Line #214 Series/Spaced


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/spaced.jpg]]
2
3	-> "''The one, the only...'' Spaced. ''Accept no substitute''."
4	-->-- '''Creator/QuentinTarantino'''
5
6	''Spaced'' is a BritCom which ran for 2 seasons on Creator/Channel4 between 1999 and 2001. Written by its stars, Creator/SimonPegg and Creator/JessicaStevenson, and directed by Creator/EdgarWright, the series focuses on two twenty-something friends [[AtTheCrossroads at crossroads]] in their lives: Tim (Pegg), a cynical geek and aspiring comic book artist who is dumped by his girlfriend in the first episode, and Daisy (Stevenson), a bubbly aspiring journalist who doesn't have anything to say or the work ethic to say it.
7
8	After the two pretend to be a couple in order to rent an inexpensive flat, the show focuses on their zany adventures as they struggle to get their lives on track, figure out new ways to kill time, and deal with the feelings that could be developing between them, despite their repeated insistence to everyone that they aren't together. Tim's military-obsessed friend Mike (Creator/NickFrost), Daisy's ditzy glamour friend Twist (Katy Carmichael), MadArtist Brian (Mark Heap) in the flat below and dipsomaniac landlady Marsha (Creator/JuliaDeakin) complete the main cast.
9
10	Because Pegg and Wright went on to collaborate on a string of successful films, Stevenson's contributions to the show [[OvershadowedByAwesome are often ignored]] by overeager marketing executives who label it as "[[AdvertisingByAssociation from the creators of]] ''Film/ShaunOfTheDead'' and ''Film/HotFuzz''". Still, the show's manic camerawork and [[ReferenceOverdosed frequent references]] to popular genre films and TV shows can ring very familiar.
11
12	Came sixty-sixth in ''Britain's Best Sitcom''.
13
14	In 2018, Pegg definitively ruled out any possibility of continuing the series, saying that "it couldn’t possibly ever exist again" because it was about "a group of twenty-somethings at the turn of the century". He further stated, "I dunno what I have to say that’s relatable about life now. It’s not gonna happen, kids – unless you want a sitcom about some clueless actor who can’t tie his own shoelaces."
15
16	----
17	!!Contains examples of:
18
19	[[AC:Themes]]
20	* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: When Marsha's daughter starts throwing a tantrum, both Tim and Daisy imagine different scenarios involving [[NoPeriodsPeriod smeared lipstick]].
21	* GrowingUpSucks: A rare post-childhood example; all of the main characters are pretty immature and struggle to come to terms with the fact that their childhoods are over and they're becoming adults, with all the responsibilities that involves. Tim in particular seems to have a bit of a complex about it.
22	-->'''Tim:''' ''[About Marsha]'' We've potentially destroyed her faith in today's youth!\
23	''[Everyone looks at him skeptically]''\
24	'''Tim:''' ''[Sheepishly]'' Young adults.
25	* ImagineSpot: Used frequently.
26	* MagicRealism: The show presents an exaggerated, cartoonish, and often subjective reality with extreme camerawork, fast editing, and sound effects. Frequent references to genre films and TV shows also blur the lines of reality, while outright dream sequences and fantasies are also very common. It happens to such an extent it prompts the characters to question if things they thought just happened really did happen, or to comment on the unbelievability of some of the situations they end up in.
27	* MundaneMadeAwesome: Several seemingly trivial situations are given a huge amount of gravitas with a dash of {{Shout Out}}s. Tyres dancing to everyday sound effects (traffic signals, phone calls, pouring water etc.) is a good example.
28	* PlatonicLifePartners: Tim and Daisy share a flat, and both are single heterosexuals attempting the {{Masquerade}} of being a couple, nothing sexual happens between them. The audience's expectations of {{UST}} are the source of several misdirection jokes. It's implied that the reason Daisy attempted to move out in the final episode was partially because the {{UST}} was becoming unbearable for her, and in the Skip to the End extra, it's confirmed that [[spoiler: they are now a real couple with a baby and are still squabbling happily in the same flat.]]
29	* ShoutOut, {{Homage}}, TheParody: By the bucket, of everything, including some rather obscure films and TV shows. The [=DVDs=] even have a subtitle track consisting purely of the sources of each reference, including, rather confusingly, those from [[ShowWithinAShow shows within the show]]. For example, in one episode, Daisy is making up a story about working on a movie to impress someone, saying the movie's to be named ''Guacamole Window''. The subtitle on that track then says "Film Ref: Guacamole Window, Directed by and starring Daisy Steiner." And indeed itself, when it harks back to the victory walk when Bilbo takes Tim back.
30	* SitCom
31
32	[[AC:Characters]]
33	* AlphaBitch: Daisy's friend Twist is as shallow as a saucer, quite vicious and uncaring of her friend's feelings. And a FagHag.
34	* AmbiguouslyGay: Brian is quickly asked point-blank if he is gay, which he denies with an almost regretful tone. He later claims to have had "a love-affair between two straight men" with his "post-sexual" collaborator Vulva, whom he refers to as a she. Mike straight out says "I've always fancied you" to Tim. Also, Edgar Wright said that "[they] might have ended up getting him together with Dexter or someone like that. Or him just admitting he was gay."
