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1[[foldercontrol]]
2
3!The Flatmates
4
5[[folder:Mark]]
6!!Mark Corrigan
7[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/TropeMark_4325.jpg]]
8[[caption-width-right:350:''"If I want to act relaxed, it's going to take all my cunning, skill, and concentration."'']]
9->'''Played By:''' Creator/{{David Mitchell|Actor}}
10
11-->''"I suppose doing things you hate is just the price you pay to avoid loneliness."''
12
13Mark is the sensible one: a professional brogue wearer with a slightly worrying interest in World War Two. He is playing at being very serious and grown up and is a painfully conventional young man with a seething mass of self-loathing, ego and self-consciousness just below the surface. Mark believes nothing is achieved without work, blood, sweat and tears. In fact he masochistically relishes this belief.
14----
15* ATragedyOfImpulsiveness: Several major YankTheDogsChain moments are caused by his impulsiveness, as well as a ''lot'' of awkward moments.
16* AmbiguouslyBi: At one point he is confused by Johnson, but otherwise is completely heterosexual. He eventually comes to believe that he might be bi, but is most certainly "uncurious".
17* BornInTheWrongCentury: Mark would probably be a lot happier in older, more conservative times.
18* BritishStuffiness: ''Very'' stuffy, to the point where he regards anything liberal or fun with innate suspicion.
19* BitchInSheepsClothing: He's much less overtly nasty than Jeremy, and does have the decency to agonize and feel guilt over his actions or desires. However, beneath it all, he's really just as selfish and self-absorbed as Jez.
20* ButtMonkey: Mark is a prime example. Jeremy, though he has better luck in life, has his moments as well.
21* CannotTalkToWomen: May as well be the poster boy for this trope. Every attempt he makes to be suave, charming or sometimes even just friendly is just so...... ''awkward''. Downplayed in that he's still a KavorkaMan despite all this.
22* CharacterCatchphrase: "She's the one!".
23* TheChewToy: The first ever episode shows him being bullied by a smallish gang of pre-pubescent boys. At the end of the episode, he chases them with an iron pipe on impulse.
24* ClosetGeek: Mark has shades of this. In series 1, Jeremy finds a fantasy model painting magazine hidden in his cupboard (which, of course, he mistakes for porn). When he meets Dobby, he's revealed to play a [[VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft WoW]]-like game called [[BlandNameProduct Fantasy Warquest]]. Finally, when entering a geek shop with Gerard, he monologues about not feeling as awkward "since he bought his first twenty sided dice".
25** Mark is constantly shown to be interested in [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII WWII]], from reading books, to participating in reenactments and spends a lot of his time playing World War Two computer games.
26* TheComicallySerious: When he's not being a CloudCuckoolander himself.
27* CordonBleughChef: Normally a decent chef, but when stressed he creates an abominable dish made of pasta, beans, eggs, and lettuce. The matching cocktail of rum, water, lettuce, vinegar, and salt is even more disgusting.
28* DeadpanSnarker: Mostly in his head, but sometimes in person. Jez brings it out of him more than anyone else.
29* DirtyCoward: Too many times to count, but most of all when he gets his gym instructor fired and the way he ends up hiding on his wedding day because he hasn't got the guts to break it off.
30* FreudianExcuse: He was bullied a lot in school after he had to switch from an expensive private school to a public one after his father's Aerospace shares became worthless and he grew up in a tense and unpleasant household where his parents blatantly favored his sister and rarely communicated. That's in addition to his dad being an unpleasant bully who intimidates Mark regularly. It's really no surprise Mark ended up the dysfunctional, neurotic mess he is.
31* GoldDigger: [[spoiler:Mark]] decides NOT to call off [[spoiler:his accidental engagement to Sophie]] so he can get to live in her grandmother's cottage.
32* GrandRomanticGesture: Deconstructed as he believes in them despite these acts being horrible ideas. He plans to propose to both Sophie and Dobby as a way to save clearly dying relationships, with no regard for how miserable it will make him in the future.
33* HeterosexualLifePartners: With Jeremy.
34* HilariouslyAbusiveChildhood: His father is a bigoted, bullying control freak who was instilling the fear of God in Mark when he wasn’t neglecting him. His time at school was.... not fun either.
35* HiddenDepths: When his love of history gets the chance to shine, you get the feeling he really should have pursued that instead of working for a finance company. It's shown a few times over the series that he regrets taking business management over ancient history at university.
36** ...but perhaps he's really just FeigningIntelligence, as he seems to get caught out whenever he meets a real history buff, like Professor [=MacLeish=] and Jeremy's mother's new boyfriend ("Marr? Don't you find him a little light? I mean, he's good for an overview..."). Still, his passion is entirely sincere and he is positively gleeful whenever he gets a chance to show it.
37** Mark is incredibly witty and has a great sense of humour. This is something the viewer is aware of because of the nature of the show, but it doesn't get much attention in-universe until the first episode of Season 6, when Mark's normally hostile colleagues erupt into laughter during his satirical play, and afterwards discuss among themselves how great it was and how [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall Mark should be on television]]. He can also charm women with it as well on occasion.
38** Mark is also quite articulate when he wants to be, effortlessly debunking Ben's take on ''Literature/WutheringHeights'' in defense of Jeremy and giving an impressive impromptu best man speech at his green card wedding to Nancy, and it's shown throughout that he does possess a certain charisma that makes him attractive to women, even if he inevitably ends up ruining it.
39** There are a few occasions when Mark will actually show some backbone and stand up against bullies, not backing down when Jeff crashes Sophie's night in a clear effort to start something and later even standing up to his dad when Dan goes too far and pushes Dobby away. One can only imagine how different his life would be if Mark could be more assertive when it really mattered.
40* LookingForLoveInAllTheWrongPlaces: Mark is constantly on the look out for "the one" and idolizes women he dates as such before being inevitably disappointed.
