It began with six very different characters – three male and three female – moving into a shared house together. How do you even pitch that any more without the commissioning editor dropping off at their desk or hurling themselves into the shredder with boredom?
But the writers of Peep Show have somehow taken a comedy-drama about a co-ed house share – the most overused format in television today – and made it seem new, even bracing. Set in a student house in Manchester, it uses some of the editing, music and direction techniques of overtly "youth" dramas (like Skins) but without losing the warmth of character or the intrinsic uncoolness of burgeoning adulthood. And it has unexpectedly confirmed Jack Whitehall as an acting talent, albeit in a role he was born to play. Who knew?
The tentative romance between Kingsley (Joe Thomas) and Josie (Kimberley Nixon) has been more believable for its frustrating twists and dead ends. They're too young to settle down so it would be appalling if they became a proper, happy couple. You're left with the curious situation of not wanting them to ever admit their true feelings or reach their happy ending.
And Oregon's sleazy affair with Professor Shales, which could have been so easily a cliched depiction of teen-on-wrinkly rutting, is actually a nuanced bit of sophistication, with her clumsily unsure whether to choose excitement or self-respect and him gaining self-esteem as she inevitably loses it. Vod's imagined descriptions of Shales's wedding tackle in particular are a highlight. I would quote them here but they would genuinely put you off lunch.
With two episodes left to run and a new series confirmed for 2012, let's relive some of the best moments so far …
There may be some argument about this but the line of the series for me came in episode one when Vod discovered Howard wearing only a jumper. His, "Sorry, I've just got used to wearing … trousers of the mind" will not, for my money, be bettered.
In those early episodes, excellent use was made of Peep Show's Robert Webb as embarrassingly matey lecturer Dan, Dan the geology man. He doesn't want to have affairs with his students, he wants to get tanked with them and engage in bawdy wordplay. His attendance at the housemates' ill-fated party resulted in chunk-blowing and a perfectly timed comedy fall into the front garden. And that was it. I like that they didn't make him a regular character but just used him as a lovely garnish. Almost as if to say, this isn't Peep Show but we acknowledge that some of you are watching because of what we've done before.
Right from episode one, Howard (played by Greg McHugh) distinguished himself as joint winner of best character with Vod. He's house nerd, loner, oddball and military-style strategist. Everything to him is a carefully planned campaign. As he showed the newbies around the house he identified "a sweet crouching spot" should unwanted cold callers or burglars attack their borders, and followed it up with the perfect Napoleon Dynamite snort.
Vod instantly filled the role of "female Super Hans" with her excessive drug intake and strange ideas about rebellion. It's been good to see a female actor given the chance to play this kind of comedy when they're usually the ones who roll their eyes and disapprove of such behaviour. Zawe Ashton has so far hinted at what's behind Vod's (or Violet's) bolshy front and it would be good to see more of this in the new series.
My only complaint with the show is that all of the sex scenes have been brightly lit and utterly awkward in a way that student sex just isn't. Obviously sex is awkward, but that awkwardness would surely dictate an instant lights-off policy and certainly no eye contact or banter. And all participants should be drunk. Josie and JP's episode-one encounter would have been more believable if they'd seemed even slightly pissed.
That aside, I never thought I'd enjoy reliving the abject horror of my student days quite as much as I have so far. Graduate or not, have you been tucking into Fresh Meat with equal enthusiasm or did you push it to the side of your plate after one episode?
