Mark sits on a burglar, or Jez eats a dog on a barge?
What’s the very best episode of beloved British comedy Peep Show?
British sitcomPeep Showran on Channel 4 from 2003 to 2015.
Influenced byBeing John MalkovichandAnnie Hall, it gave viewers the chance to get inside its characters heads.
While theres never been a comedy quite like it before or since, its influences and legacy are legion.
There are also glimmers of BBC2sBottom, but with less violence.
Here are 15 of their greatest outings, counting down to the (subjective!)
Theres no competitive element implied.JEZ At 3.99, I think I know whos winning.
Burgling (Series 5, Episode 1)
JEZ Im his one.
Mark really shouldve known better than to let a sentiment like Theres no knot in my stomach.
This episode is as close as Jeremy gets to an I am Spartacus moment.
Jeremys Mummy (Series 5, Episode 4)
JEZ Oh come on, she was my mums aunt.
I only met her about twice.
Its not like she was Ian Curtis.
She was never going to make a seminal album.
She couldnt even make very good Christmas cake.
Maybe that was actually good sex.
Loosen up, Corrigan.
This is what happens in the bedroom now.
No old-fashioned fumbling and kissing.
A lesbian rapes you while you dream about your mother.
Quantocking (Series 3, Episode 6)
MARK Why wont that stupid bitch let me propose to her?
Sophies Parents (Series 4, Episode 1)
JEZ What about your doubts?
Lets just put a zip here, a swastika there, why not?
Who knows what these things were once used for.
Who the hell even cares?
Jez very quickly ends up sleeping with Sophies mum Im a motherfucker.
Charles didnt really love Diana, and they were alright.
Wedding (Series 4, Episode 6)
JEZ Yes Im doing it already.
Im so pathetic that as soon as you ordered me to piss myself, I started the procedure.
This is what youve done.
Youve ground down my sense of self-worth over the years.
I hope you are proud.
He exclaims wildly: You shitty, faithless, back-stabbing beauty!
Very few weddings in real life match the perfect fantasy each party has constructed in their heads.
But then absolutely zero weddings in real life are as grimacingly, gut-wrenchingly funny as Marks and Sophies.
Jurying (Series 3, Episode 5)
MARK Frosties are just Cornflakes for people who cant face reality.
Now pull your socks up and get your shoes on.
Come on, all of you.
Listen, while were at it, there are systems for a reason in this world.
Economic stability, interest rates, growth.
Its not all a conspiracy to keep you in little boxes, all right?
And a little pill with a chicken on it is not going to change that.
Now, come on.
To thine own self be true is a Shakespearian maxim whose essence has rarely troubled Mark or Jeremy.
Theyd much rather rely on fantasy, subterfuge and delusion to achieve their ends.
And achieve is probably stretching it.
Which, of course, he absolutely is.
he thinks to himself as he surveys all the gyrations and positive affirmations erupting around him.
Is this what my grandad died for?
The freedom to do this?
Remarkably, Mark makes romantic inroads with Sophie.
Inevitably, they go up in smoke once she discovers his privacy-based perfidy.
Seasons Beatings (Series 7, Episode 5)
HANSMind out, boys.
Father Spliffmas coming through.
Mark, however, refuses to feel guilty about it.
Thats just aggressive generosity designed to make me feel bad.
Lets hope I dont Jezz it, or do a big Mark in my pants.
How little she knows me.
You see a little guy come out of there, whats gonna happen next?
Frogs out of her arsehole?
Milk out of her ears?
Miracles happen in hospital.
Marks impending fatherhood is the reason both men are at the hospital.
And, of course, he fails miserably.
Fortunately, hes back in just enough time to welcome the next generation of Corrigan to the world.
Finally free of his petty obsessions and neuroses.
In this episode he sets it so low that a bacterium would struggle to limbo under it.
As he himself laments:This is my big chance with big Suze.
Im going to make a run at get her really high and then put my hand up her jumper.
Me, tripping my nuts off, watching you do endless pooing.
If I were you, Id think about what youve done.
Just have a long, hard think about what youve done.
University Challenge (Series 2, Episode 4)
JEZI was here in the glory years.
Britpop was kicking off.
Four Weddings had just come out.
This is just a moment that will haunt me forever.
Its not really a surprise, is it?
The twin themes of Marks barge-based stag-do are very much self-delusion and deceit.
How far will Mark go to escape his wedding obligations to Sophie?
The answer is very far and very low indeed: unforgettably, outrageously,hilariouslyfar and low.
