 4's popular cult sitcom Peep Show talk about the genesis of their Bafta award-winning show.

Peep Show - They're still worth spying on

Six series on and Mark and Jeremy are the same old losers, living in one another's pockets. That's the secret of Peep Show's success, David Mitchell and Robert Webb tell James Rampton.

Interview: David Mitchell, Robert Webb ('Peep Show')

With a pair of CVs covering the likes of Peep Show, Magicians and That Mitchell And Webb Look, David Mitchell and Robert Webb have officially cemented themselves as comedy connoisseurs. But with Peep Show series six now upon us - and with a seventh already on the way - are they getting tired of Mark and Jez? And how much longer can the show go on? We caught up with the chaps themselves to find out.

Lots of things we can't decide about Shooting Stars. Was it actually better than this, or did it have the same funny only fresher? Is Vic ill or just much older than he claims? Is the bullying of Ulrika just misogyny? Is anyone actually going to be converted to liking it or is it like going to one of those Jesus And Mary Chain reunion gigs, solely for the benefit of their own generation? Is there really nothing new that could have been better? Why isn't David Mitchell on it? Why are we complaining when it could have been Horne And Corden?

Peep Show? Brilliant. David Mitchell on any of the roughly 795 radio and TV panel games he's adorned with his presence? National treasure-in-waiting. But if his reputation rested on his TV sketch shows with Robert Webb, the two of them might well be known as the Anna Kournikovas of comedy: famous, but useless at the thing they're famous for.

The problem with the sketches in That Mitchell and Webb Sound (which the lads mostly write), as opposed to Peep Show (which they mostly don't) is that they're clever but not very funny, a slight handicap for a comedy programme. Each situation is replete with comic possibilities and progresses with savage twists of absurdity. It should be drop-dead hilarious. It's the kind of thing, though, you watch with an expectant grin - but no belly laughs.

So I listened to the new series of the radio version with some trepidation, but although not everything was a palpable hit, there was enough to be going on with. Some of the ideas were spot-on, such as the orthopaedic suppliers with an inter-dimensional portal on the shop floor ("gentlemen, the stargate is not a bin"), or the iReckon, Apple's new gadget ("I can download all my thoughts from the internet!"). And Caesar being coached in referring to himself in the third person was pure The Two Ronnies.

The best bit this week is David Mitchell's sort-of impression of Jodie Marsh (she's a "glamour model", the one who isn't Jordan). Of course Mitchell is ill-equipped even to approximate Ms Marsh's two famously overblown assets, but he does a very decent career precis of the big-bosomed one's raison d'etre, albeit delivered in his exasperated A-level history teacher's voice. It's pretty much down to captains Mitchell and Lee Mack to keep things going, with some lacklustre guests. Jimmy Carr is impossible to like; Terry Christian is clearly baffled and well aware that he's out of his depth, to the point that you might end up feeling sorry for him; and singer Jamelia yet again inexplicably turns up on a TV panel show. Host Rob Brydon helps the show bounce along as he referees the arguments and interrogations: was Christian interrogated by police hunting a jewel thief? And did comedian Marcus Brigstocke work as a podium dancer?