35	* ArtReflectsPersonality: {{Invoked\|Trope}} when Brian says that he uses his art to depict [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brQw15Xz7Go "anger, pain, fear, and aggression"]]. Later on in the series, when he has a girlfriend and his life seems to be going quite well, he finds himself unable to produce any artistic work.
36	* BrattyTeenageDaughter: Marsha's daughter Amber.
37	* GenkiGirl: Daisy tries in her half-arsed way to be this, but without much success.
38	* [[HeWhoMustNotBeSeen She Who Must Not Be Seen]]: Marsha's daughter Amber, despite [[TheUnintelligible the incomprehensible noise]] of her rows with her mother, is only ever seen as a [[TheFaceless faceless blur]] storming down the stairs. Played by the producer's sister in a wig. Amber's part in angry conversations heard but not seen are done by Jessica Stevenson.
39	** She is commented by most of the characters as being quite a looker... apparently.
40	* LadyDrunk: Marsha.
41	* MadArtist: Brian is incredibly [[TrueArtIsAngsty angsty]] and tortured (not to mention pretentious) though not in a dangerous way. He does find he's unable to paint when he's happy.
42	* MoodSwinger: Tyres, whose brain is so fried from drugs and raving that he can't sustain a single emotion for more than a few seconds.
43	-->'''Tyres''': "Last night was an A1, tip-top, clubbing jam fair, it was a sandwich of fun, on ecstasy bread, wrapped up in a big bag like disco fudge. It doesn't get much better than that, I just wish I could control these ''[[SuddenlyShouting FUCKING MOOD SWINGS]]''!!"
44	* TheSlacker: Everyone, but especially Daisy.
45	* StalkerWithACrush: Brian.
46	-->'''Brian''': "I see all of my ex-girlfriends. Well, not so much see as... watch."
47	* UnresolvedSexualTension: Tim and Daiys's feelings for each other are hinted at but never acted on throughout the show. Only in the Spaced documentary it is revealed [[spoiler: that they are now together.]]
48
49	[[AC:Tropes]]
50	* TheAce: Duane Benzie is clearly this in Tim's memories (more athletic, higher income, nice car, more attractive to women). In both of his appearances, however, his treatment makes him more akin to a ButtMonkey.
51	* ActorAllusion: Creator/PeterSerafinowicz (as Duane) quotes one of his (few) lines as Darth Maul in the episode "Gone". At the time, this was only known from the trailer, and they were looking forward to it. It turned that the only thing Tim would hate more than Duane Benzie was ''Film/ThePhantomMenace''.
52	* AirVentPassageway: Used by Tim in the episode "Help".
53	* ArtShift: Flashbacks are shot in a blurry, pink-hued style.
54	* AttentionDeficitOohShiny: Played with. Tim starts to explain to Daisy about how easily distracted Tyres has been an certain occasions, but both of them are immediately distracted by the TV.
55	-->'''Tim:''' "Tyres has got a really short attention span; I remember once we were — oh look, wrestling!"
56	** Mike is implied to have had this happen to him as well. Prior to series one, Mike stole a tank and attempted to invade Paris and was only apprehended when he stopped off at Disneyland Paris to ride Space Mountain.
57	* BackgroundBodyPart: The "devil horns" variant is played for laughs as Daisy realises she and Tim are going to have to keep lying to Marsha about them being a couple in order to continue renting her flat; "We're evil," Daisy laments, just as the shot is reframed to conspicuously position a pair of bananas in a fruit bowl as horns on her head.
58	* BerserkButton: For Tim, anyone complimenting the ''Franchise/StarWars'' prequels. He even throws a little kid out of the comic book store he works at for wanting a Jar Jar Binks action figure. Bilbo Bagshot also punches ''anyone'' who calls ''Film/HawkTheSlayer'' rubbish.
59	--> '''Bilbo:''' The point is I was defending the fantasy genre with terminal intensity, when what I ''should'' have said was "Dad, you're right - but let's give Film/{{Krull}} a try, and we'll discuss it later."
60	** Perhaps the only thing that aggravates Tim as much as the Star Wars prequels is romantic rival Duane Benzie, played by Creator/PeterSerafinowicz, the voice of... Darth Maul in ''Film/ThePhantomMenace''!
61	** He also flips out in the beginning over the group playing "Time Warp" at his housewarming party.
62	--->'''Tim:''' I hate it! It's boil-in-the-bag perversion for sexually repressed accountants and first-year drama students with too many posters of ''Film/BettyBlue'', ''Film/TheBluesBrothers'', ''[[Film/TheBigBlue Big Blue]]'' and ''Film/BlueVelvet'' on their blue bloody walls!
63	** Bilbo's rival, Derek, will not hear a bad word said about ''Series/BabylonFive''. Tim exploits this to get himself fired so he can go back to working with Bilbo.
64	* BigNo: Parodied, particularly in "Battles" after Mike takes a paintball for Tim.
65	* BigYes: A [[UnusualEuphemism munted]] Daisy reacts this way when Tim orders tequila slammers.
66	* BingeMontage: Especially in "Gone".
67	* BloodFromTheMouth: Parodied with Mike's TakingTheBullet of a paintball pellet, which is set up earlier in the episode:
68	-->"Don't eat the paintballs."
69	* ABloodyMess: "Brian, [[BigNo NOOO!]] Oh God, why? ...This [shirt] was new!"
