An Investigation: What The Hell Is Going On With ‘Peep Show’?

It’s been almost two years now since the last season of Peep Show, so this morning I got to thinking about when it’s going to be coming back. Although I found the eighth season to be admittedly problematic, like it seemed to be creatively running out of steam, Peep Show at its worst is still better than most things at their best. Plus, I miss those British chuckleheads.

I thought I had heard that the ninth season would be airing (in the UK) sometime in 2014, so — given that the last few seasons have aired in the fall — it made sense that it would be returning in the fall of 2014. After doing some digging I was able to come up with some answers about Peep Show’s return as well as news about the fate of the series — well, sort of.

The ninth season is definitely going to be the last.

Channel 4’s head of comedy Phil Clarke suggested the fly-on-the-wall series, filmed from the points of view of two mismatched and thoroughly dysfunctional flatmates, would finish after almost a decade.

A ninth series of the show, created by Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong, has been commissioned for next year, [as of September 2013] but Clarke said the series would end after that, ”for sure.“ ”We’re talking about Peep Show, how that’s going to be rounded off. The discussion is about how it’s going to conclude.” (Via)

Then again, the ninth season might not be the last.

Co-creator Jesse Armstrong, Bain told RadioTimes.com: “We will be doing series nine, we are not sure exactly when. We don’t plan to kill them off so the opportunity to do more would be there if we chose to.” (Via)

And we’ll probably be seeing it in 2015.

Bain admitted work had not yet begun in earnest on the new series and was unable to say when the scripts would be delivered. According to senior Channel 4 sources, it is unlikely it will be on our screens before next year. (Via)

According to Robert Webb, (Jez) there will be no happy endings.

“I always look forward to doing it because Jeremy is such an idiot and a great pleasure to play,” he said. “Knowing it’s the last one, I shall look forward to it with a sort of bittersweet element, but it’ll be great.”

Asked whether Jez and Mark will have a happy ending, he said: “No. They will be in horrible pain as usual. They will not win the lottery, they will not have a happy ending.” (Via)

David Mitchell (Mark) says Peep Show 2035. Mark and Jez 20 years later = Shut Up Little Man.

“It’s always been heightened reality, but it’s always been a credible reality on Peep Show and I think if it got to a stage where people were saying, ‘I don’t understand why these people are cohabiting’, then it would’ve jumped the shark.

“So I think we’ve got to contemplate the possibility of it winding down. But who knows, 20 years later, they might come back together in old age.” (Via)

So, it sounds like we’ll be seeing it back in 2015, no one will be happy and they’re definitely not going to die. That’s great. Now get on it, guys, while David Mitchell and Robert Webb still have some semblance of hairlines. These were supposed to be dudes in their 20’s, remember?

Just because:

FYI: The entire series of Peep Show is currently free to watch via Hulu.