41* ItsAllAboutMe: His entire conduct regarding Sophie [[spoiler:and later Dobby.]]
42* {{Jerkass}}: Although he's a "hellaciously unlucky every-man" sort of character, he frequently says and does things that make it hard to sympathize with him.
43* KavorkaMan: Say what you will, despite his neurotic socially awkward personality, he's able to get with a surprising number of women, such as a Valerie, Sophie, making out with Sally, Dobby, Cathy and April. Deconstructed in that these are often unhealthy relationships and he's never truly happy in the end, ruining it with his own neuroses, selfishness and general screwed up nature.
44* ManipulativeBastard: He certainly has his moments.
45* NeatFreak: At least compared to Jeremy.
46* NeverMyFault: He insists he's not a jilter since he technically married Sophie, ignoring the fact he hid from the ceremony long enough to get 73 missed calls and only went through with it because he was found hiding and (poorly) attempted to pass it off as one big joke, right when he was about to make a break for it.
47* NoSocialSkills: One of his defining character traits. He can get by well enough to at least have a good career and some chances at romance but his narration shows that he is completely baffled by most forms of social interaction and is constantly treating every conversation like a battle.
48* OddFriendship: He and Super Hans seem to get along quite well. The two have absolutely nothing in common, but Hans appears to be less aware of Mark's social awkwardness than others, and Mark is surprisingly tolerant of Hans' eccentric behavior.
49** Several of Jez's love interests become fond of him as well. Big Suze and he get on well.
50* OnlySaneMan: Subverted. He tries to be this compared to Jez and Super Hans but his neurosis keeps him down. By Series 9, he's arguably become the ''most'' insane.
51* PapaWolf: Claims he'd even stab Jeremy to protect his baby.
52* PetTheDog: As with Jez he often fakes this, but there are a few genuine instances of this trope. Notable examples include 'dumping' Suze after developing a crush on her (for the sake of Jez) and paying the bills on Johnson's stolen credit card (again for the sake of Jez.)
53* SalaryMan: Mark works in finance and his attempts to get through the glass ceiling of management rarely succeed due to the work and his own neurosis.
54* StalkingIsLove: Is very good at temporarily deluding himself into thinking so.
55* TheUnfavourite: It's clear from his dad's poor presents and general attitude to Mark that he prefers Sarah. But only slightly.
56* UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist: At his worst. Mark is paranoid, petty, indecisive, selfish, and cowardly. Though he comes off a bit better than Jez does most of the time.
57* UltimateJobSecurity: Mark inexplicably doesn't get sacked despite bungling his presentation for Alan Johnson in Season 4. Subverted when Johnson sacks him in Season 9 for gross negligence.
58* WellDoneSonGuy: Has this kind of complex regarding Johnson and Jeremy's stepfather, among others. Probably owing to the HilariouslyAbusiveChildhood above.
59* WhiteCollarWorker: He spends most of his working life in an office, whether at JLB or a bank.
60[[/folder]]
61
62[[folder:Jeremy]]
63!!Jeremy 'Jez' Usborne
64[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/TropeJeremy_5693.jpg]]
65[[caption-width-right:350:''"Your dream is just everybody, grey, on the omnibus, eating grey sludge. That's your dream isn't it?"'']]
66->'''Played By:''' Creator/RobertWebb
67
68-->''"God, this is such a mess. It's fantastic."''
69
70Jeremy is a big kid. A lazy man with big ideas about himself and his future music career. Touchy and self-aggrandising, Jeremy is never far from doing something he will regret. He is clearly the loose cannon of the partnership: a lazy waster with dodgy friends, who dreams of becoming a musician, but can never get his act together, or often even get up in the morning! Although vain, idle and delusional, Jez is basically a nice bloke... for the most part.
71----
72
73* AchievementsInIgnorance: Wins a poker game with an utterly crap hand because he didn't know the rules and confidently assumed that all red cards meant he was unbeatable, resulting in what appeared to be a masterful bluff.
74* ButNotTooBi: For most of the series, there are indications that Jeremy may be bisexual - his general relaxed attitude towards his sexuality and admission that he's slept with men before, but apart from a couple of sexually confused moments (sometimes fueled by drugs), he pretty much exclusively shows interest in and forms relationships with women throughout the series. This is [[AvertedTrope averted]] at the beginning of season 9 when he begins an ongoing sexual relationship with a man and his girlfriend.
75* CrazyJealousGuy: Jez sent dog shit in the post, peppersprayed, tried to punch and possibly subconsciously tried to murder the men - and in one case a woman - who he considered rivals for whatever woman - Toni, Nancy, Big Suze, Elena etc - he was currently infatuated with. In one episode he got so clingy he was threatened by his girlfriend showing kindness to a homeless man.
76* ComedicSociopath: Oh so very much. Eating the dog of one of his love interests is just one of many examples.
77* DeadpanSnarker: Of the more crude variety, both in his head and in person.
78* DirtyCoward: To a lesser degree than Mark, though. He has no problem with being socially bold but is also likely to run away from the consequences if something goes wrong.
79* TheDitz: He's clueless about even the commonest things due to living a mostly work-free life.
80-->'''Jez:''' Potatoes aren't veg, are they? I mean they kind of are... but not really. I mean tomatoes are fruit but potatoes are like... bread?
81* DreadfulMusician: Mark and Toni share a laugh over his god-awful music.
82* EvenEvilHasStandards: Refuses to have sex with Sarah on Christmas, given his love of the holiday.
83* {{Foil}}: To Mark. He's an idiotic party-animal slacker who doesn't give a fuck. Mark's an up-tight history nerd/buff who has trouble letting loose and gives too much of a fuck what others think.
84* GiftedlyBad: For all his knowledge of British pop and rock music, he isn't good at actually ''playing'' it.
85* TheHedonist: Jeremy seems to have few passions in life beyond having as much mindless sex and doing as many drugs as he can.
86* HeterosexualLifePartners: With Mark.