70	* BogglesTheMind:
71	** When Tim and Daisy get into a ''TabletopGame/{{Scrabble}}''-tile-throwing fight after an argument over whether "ComicBook/{{Shazam}}" or "[[MenBuyFromMarsWomenBuyFromVenus Pro-V]]" counted as words, Daisy notices that the last 4 tiles they threw at each other spelt "Fuck". Tim asks her [[{{UST}} what she thinks that means...]]
72	** A crossword gag from another episode;
73	--->'''Guard:''' Three letters; to walk quickly, manage or oversee.\
74	''[alarm sounds]''\
75	'''Mike:''' Run!
76	* BreadEggsBreadedEggs: "...we drink until we (A) fall over, (B) puke, or (C) ''fall over and puke!''"
77	* BrickJoke: Daisy humping the air to mock Twist fancying Brian in 'Chaos', then being forced to listen to the real thing in Season 2.
78	* BrokeTheRatingScale: Meta-example, the bonus subtitles that point out all the references just give up for the Paintball episode and declares that it's referencing "every war movie, ever".
79	* ChekhovsGun: In "Gone", the fact that any man will throw everything into a pretend gunfight at the drop of a hat.
80	* ColdOpening: The show has no theme song of its own and the most that we get for an opening is a brief flash of the show's title.
81	* ComicallyMissingThePoint: Happens a few times.
82	--> '''Tim''': You've got paint on you.\
83	'''Brian''': It's a literal tribute to the self-reflexivity of Rembrandt.\
84	'''Tim''': Did he like it?\
85	'''Brian''': He's dead.\
86	'''Tim''': Bloody hell, that really backfired.
87	* CommutingOnABus: Twist in Series 2.
88	* ComplimentBackfire:
89	** Most of Twist's communication with Daisy in particular takes the form of possibly unintentional but ''definitely'' hurtful and snide backhanded compliments. "Little bit of a tummy show... Big's in this season! Good for you."
90	** Marsha gets a few of these in as well: "You look really well! A lot of people ''lose'' weight when they're travelling."
91	* CoolestClubEver: The nightclub the gang go to shows everyone having a good time. Even when Daisy gets landed with all the coats, she has fun dancing while queuing up for the cloakroom.
92	* CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot: In the penultimate episode it's revealed the ad saying the flat was for professional couples only was posted as a mistake and Marsha really didn't care if Tim and Daisy were a couple, though she was very hurt when she found out they'd been lying to her the whole time.
93	* CountryMatters: Implied when Sophie has to work late due to a misprint on the cover of the latest issue of "Total Cult".
94	* CoverIdentityAnomaly: When Tim and Daisy pretend to be a couple in order to rent an apartment. Though they attempt to be as thorough as possible by learning a multitude of mundane details about each other ("I forgot what you got for your fifth birthday!" "Miniature drum kit"), they get caught in their lie while fumbling around regarding what day they had sex first vs. what day they kissed first. Also, it's not until after they get the story of their shared history straight that they think to ''tell each other their names''.
95	* CreditsGag: At the end of "Epiphanies", cast names were presented in alternate, rave-ish names, such as [[Series/TheFreshPrinceOfBelAir The Fresh Pegg, Jazzy Jess]], and Creator/EdgarWright [[Music/FatboySlim Here Wright Now]].
96	* CrewOfOne: Implied in Mike's backstory where he stole a tank with the intention of invading Paris. Averted in "Leaves", where Mike needs Brian, Tim, Dexter and Cromwell's help to crew the tank he borrows to help persuade Marsha to come home.
97	* CutApart: The first scene appears to be Tim and Daisy splitting up, with Tim shouting up to Daisy's window. We see at the end of the scene that the two characters are talking to different characters, as Tim leaves.
98	* DaydreamSurprise: And plenty of them. In some cases, Tim and Daisy break from the fantasy, then follow it up by doing exactly the same thing later.
99	* DeepImmersionGaming: Tim does this with ''Resident Evil 2'' at the beginning of episode 3.
100	* DistantFinale: Arguably, [[spoiler: the last scene from the "Skip to the End" documentary]].
101	* DrugsAreGood: Recreational drug use is a) rather prominent and b) not a big deal.
102	* DualWielding: Paintball guns. And finger guns.
103	** Mike likes to dual wield [=MP5s=].
104	* DutchAngle: During the GoodCopBadCop scene in ''Help''. '''WHAT?!'''
105	* EpisodeOfTheDead: Series 1 Episode 3 "Art" has Tim hallucinate that a party is full of zombies as a result of taking some cheap speed the night before (he didn't want to offend the overly-friendly Scottish drug dealers) and then spending all night playing ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil2''.
106	* EvenEvilHasStandards: Duane would shoot a man at point blank range in the back of the head (with a paintball gun), but he would ''never'' shoot someone directly in the face.
107	* EvilLaugh: Mike when he's finally allowed back in the TA starts one when he's firing two large rifles at a shooting range.
108	* EvilSoundsDeep: Duane Benzie (Creator/PeterSerafinowicz supplying a voice almost as deep as the one that left [[Series/BlackBooks Fran Katzenjammer]] weak at the knees. Tim tries to out-gravel him while VolleyingInsults, and it just makes him cough.
109	* FailedASpotCheck: Marsha, repeatedly. Tim and Daisy are terrible at maintaining TheMasquerade but Marsha is apparently blind to their endless slip-ups (including two in as many minutes in the first episode, see CoverIdentityAnomaly above).
