Jesse Armstrong

Radio Times review

It's been more than three years since we last visited Croydon's gruesome twosome Jez (Robert Webb) and David Mitchell's Mark. The unscrupulous Jez was declaring himself to Mark's girlfriend Dobby in a field and Mark is still smarting pompously at the betrayal; so much so, in fact, that he has found a new flatmate, cruelly consigning Jez to a billet in druggie Super Hans's bathroom.

As we rejoin the action six months on from the regrettable field-gate, will Jerry (Tim Key) provide Mark with the requisite, er, fun with William Morris documentaries and reading nights in? It isn't long before Jez seeks to wheedle his way back home in what becomes a hilarious tug-of-love for Mark's affections (and spare room)....

Writers Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong clearly want to raise the bar in this final ever outing of the cult "point-of view" comedy, which started in 2003. The gags are rapier-sharp and, despite all the usual chaos, mayhem and silliness, there is some deft plotting at work here, too.

Matt King's Super Hans is also brought joyously to the fore and it's lovely to be reminded of what a fantastic (and integral) character he is in the peerless world of Peep.

Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong on Peep Show

'Hopefully we haven't left them too broken and destroyed'.

Jesse Armstrong interview

Jesse Armstrong, the writer of Peep Show and The Thick of It debuts his first novel, which mixes the personal with the political.

Fresh Meat series 4: things to expect

If you can't wait until later this year to find out what happens to the student gang of Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong's Fresh Meat, then you're in luck - one of the cast has given us a few more ideas about what we can expect from the final series (apart from the fact that we'll all be very sad when it ends).

Irvine Welsh and Jesse Armstrong on how to write comedy

Want to write comedy? At an event for Guardian members Irvine Welsh and Jesse Armstrong offered their advice. From making playlists for characters to finding inspiration in the people around you, here's what they shared.

Jesse Armstrong on his first novel

After co-scripting two major comedy hits, Jesse Armstrong thought he'd find writing a novel liberating. But going solo was a mixed bag of freedom and fear.

Babylon box set review

With Peep Show creators Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong on board, this comedy-drama makes serious points about police PR cock-ups - and it's really funny, too.

After a pilot which felt slightly underpowered given the calibre of creative talent involved, this comedy-drama has really clicked into gear over a full series. While never quite becoming The Thick Of It for the eternally beleaguered Met, Sam Bain, Jesse Armstrong and Robert Jones's creation has trampled irreverently over all manner of sacred cows concerning our law enforcers' dealings with the media.

The penultimate episode of Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong's slightly strange drama/comedy proposition, and the show remains perched on the edge of a Charlie Brooker-style dark drama, without quite breaking through. Still, there is some strong satire, great acting and excellent jokes. As ever, the armed response guys get the best lines, even in the middle of a cover-up ("I've shot him in the back. You can't make it out on these cameras"), while Liz attempts to turn a missing child into a career opportunity.

It is to the police what Twenty Twelve and W1A were to the Olympics and the BBC, though bolder, sharper, swearier. Maybe more like The Thick of It then, with which it shares some creative DNA. And, like TTOI, there are, in with the deadpan insanity, some truths. About the police, their image issues, target culture, political interference, privatisation etc. As well as - as you'd expect with Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong writing - some glorious lines.

"I'm on 24-hour-a-day storm watch yeah, I sleep like a cokey meerkat on an electric fence, that's me relaxing, I've got a map inside my head of all the trouble in the world and you just popped up on the radar like Godzilla's hard on, and I will cut you loose if you ever, ever fuck me again Charlie, all right?" says Commissioner Richard Miller. Played by James Nesbitt, who looks like he's enjoying himself after - during - all the misery of The Missing.