87-->'''Jez:''' I'm his one.
88* HiddenDepths: Despite being a terrible musician himself, Jez does have a near-encyclopedic knowledge of British pop and rock music which he gets to show off every now and again. He's also not quite as clueless about politics as he lets on, at one point namedropping Lech Wałęsa and making frequent references to Tony Blair. He's also capable enough to recognize talent as seen when he and Hans are impressed by a track from Sophie's cousin, although Hans later fucks it up and leaves the poor boy traumatized.
89** He also proves to be surprisingly capable at telephone sales, easily making his way to the top of the office sales chart in only a few hours and sincerely enjoying the work and office setting despite his initial apprehension. He seems genuinely upset when the company goes under and he can't work there anymore.
90* HypocriticalHumour: We're talking World Amateur Champion level here.
91* ItsAllAboutMe: Jeremy is completely self-involved and cares only about his own wants and urges.
92* {{Jerkass}}: A mean, selfish person.
93* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Cowardly and try-hard tendencies aside, he is generally more charming than Mark which is probably why he has more success with women and he tends to make more of an effort with his friendship with Mark, even he fucks up in the first place by doing something thoughtless and stupid.
94* KarmaHoudini: From time to time. He does tend to get away with some pretty awful shit.
95* KavorkaMan: He's not a bad-looking guy, but he does score a lot considering the type of person he is. Perhaps it's because he targets dim or mentally vulnerable women.
96* ManChild: Even more so in the episode his mother comes to visit.
97* MenAreUncultured
98* MenCantKeepHouse: The flat turns into an absolute pig sty whenever Mark is away due to Jeremy's debauchery.
99* NeverMyFault: Jeremy is always quick to blame someone else or downplay the seriousness when he fucks up.
100* PetTheDog: Fakes this a lot but does have some genuine moments of kindness and it's shown regularly that he does genuinely cares about Mark as a friend.
101* SerialRomeo: He tends to fall in love (or, well, lust, which, in his words, "is basically the same thing when you get rid of all the Valentine cards and bullshit") ridiculously fast and ridiculously often. Of course, he's also game for dumping a woman immediately after having sex with her.
102* TheSlacker: Jeremy is intentionally a slacker, and rather proud of it, seeing it as being a cool, pop culture lifestyle choice. He does have moments of clarity on occasion.
103* SmallNameBigEgo: Thinks of himself as a musical genius and superstar in the making as well as a ladies man of epic proportions who can charm anyone he wants to without breaking a sweat. He isn't, to put it simply.
104* TooDumbToFool: Jez could be said to be Too Lazy To Fool, since his time spent as a brainwashed cult member lasted ''days''.
105* TooDumbToLive: "They wouldn't put a bad idea in a film, they'd get sued."
106* UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist: More overtly amoral than Mark is. Jez has a tendency to be untrustworthy, abrasive, delusional, selfish, lazy and ignorant.
107* WideEyedIdealist:
108-->'''Mark:''' At some point he's going to find out what goes in sausages.
109* WrongGenreSavvy: He often tricks himself into thinking he’s in some kind of movie.
110-->'''Jez (on getting paid by Johnson for sex with Big Suze):''' Is this a terrible idea? No, it can't be, it's in [[Film/IndecentProposal a film]]. They couldn't put a terrible idea in a film, they'd get sued.
111[[/folder]]
112
113!JLB Credit
114
115[[folder:Sophie]]
116!!Sophie Chapman[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/TropeSophie_6117.jpg]]
117[[caption-width-right:350:''"Of course, obviously, it'd be really great if you were happy, but it's not the most pressing thing."'']]
118->'''Played By:''' Creator/OliviaColman
119
120Mark's ray of sunshine, object of desire and friend at work. Sophie is too bright and interesting for her job and most of her colleagues. In Mark she recognises someone who is on her wavelength. Trouble is he's such a bag of neuroses he manages to self-destruct as soon as things start going well.
121----
122* TheAlcoholic: Becomes a depressive one after Season 5.
123* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: She goes for Jeff at first, even lampshading it with, 'I always go for wankers'.
124* BitchInSheepsClothing: While viewer opinion varies as to who was more at fault in her relationship with Mark, we definitely see a less pleasant side of her from season 5 onwards.
125* BrokenPedestal: Mark's rose-tinted view of her doesn't long survive their actually getting together.
126* TheBusCameBack: She returns in season 9 to ask Mark to move in with her.
127* InelegantBlubbering: [[spoiler:During ''that'' wedding.]] This is a speciality of Oliva Colman. Not many do it better.
128* KickTheSonOfABitch: [[spoiler:Yes, her spin war campaign against Mark after he jilted her was harsh, but at the end of the day... it doesn't change the face that he ''still jilted her'' in a cowardly way.]]
129* ManipulativeBitch: Not all the time but definitely when she manipulates Mark into getting her pregnant.
130* MyBiologicalClockIsTicking: In Series 5.
131* PutOnABus: Sophie does not appear in Series 8. This is explained in episode 1 when Jeff turns up in Sophie's place at the flat to collect her and Mark's baby, then informs Mark that him and Sophie have got back together and moved into 'Nana's cottage' near Sophie's parents house in the countryside.
132* SatelliteLoveInterest: How she started off, likely because we only ever saw her through Mark's limited viewpoint.
133* TookALevelInJerkass: Started off as a fairly pleasant and bland love interest and straight woman to Mark until after a couple of series Olivia Colman made the writers realise that she wasn't really such a nice girl when you look at how she treats him. This led to her character being developed in other directions in series 3 and 4 and she really turns into a bitch after [[spoiler: their ill-fated wedding.]]. Although after the humiliation Mark subjected her to [[KickTheSonOfABitch her behaviour is unsurprising.]]
134[[/folder]]
135
136[[folder:Jeff]]
137!!Jeff Heaney
138[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/TropeJeff_2744.jpg]]
139[[caption-width-right:350:''"So basically, man is programmed to do two things: kill and knob."'']]