110	* FightClubbing: The "Robot Club."
111	* FingerGun: The episode ''Gone'' features two epic finger gun battles; Mike and Tim demonstrate the "unspoken male telepathy" that leads any group of men left together to inevitably have a finger gunfight, and later in the episode Tim and Daisy trick a gang of muggers into engaging in one (thereby gaining the chance to escape while the muggers are playing dead).
112	* FoodFight: One that starts with a FoodSlap in "Dissolution".
113	* FriendsRentControl: Although the apartment is significantly smaller than most sitcom residences, Simon Pegg remarks in the documentary "Skip to the End" what a big joke it was that they could rent such a place for £90/week.
114	* GagPenis: Brian has one that he uses as a paintbrush on occasion. Tim happens to get a glance and simply calls it "huge".
115	* GirlishPigtails: Twist can been seen wearing these quite a bit.
116	* GoodCopBadCop: Tim and Mike subject Daisy to this in the episode ''Help''. Mike was the good cop.
117	* GroinAttack: With Paintballs, complete with GunsAkimbo DualWielding by Tim.
118	-->'''Duane:''' That is why I sleep in the arms of a beautiful woman, and you spend your evenings alone in your bedsit with ''cheap porn''.\
119	[Enter Mike, screaming Tim's name, who [[TakingTheBullet takes the paintball]] intended for him after throwing him his paintball markers:]\
120	'''Tim:''' It's not a bedsit. ''It's a flat.'' [Boom, Groinshot.]\
121	Gets a callback in a later episode:
122	-->'''Tim:''' No hard feelings, eh?\
123	'''Duane:''' You shot me in the bollocks, Tim.\
124	'''Tim:''' Yeah, well like I said... No ''[[TheLoinsSleepTonight hard feelings]].''
125	* GunsAkimbo: Mike is fond of doing this. During the mission to rescue Colin, he packs a pair of pistols, even showing them off to the security guard he's supposed to be holding hostage. To celebrate his reinstatement to the TA, he takes a pair of [=MP5s=] to the range. He also uses them in his ImagineSpot assault on Darkstar Comics.
126	* HappyDance: Tim does one walking down the street, Brian utterly fails to imitate it later in the episode. In a [[CallBack later episode]], Tim and Bilbo do one in sync.
127	* HatesRichPeople: A story is told of a man who set his dog to attack rich people, somehow training it to smell wealth. This does not end well for him [[HoistByHisOwnPetard as he wins the lottery, causing the dog to turn on him.]]
128	* HeroicBSOD: Tim seems to be having one regarding Sarah in the first series, as evidenced by the drawings Daisy finds of him torturing Sarah and Duane. The last one she finds shows that he's gotten better. Tim also apparently had another major one in 1990 when [[ComicBook/StrontiumDog Johnny Alpha died]].
129	* HesJustHiding: InUniverse. Mike thought his childhood pet rabbit was still living next door.
130	* [[ShesNotMyGirlfriend He's Not My Boyfriend:]] Said word for word by Tim, about Mike. More in the spirit of the trope, Tim and Daisy have a few moments of this.
131	* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Tim's boss tells him a story about a guy who trained his dog to attack rich people, only to win the lottery himself one day...
132	* HumansAreMorons: Tim defends the Sci-Fi genre arguing that "the thoughts and speculations of our contemporary authors and thinkers have probably never been closer to the truth." [[GilliganCut Cut to]] a group of aliens outside the comic book shop laughing at how ridiculous everything on display is. [[FridgeBrilliance To make it even better]], the aliens look exactly like they would in some cheesy 1950s B-movie.
133	* HypocriticalHumour: Right after Daisy says she's not going to be one of those dog owners who dresses their pet up in stupid costumes & takes photos, it's revealed that Brian had dressed Colin up whilst she was talking about ''not'' dressing him up, and is now taking pictures of the dog. Daisy promptly joins in.
134	* IAlwaysWantedToSayThat:
135	-->'''Tim:''' "I can't ''believe'' you said 'step on it'!"\
136	'''Daisy:''' "Why not?"\
137	'''Tim:''' "...''I'' wanted to say it."
138	* ICouldaBeenAContender: Marsha claims she was once on track to be an Olympic sprinter, until a guy hit her with his car [[StartOfDarkness and gave her]] [[HardDrinkingPartyGirl a drink]], saying it'd 'help with the pain' ([[DrowningMySorrows "he was not wrong..."]]).
139	* INeverToldYouMyName: Played this in the {{Homage}} (of sorts) to ''Film/TheMatrix''. With the agents grilling Brian at the front door when they were looking for Daisy.
140	--> '''Agent 1:''' Can you tell us where she [Daisy] is, Mr. Topp?
141	--> '''Brian:''' How do you know my name?
142	--> '''Agent 1:''' [[SubvertedTrope It's written on the doorbell.]]
143	--> '''Brian:''' ...Alright.
144	--> '''Agent 2:''' Where is she, Brian?
145	--> '''Brian:''' [[DoubleSubversion ..."Brian" isn't on the doorbell.]]
146	* ImprobableAge: The employment agency boss in series 2. She has braces, appears to be a about 15... and is one of the most mature characters to ever appear on the show.
147	* InnerMonologueConversation: This happens several times. It is also subverted: Daisy, while they are fumbling to come up with a lie, thinks ''(It's times like this I wish I was telepathic. Don't you, Tim?)'' She looks over to Tim, whose thoughts are dead silent. It's later played with when Tim answers Daisy's internal monologue.
