Robert Webb

If you've already overdosed on seasonal goodwill and need to sharpen your jaded nerves on a bit of black comedy, then welcome to Peep Show and an excruciating Christmas with socially inept flatmates Mark and Jeremy. The day doesn't start well when Mark (David Mitchell) gives an overexcited Jez (Robert Webb) awful gifts: a pair of cooking tongs and his Scotrail sleep mask from an overnight rail journey. The febrile atmosphere in the household isn't helped by Mark's nervousness as he prepares to host his first family Christmas with his ghastly parents and sister: "I'm in charge! I've launched the Christmas putsch. I carve the turkey!" It's painfully, bleakly comic and forms the centrepiece of Peep Show Night, which features a documentary about what has turned out to be Channel 4's longest-running comedy, with two classic episodes chosen by Mitchell and Webb.

Crack open the Pringles and settle back for a few hours of brilliantly scripted comedy as David Mitchell and Robert Webb take over C4 tonight. Behind-the-scenes documentary Peep Show And Tell kicks things off, followed by the penultimate episode of the current seventh series (in which Mark invites his parents over for Christmas lunch). Then there's a re-airing of two priceless episodes as picked by the viewing public: the one in which Mark marries Sophie and the one where Mark's gastric flu threatens to ruin Jez's magic mushroom party.

A three-hour festive extravaganza for Channel 4's favourite sitcom starring socially inept flatmates Mark (David Mitchell) and Jeremy (Telegraph columnist Robert Webb). The evening kicks off with Peep Show & Tell, which explores the comedy's cult appeal through the eyes of cast members, writers and fans. That's followed by the penultimate episode of the current series (at 10.05pm) in which Mark invites his parents for lunch on Christmas Day. Following suit are two classic episodes chosen by Mitchell and Webb - Wedding from series four (10.40pm), and Shrooming from series three (11.15pm). Nice.

The fourth episode of the seventh series of Peep Show airs tonight - for those who haven't cheated and watched it online already. The cult sitcom is perfect communal viewing so it's really worth waiting until it airs every Friday on Channel 4. Tonight's is a corker. It's the day of baby Ian's Christening. Will Mark (David Mitchell) and Jeremy (Robert Webb) get there in time? Well, no... They are trapped in the air-locked corridor of Jez's love interest Zahra's apartment block with no obvious way to escape. Farce ensues, while the hilarious friction between the two main characters once again reveals the brilliance of Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong's scriptwriting.

Imbecilic men-boys Mark and Jeremy are locked inside Jez's (occasional) girlfriend's flat, trapped in the hallway on the very morning that Mark's son is christened. He's obviously anxious to get to the ceremony because he doesn't have much going for him as a father: "All I have in the dad-bank is my record of punctuality." But humiliation is heaped upon humiliation, in true, excruciatingly funny Peep Show style as the pair (David Mitchell and Robert Webb) tussle over the delivery of a pizza. Jeremy is infuriatingly laid-back about their predicament, until the arrival of his beloved Zahra's egregious boyfriend forces both Mark and Jeremy into unwanted intimacy in a shower.

Presumably aimed at the type of viewer that has just been watching Peep Show, this light-hearted half-hour immediately afterwards sees Robert Webb compile and poke fun at the best of the week's internet goings-on in front of a studio audience. He makes a genial guide.

Mark and dim Dobby are now an item, though Mark (David Mitchell) is sexually insecure. He's lost his "dirty mojo", according to best mate Jez, whom he unwisely consults for sex tips. Mark also finds a new friend called Kenneth, but the less you know about that, the better. Jez (Robert Webb) has romantic difficulties of his own as he fakes interest in foreign films, the theatre, contemporary dance, magic realism and historical novels to worm his way into his beloved Zahra's heart. He's such an idiot it's almost adorable to hear him trying to get to grips with reading all 372 pages of Wuthering Heights: "I've been on the same four pages for three hours." But possibly even more delicious are Super Hans's (the brilliant Matt King) maniacal displacement activities after he gives up crack. "Cycling, running, cooking, knitting, quilting..." And there's an emergency when he accidentally runs all the way to Windsor.

Mark and Gerard are united in their love for the sweetly dim Dobby who, tragically, has a new boyfriend. The pair's only outlet is her Facebook updates, but their frustrations are sublimated with the purchase of Stalin and Roosevelt action figures. Mark is delighted: "We can get together and model Yalta!" Although history doesn't record the appearance of a Cyberman (with noises, courtesy of Gerard) at this formidable 1945 summit of world leaders. Soon Mark and Gerard are locked in a tussle for Dobby's affections and it looks like Gerard might have the upper hand, to Mark's consternation: "He's made a mockery of our Granita moment! He's Blairing me!" It's lines like this that make life, and Peep Show, worthwhile. Meanwhile Jez (Robert Webb) pursues the lovely Zahra now that her boyfriend Ben has emerged from his coma. Ben, it turns out, is an insufferable dweeb who employs Jez on his internet music portal. Which means, for lovers of the scrofulous Super Hans - the most disreputable character ever to appear in a television comedy - a chance to hear his idiotic band, Man Feelings. Sample lyric: "I am in loco parentis/I am the last remaining contestant on The Apprentice". Bliss.

Give it up now, everybody, for Man Feelings! Jeremy's disreputable druggy mate Super Hans (played by Whites sitcom writer Matt King) takes to the stage with his band tonight and its a gig destined to go down in musical history.

You might not have seen The Beatles at The Cavern or The Sex Pistols at the 100 Club, but now you can say you were there on the night that Man Feelings finally provided the answer to the musical question: What rhymes with The Apprentice?

Elsewhere in episode two, we find Mark pushing a pram and Jeremy playing the saxophone two activities for which they're totally, joyfully, unqualified. But weirdly, lots of other things do seem to be going rather brilliantly for Mark and Jeremy.

After making friends with last weeks boyfriend-in-a-coma, Jeremy (Robert Webb) has landed the coolest job in the world, heading up a music website, and Mark (David Mitchell) goes on a date with Dobby (Isy Suttie).

As Mark observes, things going well is very worrying because it just means they're about to screw them up. But along the way there are lots of wonderfully dumb one-liners on the subject of infant care (Can babies go by shredders?) and Mark and geeky mate Gerard getting very excited about their Stalin and FD Roosevelt action figures, which are obviously not toys.

Were not playing, Mark huffs. Were just arranging our models. With some noises.

Amazingly, Peep Show is now into its seventh series which makes it Channel 4's longest-running comedy show if you don't count Hollyoaks (who does?).

Never knew there was so much mileage in a sitcom about a feckless layabout and his uptight flatmate? Think again. Still, as they say in TV land, if it ain't broke, keep recommissioning it until it is.

Last week, Mark (David Mitchell) became a father and Jez (Robert Webb) met bookish hottie Zahra in the hospital waiting room. She was visiting her boyfriend, Ben, who was in a coma in intensive care. He awoke as Jez was moving in on Sara and now Jez has a problem.

This week he finds he also has a job - helping a grateful Ben run his web company. Meanwhile Mark learns from Gerrard that Dobby (Isy Suttie) has a new boyfriend. "He's younger, slimmer, better looking and more fashionable than us," says Gerrard. Their response? To form the Dobby Club and set out to wreck the relationship.

As usual, all the best lines go to Super Hans (Matt King) - "That's not jam, that's just total ******* marmalade," he tells Jez during band practice - and all the best gross-out moments go to Jez. Anyone fancy chilled breast milk in their tea?

"It's one step away from cannibalism," moans Mark when he finds out what he's been drinking. "It's luxury milk," Jez counters. "From a human cow".