140->'''Played By:''' Neil Fitzmaurice
141
142In his bristling normality and easy handling of everyday situations Jeff is the complete opposite of self-conscious, self-defeating Mark. Jeff Heaney is therefore an enemy in Mark's eyes. Mark is completely justified in hating Jeff because he's an abrasive twat.
143----
144* BerserkButton: He really doesn't like being laughed at or made the butt of a joke, getting pissed and retreating in a huff when Dobby turns his usual behavior back at him.
145* TheBully: Jeff is a crass and vindictive bully who takes every opportunity available to pick on Mark.
146* DeadpanSnarker: Full of snarky, mean-spirited jibes against Mark.
147* DirtyCoward: When Dobby mocks his tendency to spout cruel jokes at the expense of others, Jeff sheepishly calls her a "freak" before retreating. He also only picks on Mark because he believes he can get away with it. Noticeably when Mark stands up to him at the end of season two, Jeff backs down.
148* EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas: Jeff doesn't take Mark insulting his mother very well.
149* {{Foil}}: To Mark. Both are overconfident, manipulative, arrogant, and have their sights set on the same woman. The critical difference is that Jeff is loud and extroverted while Mark is withdrawn and neurotic.
150* HiddenDepths: In Series 6, he helps Sophie with her pregnancy and was very upset about the break up originally. [[JerkWithAHeartOfJerk Of course, even when helping Sophie he takes shots at Mark and is relieved to find out he isn't the child's father]].
151** [[WordOfGod Neil Fitzmaurice]] has revealed that Jeff doesn't really hate Mark, he just thinks he's "a bit of a twat".
152* {{Hypocrite}}: Although he's always making jokes at Mark's expense, Jeff hates being the subject of jokes himself. When Dobby makes fun of him to his face, he becomes sullen and runs off.
153* JerkJock: He fills this role in the show, with Mark being the hapless nerd he relentlessly picks on.
154* JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: Jeff is precisely as churlish as he appears. He's sometimes supportive of Sophie, but it's suggested that the real reason he does that [[EvilIsPetty is just to spite Mark]] and that he doesn't actually care about her.
155* KavorkaMan: Despite his abrasive personality and being average looking he still has two relationships with Sophie and is seen shagging a girl on Mark's bed.
156* KickTheDog: He goes from a mere office bully to a full-fledged sadist when he gives Mark a nasty speech about how he doesn't see him as a threat to his relationship. "You could have your cock in her. You still wouldn't have the balls to fuck". Overlaps with JerkassHasAPoint considering that this sums up Mark's entire problem in two succinct if vulgar sentences.
157* OopNorth: A Scouser with a prominent accent.
158* PetTheDog: Tries surprisingly hard not to react to Mark's goading him, as he can tell Mark is just lashing out after a tough week. While he does headbutt Mark, it was only after he keeps getting in his face, and walks away after Mark tries to get him to do it again.
159-->Look, you've obviously got a lot of serious...stuff going on. And I'm not gonna make it any worse.
160* PervertedSniffing: Apparently has the nickname of "Seat Sniffer" around the office, which suits his [[JerkJock abrasive, overbearing personality]].
161* RomanticFalseLead: Talks a lot about being a lady's man but ultimately loses Sophie to Mark.
162* SmallNameBigEgo: For all his braggadocio, Jeff is just another lowly office drone working the same dead-end job as his nemesis Mark. Jeff's constant hostility could be read as him compensating for his [[InferioritySuperiorityComplex insecurities]] by bullying a more obvious loser than himself.
163* SmugSmiler: The picture says it all.
164* SmugSnake: His attitude towards Mark. Notably, when Jeff is talking to less socially dweeby people like Jez or Johnson he drops his obnoxious alpha male routine and sucks up to them.
165* TheSocialDarwinist: How he justifies his unpleasant demeanor towards Mark.
166[[/folder]]
167
168[[folder:Johnson]]
169!!Alan Johnson
170[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/TropeJohnson_2565.jpg]]
171[[caption-width-right:350:''"What this department needs is a kick up the arse so hard, my foot'll go right up your digestive tract and wiggle out your mouth like a little leather tongue."'']]
172->'''Played By:''' Creator/PatersonJoseph
173
174-->''"In business, Jeremy, you learn that every man has his price, and I judge yours to be... £530."''
175
176Mark's smooth and cool boss and 'business guru' at JLB Credit. Johnson is a no-bullshit work-monger with a brutal view of the world based on maximizing profit and minimizing your opponents. Mark looks up to Johnson with a pathetic degree of regard.
177----
178* TheAlcoholic: Recovered, then relapsed in the Series 7 finale.
179* BadBoss: As Series 6 demonstrates, he's perfectly willing to throw his employees under the bus if he thinks it'll elevate him even slightly.
180* BrokenPedestal: Mark's view switches from idolization to disdain in a few seasons. He never completely sheds his sense of admiration, though.
181* BunnyEarsLawyer: Despite going semi-insane after his fall from power, he still manages to nail a contract for the management-consultant business him and Mark set up and by the end of Series 7 has enough money to buy another house.
182* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Especially in later seasons.
183* DrivenToSuicide: He was supposed to kill himself in the season 3 finale but this was cut for being too dark.
184* EvenTheGuysWantHim: Well, Mark wants him.
185* HeManWomanHater: He regularly treats women as objects. Somehow, Big Suze doesn't notice.
186* JerkJock: To a certain extent. He's certainly a top dog and can be thoughtlessly aggressive, even punching Jez when he thought he was shagging Big Suze again. Unlike Jeff however, Johnson is capable of kindness. See PetTheDog below.
187* LargeHam: Johnson is expressive and very charismatic.
188* LastNameBasis: His name is Alan, but he's almost always referred to as simply "Johnson".
189* PetTheDog: Mentoring and community work, according to Big Suze. Johnson is also one of the rare characters to show compassion for Mark, occasionally offering him advice and demonstrating concern for his well-being.