148	* IrrevocableMessage: Tim's unflattering caricature of Damien Knox, which was of course inadvertently sent to Knox as part of a job application.
149	* TheKenBurnsEffect: Used several times on the show, with the camera panning over the comics used to tell a story.
150	* LamePunReaction: During the paintballing MexicanStandoff between Tim and Duane, Duane's mobile phone rings:
151	-->'''Tim:''' Aren't you going to answer that?\
152	'''Duane:''' I've got an answering service.\
153	'''Tim:''' You've got an answer for everything.\
154	'''Duane:''' I cannot ''believe'' you just said that.
155	* LeftTheBackgroundMusicOn: After Tim tells Daisy that Sarah is single again, we hear a loud 'red alert' alarm. Daisy asks what the sound was, and it turns out it's the new doorbell Tim bought.
156	* {{Leitmotif}}: Throbbing club beats for Tyres. They tend to drown out his nonsensical monologues.
157	** [[Theatre/TheNutcracker "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy"]] for Colin.
158	* LineOfSightAlias: At a housewarming party, Daisy claims that the title of her new screenplay is ''Guacamole... Window''.
159	* LoveMakesYouUncreative: Brian realizes that his relationship with Twist is preventing him from painting, because he can only paint when he is unhappy. Subverted, because the realization that he must choose between his relationship and his career makes him unhappy, allowing him to paint successfully again.
160	* ManChild: ''All'' of them, with the possible exception of Tyres. Not that the women are any better.
161	* MaybeEverAfter: For more than one couple, although a DVD extra [[BelatedHappyEnding clarifies one pairing]].
162	* MeaningfulEcho: When Tim asks Marsha what it'll take [[spoiler:to keep her from selling the house]], she replies "Something bloody spectacular". After Mike's got a suitable idea for what this could be, this exchange occurs:
163	-->'''Mike:''' It's on.
164	-->'''Tim:''' What's on?
165	-->'''Mike:''' Something bloody spectacular.
166	* MeetCute: Daisy mistakes Tim for a drug dealer. He says "Thanks!", unironically.
167	* {{Metaphorgotten}}: Daisy's likening of her failed relationship with Richard to a sandwich toaster gets a bit off message, eventually leading to a BrokenAesop ("Chuck your boyfriend, have a sandwich.")
168	* MundaneMadeAwesome: Scenes from films are re-enacted with a fraction of the budget, in far more mundane circumstances. Played for bathos or pastiche.
169	-->'''Tim''': Now, we'll have to climb over a perimeter fence. It's about two meters high.
170	-->'''Brian''': [[Franchise/StarWars Two meters! That's impossible!]]
171	-->'''Mike''': It's not impossible, I used to climb over my neighbor's fence, it wasn't much higher than two meters.
172	** The gunfight. Not just a FingerGun battle, it has DualWielding, frag grenades, gun jams, {{Big No}}s, even a segue to classical music to pan over the "dead" and highlight the senseless waste of it all.
173	** The ''paintball duel''. And Mike's HeroicSacrifice, complete with [[BloodFromTheMouth Paint From The Mouth]].
174	** A reenactment of ''Film/OneFlewOverTheCuckoosNest'' set in the kitchen of a fast food restaurant. Called "Neo Nachos".
175	** In the first episode of season 2, Daisy and Mike share a moment out of Film/PulpFiction, when Daisy finds Mike's Uzi on the counter when she gets home. He walks out of the bathroom to find his [[RecklessGunUsage gun pointed at him]]. The two stare tensely at each other, until they're startled by the toaster just as Tim comes in, then they start to have a conversation and forget it happened.
176	** From Film/TheSixthSense:
177	-->[Mike and Tim are sitting in gridlock]
178	-->'''Tim''': What's the hold up?
179	-->'''Mike''': There's been an accident. Someone got hurt.
180	-->'''Tim''': Who?
181	-->'''Mike''': A lady.
182	-->'''Tim''': How d'you know?
183	-->'''Mike''': Because we hit her.
184	-->'''Tim''': Did we?
185	-->'''Mike''': Yeah. That's her there.
186	-->[Female cyclist appears at the window, scaring Tim - played by Olivia Williams, star of The Sixth Sense]
187	** Part one of the second series finale ends with Tim and Mike about to go and talk to Marsha, done as an almost word-for-word take on the end of ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack''.
188	*** Compete with Wookiee noises imitated (quite well!) by a yawning Mike.
189	** The first time Brian [[TheCavalry steps in]] to cover for Tim and Daisy's fake relationship with a well-timed excuse, he gets played out by [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iteRKvRKFA the theme]] from ''[[Film/TheMagnificentSeven1960 The Magnificent Seven]]'' (and, being Brian, [[FailedAttemptAtDrama screws up his exit]].)
190	** The food fight during Daisy's birthday party greatly resembles the finale of ''Film/BugsyMalone'', down to the dramatic piano chords after the action is over.
191	* MurderIsTheBestSolution: Daisy's Plan B on getting a dog.
192	--> ''"And if it doesn't work out... we'll kill it."''
193	* MushroomSamba: After getting cheap Es from a bunch of Scottish guys and playing too much ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil2'', Tim starts seeing [[TheTetrisEffect zombies everywhere]].
