Peep Show

Peep Show series 9 episode 4 review: Mole Mapping

Sadly, episode four didn't live up to the high standards set by the show so far. In fact, the bank robbery plot that saw Jez rushing in to Mark's place of work to warn him of an impending shooting was so bananas it felt like something from another sitcom altogether.

Peep Show: series 9, episode 4 - Mole-Mapping

I said last week that the series had really upped the wackiness levels, with the plots getting ever more outrageous and far-fetched - but that the lines were still funny enough for it not to matter. Unfortunately this week, the balance has tipped the other direction.

8 Peep Show characters we want to see one more time

We didn't see that one coming. ​Eleven years after Peep Show​'s Mark ditched the girl of his dreams April at Dartford University, suddenly there she was - making a surprise comeback in last night's episode.​

Peep Show series 9 episode 3 review: Threeism

Peep Show series 9 continues in fine form as Mark hosts a hellish dinner party and Jeremy's game of genital Jenga comes tumbling down...

Romance is in the air. Jeremy is having an affair with his life-coach client ("She's sexy, artistic, confused - it would be rude not to") - and, naturally, her boyfriend, too. Meanwhile, Mark is stalking an old university friend: "Corrigan and Google, the maverick detectives who just won't give up!" For the ensuing dinner party, can he successfully pass off baked beans with fried egg and lettuce as a Moroccan delicacy? (Scribbling on the cheddar with blue felt-tip to pretend it's stilton is probably a step too far, you fear.)

Peep Show is brilliant and has been consistently brilliant apart from one poor series. If memory serves, it was the sixth where Mark tries to come to terms with being a father. That plot didn't work and the show has wisely kept mentions of his son to a minimum since, although that might be because the baby's mother was played by Olivia Colman and she's now off in Broadchurch, weeping in an orange anorak.

So this series has brought back all the classic elements: Mark and Jez are living together again, both single, dissatisfied and arguing about the boiler's settings. It is restored to its angsty, tetchy brilliance.

Viewers might have been surprised by last week's revelations about Jeremy's love life - with him suddenly announcing he had sex with a man, having always been strictly heterosexual apart from one woozy memory of a drugged encounter with Super Hans - and so this week attention turns to Mark's affairs of the heart which are always far more predictable.

April, the girl Mark met in a shoe shop and pursued/stalked at her university, is launching a book. Mark uses this as an excuse to get in touch, but is discomfited when she asks if she can bring her husband along.

Peep Show: Series 9, Episode 3 - Threeism review

The season so far has been marked by a heightened level of energy and general 'wackiness', which carries on in this episode, possibly one of the most chaotic and fast-paced episodes of the entire 9 series. It will probably annoy a few purists, as the set-ups become ever more far-fetched, but I can forgive it if the lines are as funny as these - Jeremy's explanation of his new sexual status, and Mark's discomfort as he tries to eat his yoghurt was fantastic.

If 2 men sharing a flat's comedy what does that make me

The BBC call me up for a comment on flat-sharing as an adult man, and I start brooding.

Radio Times review

Things take a turn for the gross as Mark's attempt to steal April from her husband sees David Mitchell's gloriously pompous bank clerk volunteering for various unpleasant medical procedures (it makes sense, don't worry). But will his attempts to turn his love rival insane with the help of a little Byzantine church history succeed?

Jeremy (Robert Webb) has romantic problems of his own as he realises that he may have to keep up his many lies to his new boyfriend (and life-coaching client) for the rest of his life. Super Hans also makes another welcome appearance, this time with an attempt to facilitate a robbery at Mark's workplace. These guys, eh? When will they ever learn?

Peep Show: Series 9, Episode 2 - Gregory's Beard review

There's a clear sense that Armstrong and Bain are having a lot of fun with this final series, and are throwing everything in and more - hitchhiking, attempted garrotings, a violent beating for one of the characters, the reveal of Super Hans real name - even an appearance of the legendary twins.