190** There's also the time when he sticks up for Mark when [[spoiler:Sophie begins her post-break-up-post-wedding-humiliation campaign of bullying and vilification.]]
191* PointyHairedBoss: Debatable. He's competent and doesn't suffer fools, but he's also highly aggressive, willing to throw innocent employees to the wolves to save himself, and Mark not inaccurately describes him as part of a group of, 'literally the worst men in the world'.
192* SanitySlippage: After JLB goes under, he hops off the edge of reason.
193* TheSocialDarwinist: Believes the weak should make way for the strong. Reaches borderline-fascistic levels at [[spoiler:Gerrard's]] funeral.
194* StupidSexyFlanders: Has this effect on Mark at least.
195* TheTeetotaler: Johnson is a teetotal former alcoholic before he snaps at the end of series 7 during Big Suze's New Year's Eve party.
196* VillainousBreakdown: The recession is...not good for his sanity. Neither is throwing a house party on the same night as him.
197[[/folder]]
198
199[[folder:Gerrard]]
200!!Gerrard Matthew
201->'''Played By:''' Jim Howick
202
203Mark’s rival for Dobby’s affection. He’s a nice, nerdy fellow with ongoing health problems.
204----
205* AscendedExtra: First appears in an episode in Season 4 before becoming a regular.
206* CharacterDeath: [[spoiler:Dies of flu in the first episode of Season 8]].
207* DoggedNiceGuy: Initially at least, but he doesn't hesitate to stab Mark in the back or abuse any power he can get once Dobby's there to play for.
208* IgnoreTheDisability: "Tube up his nose. Tube up his nose. He's a man with a tube up his nose."
209* OutGambitted: "Never go to war with Stalin, Gerrard. Uncle Joe don't play by Your rules".
210[[/folder]]
211
212[[folder:Dobby]]
213!!Dobby
214[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/20778e7c_3e70_435e_acda_7c3740cd31b7.jpeg]]
215%%[[caption-width-right:350:]]
216
217->'''Played By:''' Isy Suttie
218
219A nerdy co-worker who just might be the one girl that likes Mark for the neurotic mess that he is.
220----
221* BitchInSheepsClothing: Gets self-righteous very easily and continously leads Mark on about moving in but [[spoiler:ultimately picks the New York job instead.]] She's also quite passive aggressively obnoxious when she, Simon and the other hipsters laugh at Mark getting the questions wrong during the quiz.
222* DeadpanSnarker: She snarks at Mark's attempts at being a normal human in Season 5.
223* {{Hipster}}: Downplayed at first but played up more in later seasons.
224* InformedAttribute: She mentions being a smoker in her first scene but is never seen smoking.
225* JerkassHasAPoint: Mark was pushing his luck every time, they don't seperate until [[spoiler:the end of Series 8.]]
226* {{Ladette}}: Can definitely be a bit "foward" at times (see: store cupboard scene). And in her first scene we see her reading Viz.
227* ManicPixieDreamGirl: Elements of this. A quirky hipster who tries to open Mark up to new experiences.
228* NerdsAreSexy: Possibly a poster girl for this.
229* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: As she explains in her introductory scene, her real name is Debbie, but nobody else in the show ever calls her that. You could be forgiven later for not even knowing what her name is.
230* OopNorth: Has an ambigiously Yorkshire sounding accent but not the stereotypical 'eeeee' instead of 'a' variety.
231* RomanticFalseLead: Ultimately chooses the [[spoiler:New York job.]]
232* SeenItAll: After a couple of seasons she knows how Mark's life works better than Mark does.
233* ShoutOut: To a certain [[Franchise/HarryPotter house elf?]]
234* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: Averted. Although she succeeds Sophie as Mark's main love interest, they are quite different characters and Sophie remains in the show.
235[[/folder]]
236
237!Neighbours
238
239[[folder:Toni]]
240!!Toni Papadopoulopoulos
241->'''Played By:''' Elizabeth Marmur
242
243The unhinged next-door neighbour who serves as an unhealthy object of lust for Jez during the first and second season.
244----
245* BerserkButton: Really likes her music. Do not criticise Peter Gabriel in front of her. Or try and take her Bhundu Boys album.
246%%* BitchAlert
247%%* BrokenBird
248* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: After being a central recurring character in series 1 and 2, she vanishes with no explanation in series 3 and beyond.
249* FreudianExcuse: She has some serious daddy issues owing to her father dying when she was 3.
250%%* OverlyLongName
251%%* TheVamp
252[[/folder]]
253
254[[folder:Elena]]
255!!Elena
256->'''Played By:''' Vera Filatova
257
258A bisexual, marijuana-dealing Russian émigré who lives in the same block of flats as Mark and Jeremy.
259----
260%%* BitchInSheepsClothing
261* BisexualLoveTriangle: Briefly in one between Jeremy and Gail, though it's quickly made clear that Jeremy is case of FriendsWithBenefits rather than a genuine romantic rival.
262* BrainlessBeauty: She's very attractive but not especially bright.
263%%* ForeignPeopleAreSexy
264* GirlOnGirlIsHot: Jeremy thinks this initially, but quickly grows jealous and angry. Elena hurts both Jeremy and her girlfriend, completely subverting this trope.
265* ItsAllAboutMe: She's very self-involved, even more so than Jeremy, not seeming to care at all about the damaging effect of her infidelity on Jeremy and Gail or showing any indication of seeing them as existing for any reason beyond her own pleasure.
266%%* SensualSlavs
267* TheUnfairSex: Averted. Elena is depicted as being just as selfish and shallow as Jez. Maybe even moreso.
268[[/folder]]
269
270[[folder:Gail]]
271!!Gail Huggins
272->'''Played By:''' Emily Bruni
273
274Elena's girlfriend and Jeremys love rival in Series 6. Completely devoted to Elena who does not show the same level of devotion back though she always choses her over Jez. She appears again in series 8 when she campaigns to be chairman of the freehold committee in Apollo House.