194	* NeverSayDie: Not the series itself, but Tim falls victim to a childhood version of this when Daisy miserably remarks that Colin's "[[UnusualEuphemism gone next door]]."
195	--> '''Tim:''' Oh, Daisy, I'm so sorry, Daisy. How did it happen?\
196	'''Daisy:''' ''[Bemused]'' ... He ''walked''.\
197	'''Tim:''' Right. Right. Sorry. It's just that my mum used to use 'going next door' as a euphemism for death.\
198	'''Mike:''' ''[Shocked]'' Whoa whoa whoa! Hold on! Does that mean my ''rabbit's'' dead?!\
199	'''Tim:''' It's been eighteen years, Mike, where did you think he was?\
200	'''Mike:''' Next door!
201	* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Tim drew a caricature of of head of Dark Star Comics describing himself as a massive wanker. Naturally, Tim removed this piece before submitting his portfolio to Dark Star for consideration. Only Daisy, who apparently only wanted to help, put it back in.
202	** There's a few subtle hints dropped that Daisy may have been jealous of Tim's break, and wanted to sabotage it.
203	* NoodleIncident: From "Epiphanies,"
204	--> '''Tyres:''' Last time I've seen Mike he was on ''Crime Watch''.
205	--> '''Tim:''' Oh no, no, that was a case of mistaken identity. Police had his house surrounded all last week.
206	--> '''Tyres:''' No, this was about two months ago.
207	--> '''Tim:''' Oh yeah, that was him.
208	** The Incident that happened with Tim and Mike in their childhood also counts, until the details are revealed at the end of series 1. [[spoiler: Tim dared Mike to jump out of a tree and insinuated he was a chicken when he didn't. When he finally did jump, Mike landed badly and detached his retinas]]
209	* TheNotSoHarmlessPunishment: Tim, unable to cope with ''Film/ThePhantomMenace'', is admonished by Bilbo for getting cross with a child who wanted to buy a Jar Jar Binks doll. When he asks Bilbo what he's going to do about his behavior, Bilbo responds, "I'm going to have to let you go." Tim, relieved that he's being let off the hook when he thought he was going to be fired, takes a brief moment before understanding that firing him is exactly what Bilbo had intended doing all along.
210	* ObstructiveBureaucrat: Daisy does not have a good time in the Job Centre: "No, this is the A-b form, you need the A-''B'' form, capital B." The clerk responds to her questions with a simpering smile and an inane, "I'm sorry, I don't understand." Although he's a definite example of the trope, Daisy isn't exactly in the right; she's a would-be benefit sponge making a transparent attempt to claim fraudulent benefits, and the clerk has clearly seen through her feeble efforts and clocked exactly what she's up to. Oh, and furthermore, in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it flashback, we see that [[DisproportionateRetribution she did much the same to him when she was working at a bar and he wanted a drink.]]
211	** Hilariously subverted by [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure Tim's clerk]];
212	-->'''Clerk:''' And why did you leave your last job?\
213	'''Tim:''' we had a... [[BrokenBase difference of opinion.]]\
214	'''Clerk:''' Film/ThePhantomMenace?\
215	'''Tim:''' ''[surprised]'' Yes!\
216	'''Clerk:''' ''[casually]'' Did you like it?\
217	'''Tim''': ''[cautiously]'' ... No.\
218	'''Clerk:''' ''[whispers]'' You leave this with me. I'll see what I can do.
219	* OddFriendship: Tim and Brian. Tim denies disliking Brian when asked, but also admits that he's not sure ''why'' he likes him, and openly mocks him for being pretentious.
220	* OminousLatinChanting:
221	** At the end of the episode "Battles," in which Tim revealed his phobia of [[RuleOfThree dogs, lightning, and bamboo]], some ominous latin chanting accompanies an image of the dog Colin sitting on Tim's bed, chewing on some bamboo sticks during a lightning storm.
222	** Used ''several'' times in "Dissolution", as part of an extended parody of ''Film/TheOmen''.
223	* OneDialogueTwoConversations: In "Dissolution", between Marsha and Tim regarding "what [Tim's] up to". Marsha is talking about what she perceives as Tim cheating on Daisy, while Tim is talking about the typewriter-shaped cake he secretly bought for Daisy's birthday. This is driven home by cuts to a Tim/Sophie kiss and a shot of the cake after all of Marsha's and Tim's lines, respectively.
224	* PacManFever: Averted. Tim plays what were, at the time, relatively up-to-date video games, and the several scenes feature then very overtly.
225	** And, in fact, Simon Pegg was actually playing the game through each take.
226	** Notably one of the games he's seen playing, ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil2'' factors into the plot of the episode.
227	** Another notable example that comes to mind was an argument between Tim and Daisy interspersed with cutaway shots of a game of ''VideoGame/{{Tekken}}''. At the end of the argument, Tim walked away as the ''VideoGame/{{Tekken}}'' game displayed 'NINA WINS!' on the screen, and following that Daisy stood in a similar winning pose to Nina and it displayed 'DAISY WINS' on the screen.
228	* PaintballEpisode
229	* PairTheSpares: Toyed with in the second series with [[spoiler: Mike and Marsha. Nearly all of their scenes together are open to interpretation, but their last scene in the series finale - involving each one's respective favourite thing - seems to speak volumes]].