275----
276* AllGaysArePromiscuous: Averted. She's completely faithful to Elena, although Elena isn't faithful to her.
277* BrainyBrunette: A member of MENSA who runs her own business.
278* IceQueen: Borders on this at times.
279* InformedAbility: Her intelligence. Possibly intentional, as Jeremy makes fun of her inability to spot that he's having an affair with her girlfriend.
280* JerkAss: Incredibly rude and condescending to Mark at times.
281* SorryImGay: When she thinks Mark's hitting on her "I'm in a relationship. And it's a same-sex relationship. And I don't find you attractive. Even speaking objectively" Ouch!
282[[/folder]]
283
284!Friends
285
286[[folder:Super Hans]]
287!!Super Hans
288[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/TropeHans_6332.jpg]]
289[[caption-width-right:350:''"Tell you what, that crack is really more-ish."'']]
290->'''Played By:''' Matt King
291
292-->''"People like ''Music/{{Coldplay}} and voting for the Nazis. You can't trust people, Jeremy."''
293
294A friend of Jeremy's and a musician. He's a slightly more successful (and psychotic) version of Jeremy, and influences him in a variety of negative ways.
295----
296* BerserkButton: Does not like being trapped in a room at all, "ever since Dad locked me in the airing cupboard to monitor the homebrew".
297* BunnyEarsLawyer: Despite being a barely functional drug-addled lunatic, Hans has actually had several legitimate jobs and performed well in them from what we see.
298* CloudCuckoolander: Hans tends to be on his own wave length much of the time, no doubt due to the massive amounts of drugs he's usually on.
299* CouldntFindAPen: In "Man Jam," he tells Jez that he "only sign[s] in blood."
300* DepravedBisexual: Played with. He and Jeremy sucked each other off while very high. Sophie's cousin Barney also gave Hans a blowjob while high on ketamine, leading him to spiral a bit and frantically ask if he 'did it right' and that he loves Hans.
301* DeathGlare: When Mark throws up on his snake he has this to say: "[[TranquilFury You are paying for that snake to be dry cleaned]].".
302* DisappearedDad: To his twins; the fact that he takes a while to remember their ages implies he hasn't seen them in a while, though the fact that Mark says he's never heard Hans mention his children and Hans can't even produce a picture of them pretty much confirms that he doesn't have much of a role in their lives at all. They make an appearance at his wedding in season 9 however.
303* DreadfulMusician: He's more capable than Jez though.
304* DropInCharacter: He even had his own set of keys made for the flat as it's "easier".
305* EvenEvilHasStandards:
306** "You should take a hard look at yourselves.", when participating in Mark's scheme to throw his new lodger out which culminates in Jez waterboarding the poor guy.
307** Whatever's going on at the New Year's Eve party is too depraved and reprehensible even for him.
308* GoingColdTurkey: Has tried and failed several times.
309* {{Guyliner}}: His default look.
310* HilariouslyAbusiveChildhood: His Dad would lock him in the airing cupboard to 'monitor the homebrew'.
311%%* {{Hipster}}
312* ImmuneToDrugs: Super Hans clearly ''thinks'' he is, although in many episodes he's reduced to an utter wreck by his excessive habits. However, someone who can survive taking four grams of cocaine in one go [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments "to relax him"]] must be carrying at least a pint or two of [[Creator/CharlieSheen tiger blood]].
313* InsaneTrollLogic: His ideas for the pub in "Sectioning" are ridiculous.
314-->'''Jeremy:''' I'm definitely not co-managing a pub called "Free the Paedos."
315* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Despite being a crack-addled maniac, he's very much in love with his girlfriend (despite a complete language barrier between them), and his later wife, even going as far to say he'd hospitalize anyone who tried to stop him marrying her.
316* JunkieProphet: Sometimes likes to pass himself off as one, even though his 'wisdom' is a mix of nonsensical ramblings, parroted phrases from film and television and the suggestion to do more drugs.
317* ManipulativeBastard: He’s not overly skilled at manipulation, but it doesn’t take much to trick Jeremy.
318* MysteriousPast: In the Series 6 finale, Super Hans mentions that he has seven-year-old twins, with whom he has little contact. He doesn't give their names or genders, but they seem to live in a German-speaking country. No one in the show refers to them after this, but they do finally show up at Hans' wedding in Series 9.
319** He also mentions in Series 5 that he's banned from some countries in the EU. This is never discussed further or mentioned again.
320* OddFriendship: He and Mark seem to get along quite well. The two have absolutely nothing in common, but Hans appears to be less aware of Mark's social awkwardness than others, and Mark is surprisingly tolerant of Hans' eccentric behavior. Though Hans is ostensibly Jez's friend, he and Mark can converse (relatively) easily when Jez isn't present, and he often makes a point of asking after Mark's personal concerns, such as [[spoiler: Mark-and-Sophie's wedding or Sophie's subsequent pregnancy]] and will often give well-meaning if inappropriate advice. The two are co-workers in Series 8 and Hans asks Mark to be his best man in Series 9.
321* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: He even introduces himself as 'Hans. Super Hans'.
322* OnlySaneMan: Yes, it's a show where the only sane man happens to be a drug addict but in a weird way, he is. He has more moral standards than Mark and Jeremy and by the end of the show, marriage falling apart aside he's able to stablise his life and is generally better at holding down a job.
323** Season 9 reveals his first name is Simon.
324* SmallNameBigEgo: Much like Jeremy, he envisions himself as a musical genius. He does have other impressive skills, just not much related to music.
325%%* StonersAreFunny
326* TooSpicyForYogSothoth: Whatever's happening at the New Year's Eve party is automatically made infinitely more horrific, depraved and grotesque by the simple fact that even Super Hans is utterly shaken and wants nothing to do with it.
327* ToxicFriendInfluence: To Jeremy. If Hans does something, Jeremy will usually try to do the same thing with less success.
328* UndiscriminatingAddict: very heavy polysubstance user.
329* VerbalTic: Peppers his speech with plenty of "yeah"s, "nah"s, and "innit"s.
330* WildCard: Can function as the episode's antagonist, [[DropInCharacter single-scene]] [[PluckyComicRelief comic relief]], an [[PsychoSidekick unreliable]] [[TheLancer backup party member]] for Jez and/or Mark, or just a [[TheLoad drug-addled dead weight]] depending on the situation.
331[[/folder]]
332
333[[folder:Big Mad Andy]]
334!!Big Mad Andy
335->'''Portrayed by:''' Liam Noble
336
337* AxCrazy: Mainly in his first episode.
338* TheBusCameBack: Makes a return in Series 8, having not been seen since his first episode in Series 3.
339* SanitySlippage: Not the most stable guy to begin with, but by the time he returns in Series 8 he's clearly gone even more 'mad' (if less violent).
340[[/folder]]
341
342!Mark's Family
343
344[[folder:Dan]]
345!!Dan Corrigan
346->'''Portrayed By:''' Clive Merrison
347Mark's father.
348----
349* AbusiveParents: Mark lives in utter terror of him, and for good reason: he's domineering and emotionally abusive to the extreme. Everyone seems to walk on eggshells when he's around.
350* BerserkButton: Cauliflower '''is''' traditional!
351* FreudianExcuse: He's a living excuse for Mark's behaviour. It's amazing Mark and Sarah didn't turn out ''worse''.
352* HateSink: He's a sullen, sexist bully who treats his family horribly and is just awful to be around in general. He's one of the few characters on the show to have absolutely no redeeming traits.
353* Hypocrite: He insists the family didn't have enough money for Pam to pursue a new career but bought a new car that same year which would have cost even more which Dobby is quick to point out, much to Mark's horror.
354* Jerkass: Cruel to pretty much everyone, especially his family who understandably loathe him. He revels in his poor behaviour.
355* PerpetualFrowner: His default expression is an angry scowl to reflect just what a grumpy, unpleasant arsehole he is.
356* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Dan shows some misogynistic tendencies; his most despicable moment in his one-episode appearance comes when he tells Mark to put a "muzzle on your woman" when Dobby makes an innocuous statement disagreeing with him.
357[[/folder]]
358
359[[folder:Pam]]
360!!Pam Corrigan
361->'''Portrayed By:''' Lynn Farleigh
362Mark's mother.
363----
364* AmazinglyEmbarrassingParents: Writes sexually explicit plays, gives Mark sexually explicit socks as a Christmas present, and suggests ''Film/{{Emmanuelle}}'' in a round of Charades.
365* CoolOldLady: She's very laid-back and chill, openly discussing sex and becoming fast friends with Super Hans and sharing his ribald sense of humor.
366[[/folder]]
367
368[[folder:Sarah]]
369!!Sarah Corrigan
370->'''Portrayed By:''' Eliza L. Bennett
371
372Mark's sister who has an on and off again relationship with Jez.
373----
374* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: Part of the reason she gets with Jez.
375* BigBrotherInstinct: Inverted - Sarah argues much more forcefully in Mark's favour over his and Sophie's custody battle, even going too far (arguing that Sophie is an unfit mother because she drinks and smokes) in the hopes of getting more reasonable demands. All this does is make the discussion more heated than it needs to be.
376* FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling: With Mark, being flighty, self-absorbed and hedonistic while he is...well, Mark but he's at least more down to earth.
377* {{Jerkass}}: She's very self-involved. It's very telling when Mark is the more mature one.
378* ParentalFavoritism: Beneficiary of this - gets a holiday and a cashmere jumper for Christmas, while Mark gets some novelty socks and a used paper shredder.
379* PetTheDog: She argues hard on Mark's behalf in the custody hearings with Sophie. Granted, it just makes things worse but it's noticeably one of the few times she's ever genuinely tried to help him or anyone else.
380[[/folder]]
381
382!Sophie's Family
383
384[[folder:Ian]]
385!!Ian Chapman
386->'''Played By:''' Paul Clayton
387
388Sophie's quietly bitter, self-loathing father.
389----
390* AlcoholicParent: Ian has started to self-medicate with alcohol.
391* AxCrazy: Burns down his neighbour's barn when he suspects him of sleeping with his wife.
392* CrazyJealousGuy: See AxCrazy.
393* DeadpanSnarker: He has a very dry, self-deprecating wit that comes from a combination of being the OnlySaneMan and a GrumpyOldMan.
394-->'''Jeremy:''' So, I like your barn, Ian.\
395'''Ian:''' It's full of crap no one has any use for. Maybe that's why I feel so at home here. Ha.
396* EvenEvilHasStandards: As he himself admits, he may be a homophobe...but he's no badger baiter.
397* GrumpyOldMan: Being in a loveless marriage will do that to a man.
398* HappyMarriageCharade: With Penny. They put on a facade, but both of them are deeply miserable.
399* OnlySaneMan: He's very aware of the fact that he's in a loveless marriage and everyone around him acts in their own selfish interests.
400* PapaWolf: He doesn't care about anything but Sophie's happiness.
401[[/folder]]
402
403[[folder:Penny]]
404!!Penny Chapman
405->'''Played By:''' Cheryl Campbell
406
407Sophie's friendly yet adulterous mother.
408----
409* HappyMarriageCharade: With Ian. They're in a loveless marriage rife with infidelity and sexual dysfunction.
410* MrsRobinson: She seduces the much younger Jeremy with little to no effort.
411[[/folder]]
412
413!Mark's Love Interests
414
415[[folder:April]]
416!!April Danecroft
417[[quoteright:299:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/landscape_1448469970_tv_peep_show_series_9_episode_4_still.jpg]]
418->'''Portrayed By:''' Catherine Shepherd
419
420A student and shoe salesgirl; Mark pretends to be doing the same course as her at university in order to meet her.