230	* PleasePutSomeClothesOn: Brian is often naked or close to it, and appears oblivious to the discomfort this causes in his flatmates.
231	* PluckyOfficeGirl: [[AvertedTrope Averted.]] Daisy predicts she'll end up as one of these, but it just doesn't happen.
232	* PostSomethingism: During a job interview, Daisy is asked if she considers herself a post-feminist, to her confusion. The interviewer simplifies the question to whether she drinks pints or shots.
233	* PreAssKickingOneLiner: Mike attempts this on the agents in the pub ("[[Film/{{Scarface 1983}} Say hello to my little friend!"]]) [[SubvertedTrope only for the agents to disarm him easily]]. He notes after ("Note to self: Shoot first, quip later.") that the BondOneLiner would be much more effective.
234	* QuoteToQuoteCombat: In "Ends" Tim and Daisy fight with idioms when discussing about Tim moving back in with Sarah:
235	-->'''Daisy:''' What do you mean you have a funny feeling?\
236	'''Tim:''' I can read her like a book.\
237	'''Daisy:''' Never judge a book by its cover.\
238	'''Tim:''' He who dares wins.\
239	'''Daisy:''' Look before you leap.\
240	'''Tim:''' Do you believe in life after love?\
241	'''Daisy:''' That's a song.\
242	'''Tim:''' Shit.
243	* ReferenceOverdosed: [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools Not that there's anything wrong with that.]] People can watch the show, and those who don't get the references can enjoy the jokes without problems, and those who do catch all the reference can actually add more laughs. Wright and Pegg's films after the series have this as a method of writing and directing. The DVD boxsets come with an optional "Homage-O-Meter" setting to keep track of every ShoutOut.[[note]][[FunWithSubtitles Including times]] when the show references ''itself'', and - during the paintball and finger-gun sequences - sometimes just flatly giving up and declaring they're shouting out to "Every war move ever."[[/note]]
244	* RomanticFalseLead: Sophie. A perfectly charming girl and a good match for Tim, but Mike and Daisy resent her taking him away from them.
245	* RoommateCom: Two twenty-somethings share a flat in London, plus the various odd characters around them, with added pop-culture based surrealism. However, despite their improbably cheap flat, the depiction of their economic situation is pretty realistic (worries about jobs, no disposable income).
246	* RunningGag: Plenty, to the series and individual episodes.
247	** What does Brian paint? "Anger. Pain. Fear. Aggression." "[[ComicallyMissingThePoint Watercolours]]?"
248	** The recurring memory of Tim and Mike's childhood in the treetop-- finally played out in its entirety in the series 1 finale.
249	** In flashbacks the male characters always seem to have their current facial hair no matter how young they are.
250	* SanitySlippage: In the series 1 finale Daisy is initially disturbed when she finds a sketch book of increasingly violent doodles of horrific things happening to Tim' ex-girlfriend... then she notices the last sketch is of Tim and Daisy, holding their dog Colin and the large words "Happiness" underneath.
251	* ScoutOut: Marsha has two girls in uniform cleaning the cupboards when Daisy and Tim first apply for the flat. The uniforms are similar, but not identical to UK Girl Guide uniforms.
252	** They're actually archaic Guide uniforms, from sometime before 1991. (Bob-a-job week also no longer existed by then.)
253	* SecondEpisodeMorning: In the second episode, Tim wakes up to find the flat clean and pristine, and his ex-girlfriend Sarah is there to assure him that she would never, ever break up with him. [[CatapultNightmare Then his alien costume comes to life and drags him under the door, screaming.]]
254	* SeriousBusiness: Tim and Bilbo take their fantasy/sci-fi fandom extremely seriously. Tim was so disappointed by ''Film/ThePhantomMenace'' that he burned his Star Wars paraphernalia in a scene mirroring Darth Vader's cremation. Bilbo admits to punching out two people for describing ''Film/HawkTheSlayer'' as "rubbish". One of them was his dad. Even still, he sacks Tim for verbally assaulting a child in search of a [[TheScrappy Jar Jar Binks]] doll. Then, when Bilbo offers Tim his old job back, all it takes to make Tim's new boss fire him on the spot is for Tim to declare "''Series/BabylonFive'''s a big pile of shit!"
255	** The paintball game in Season 1 Episode 4.
256	* SingleIssueLandlord: The ad for the flat Tim and Daisy rent from Marsha was for a "professional couple only," which led to Tim and Daisy to pretend to be a real couple to rent the flat, [[spoiler: although late in the series it is revealed that this never was a requirement for the flat in the first place but a mistake of someone working for the newspaper the ad was published in.]]
257	* SmashCut: A common fixture of the show and indeed of its director, Edgar Wright.
258	* [[SmokingHotSex Smoking Hot]] [[strike:Sex]] [[SmokingHotSex Vacuuming]]: Tim and Daisy decide to resolve the lingering issue between them when they first move in, and we cut to them lying back enjoying a cigarette. Instead of screwing, it's cleaning the apartment.
259	* SoNearYetSoFar: Tim is almost able to sever his connection with Sarah completely in the very first episode after telling her that he is moving in with Daisy and that she has absolutely no right to be upset - only for her to completely torpedo his confidence by demanding to know if he loves Daisy. When he replies that he doesn't and fervently states that he still loves her, she smiles smugly and shuts the door in his face.