421----
422* {{Bookworm}}: Studied history at university.
423* TheBusCameBack: Came back in Series 9.
424* NiceGirl: In her early appearances, she's friendly and approachable to Mark.
425** TookALevelInJerkass: By Series 9, like every other character, she's become something of a bitter, unsatisfied failure.
426[[/folder]]
427
428[[folder:Sally]]
429!!Sally Slater
430
431->'''Portrayed By:''' Liz May Brice
432
433One of the few friends that Mark had and his old School Crush.
434----
435* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: The likeley reason she's married to Mark's former high school bully.
436* NiceGirl: She treated Mark well at school. Mark and her shared some happy moments.
437* NotSoAboveItAll: Not above having an affair with Mark and would have gone through with it had her husband not showed up impromptu.
438* TheOneThatGotAway: One of the few people at Mark's old school who treated him well and who Mark developed a crush on.
439[[/folder]]
440
441!Jeremy's Love Interests
442
443[[folder:Nancy]]
444!!Nancy
445[[quoteright:299:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gallery_1448465050_tv_peep_show_nancy.jpg]]
446[[caption-width-right:299:''"I come from America, I've seen the problems race brings up. Now fuck me and pretend I'm your mom!"'']]
447->'''Played By:''' Creator/RachelBlanchard
448
449A kooky, 'liberated' small-town American girl who Jeremy falls in love with. She later marries him for visa reasons, and is in general something of a hypocritical free-spirit.
450----
451* BitchInSheepsClothing: Depending on how you [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation view]] her.
452* BrainlessBeauty: She's beautiful, and she ''is'' intelligent in some ways but certainly not in others.
453* CitizenshipMarriage: With Jeremy.
454* CloudCuckooLander: She adheres to a bizarre, hippie-esque religion that seems to be some mix of Christianity and every single cult in the 60s.
455* GranolaGirl: Very much so, but also (by her word anyway) a devout Christian.
456* {{Hypocrite}}: Acts like a devout Christian...and is also too kinky for Jeremy. It's probably in keeping with her own, self-styled religion.
457* MsFanservice: In a DVD commentary, Mitchell & Webb and Armstrong & Bain comment about the novelty of a sexy Hollywood actress coming over to do a low-budget British sitcom in "shitty Croydon".
458* ThePollyanna: To an extent that gets rather creepy, given that she chirps about family crises and year-long spells of drug addiction as brightly as anything else.
459[[/folder]]
460
461[[folder:Big Suze]]
462!!Big Suze
463[[quoteright:299:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bigsooze.jpg]]
464[[caption-width-right:299:''"This is quite a weird date, Jeremy. It's even weirder than when you took me to Laser Quest and tried to hump me in the dark."'']]
465->'''Played By:''' Creator/SophieWinkleman
466
467Posh, a little stupid, very attractive and very sweet, Big Suze is Jeremy's ex-girlfriend. He's still in love with her, and has an excellent plan to 'get her high and put my hand up her jumper'.
468----
469* BewareTheNiceOnes: She rather cheerfully suggests tying a burglar up in the bath, then burning him with cigarettes to extract information.
470* BrainlessBeauty: Averted. She's actually more intelligent than she appears to be, due to her cheerful attitude. However, she also repeatedly hooks back up with Jez and Johnson even after they've wronged her countless times.
471* HeadTurningBeauty: Just about everyone's reaction to her, with good reason.
472* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: Repeatedly gets back together with Jez and Johnson in spite of how they've treated her in the past.
473* MsFanservice: Ultrafemme and frequently in skirts with low cut tops.
474* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: She's never been referred to as anything other than Big Suze. We don't even know if 'Suze' is short for Susan or Suzanne.
475* ShipTease: With Mark in the Series 3 episode 'Sistering'; after they spend time alone together Mark develops a crush on her but she is ObliviousToLove, though the end of the episode, where Mark 'dumps' her for the sake of Jez hints she ''might'' have had a soft spot for Mark after all.
476* NiceGirl: Has a very sweet demeanor.
477* StatuesqueStunner: [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Hence the name.]]
478* TookALevelInJerkass: Treats Mark and Jeremy passive aggressively bad way in Series 7, although they've done more than enough to warrant it.
479* UnseenNoMore: References to the character weere made from the very first episode, but she only started appearing in person in Series 3.
480* UpperClassTwit: Very posh, but not very smart.
481[[/folder]]
482
483[[folder:Zahra]]
484!!Zahra
485[[quoteright:299:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/download_003.jpg]]
486->'''Played By:''' Camilla Beeput
487
488An intellectual woman whom Jeremy meets in a hospital waiting room while her boyfriend Ben is in a coma. Ben regains consciousness and later employs Jeremy, in a role which Jeremy uses as a means to try and get close to, and eventually seduce Zahra, even though she affects an interest in many refined subjects that are beyond him, such as foreign films and classic literature like Frankenstein, which he pretends to know about and be interested in in order to impress her.
489----
490* FeigningIntelligence: At first, she seems quite clever. With each passing episode, it becomes clearer that she bases intelligence on 'refined' subjects and is merely better at faking it than Jeremy.
491* {{Hipster}}: Most certainly, due to her big fashionable glasses, and feigned interest in obscure, artsy subjects.
492* MenAreUncultured: Averted. She's just as uncultured as everyone else, she's merely better at hiding it.
493[[/folder]]
494
495[[folder:Joe]]
496!!Joe
497->'''Portrayed By:''' Bart Edwards
498
499Megan's boyfriend. Jeremy has sex with him on an impulse which results in an ongoing relationship between the two.
500[[/folder]]
501
502[[folder:Megan]]
503!!Megan
504->'''Portrayed By:''' Cariad Lloyd
505
506A barmaid whom Jeremy meets during Super Hans' stag night.
507[[/folder]]

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