260	* StrangeMindsThinkAlike: When Brian tells Tim that he and Vulva used to make performance art together, we see Tim's idea of how ridiculous and pretentious it must have been. Then we see Brian's memory of a performance. The two are practically the same.
261	** When Tim tells a job centre receptionist that he was fired over a difference of opinion, she immediately and correctly guesses that it was because he didn't like ''Film/ThePhantomMenace''.
262	* StylisticSuck: Brian's art. Dear God, Brian's art: he even doubts his own endeavours from time to time (notably before meeting with former cohort Vulva).
263	--> '''Brian''': I'm doing a lot of work with paint. Big projects with paint. Big... fucking loser.
264	** His portrait of Twist shows he's pretty competent at Cubism, at least Mike recognised who it was straight away (though he did also think it was the real Twist).
265	** Daisy's writing probably qualifies as well, at least early on.
266	* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: Bilbo hires a new employee who looks a lot like Tim. Unfortunately for him, [[BerserkButton he insults]] ''Film/HawkTheSlayer''.
267	* TakingTheBullet, LeapAndFire: Mike does both on a paintball trip, along with many other war tropes, as [[LampshadeHanging the bonus feature subtitles]] attest to.
268	* TheTetrisEffect: In one episode, Tim ends up taking drugs and playing ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil2'' for days. He starts seeing zombies everywhere and ends up punching out Vulva, mistaking him/her for a zombie attempting to attack Brian.
269	* TheThingThatWouldNotLeave: Subverted: Mike moves in for a little while and when he leaves Daisy and Tim are actually disappointed. Though this is at least partially because both of them had lost what little income they had and were kind of hoping he'd help them pay the rent.
270	* ThrowTheDogABone: Mike getting re-admitted into the TA, and later getting promoted over his SitcomArchNemesis. Tim landing his dream job. Brian starting to have some success as an artist.
271	* TookALevelInBadass: Daisy, between series 1 and 2.
272	* {{Troperiffic}}: {{Affectionate Parod\|y}}ies and {{Shout Out}}s by the score in every episode.
273	* TrueArtIsAngsty: InUniverse. Brian's art is completely defined by negative emotions. He later finds that he can't paint when he is happy.
274	* TrueArtIsIncomprehensible: InUniverse.
275	** Brian's friend Vulva performs incomprehensible performance art pieces that he finds ingenious. When Daisy tries her hand at a similarly ridiculous performance, Brian is moved to tears.
276	** Later, Brian and Twist go to an exhibition of paintings that are entirely white.
277	** Except for one single painting (a post-date-with-Twist still-life of some flowers), Brian's entire artistic output is this trope.
278	* TheUnfairSex: Played with; both Sarah and Twist are presented as incredibly thoughtless at best with regards to how they treat Tim and Brian respectively, but both are ultimately presented as unsympathetic and unfair with regards to this. However, Marsha seems to find the idea of Daisy possibly cheating on Tim titillating, whereas [[DoubleStandard the idea of Tim cheating on Daisy disgusts her]]. Daisy also cheated on her long-distance boyfriend Richard during their relationship, which was one of the central reasons why they broke up; while she's not really condemned for it in the same way that the other two are, it's also pretty clearly suggested that Richard was justified in breaking up with her.
279	* TwoScenesOneDialogue: The cold opening for the first season is shot as if Tim and Daisy are having an argument/breakup but in fact it's Tim breaking up with Sarah, intercut with Daisy trying to get rid of a tramp she apparently took home and slept with whilst drunk. Most of it dovetails surprisingly well, but some of it ends to some fairly uncomfortable non-sequiturs
280	--> '''Tim''': Is there somebody else?
281	--> '''Daisy''': Sort of
282	--> '''Tim''': What? Who?
283	--> '''Daisy''': My boyfriend
284	--> '''Tim''': That bastard! I knew it!
285	* VerbedTitle
286	* VideogameCrueltyPotential:
287	-->'''Brian:''' What are you playing?\
288	'''Tim:''' ''VideoGame/TombRaiderIII''.\
289	'''Brian:''' She's drowning.\
290	'''Tim:''' Yeah.\
291	'''Brian:''' Is that the point of the game?\
292	'''Tim:''' It depends what mood you're in really.\
293	'''Brian:''' What sort of mood are you in then?\
294	'''Tim:''' Well, I got a letter from my girlfriend this morning three months too late explaining why she dumped me. It was full of "You'll always be special" and "I'll always love you" platitudes designed to make me feel better while simultaneously appeasing [[TheUnfairSex her deep-seated sense of guilt for running off with a slimy little city boy named Duane]] and [[DespairEventHorizon destroying my faith in everything in the world that is good and pure]].\
295	'''Brian:''' So it didn't really work then.\
296	'''Tim:''' No, it ''made me want to drown things!''
297	* VolleyingInsults:
298	** Tim and Duane, every time they meet.
299	** Sarah.
300	* WomenAreWiser: Generally subverted; while neither Tim nor Daisy are perfect people and each has their flaws, on balance Tim is generally a bit more responsible, focused on his goals and willing to work towards them than the work-shy Daisy.
301	* WorldOfHam
302	* WouldHitAGirl:
303	-->'''Daisy:''' Now hang on, ''boys''. If you think I'm gonna just stand here and watch as you beat up my friend, you've got another thing coming.
304	-->'''Thug:''' Oh, we're gonna beat you up too.

Context Series / Spaced