It’s the collaboration you never knew you needed: Peep Show and, um, The Great British Bake Off.
That’s right. Two beloved Channel 4 franchises have merged with a splat and the result is a rather special festive treat for us this year.
Peep Show, of course, is the hit sitcom founded by Jesse Armstrong, Sam Bain and Andrew O’Connor and starring David Mitchell and Robert Webb as Mark and Jez, two hapless twenty (or thirty)-somethings attempting to get to grips with little things like life, romance and money from their flat in Croydon.
The show quickly gained a cult following for its nihilistic look on life: as Bain said, it ended up portraying "the stubborn persistence of human suffering", as well as the question of "why ordinary people are evil.”
Armstrong, meanwhile, has said it’s "about oddball male friendship, perhaps even ‘masculinity’”.
Though it never had high ratings during its run, it has gone on to be regarded as a classic, scooping several Bafta Awards during its time on air and being nominated for several more. After nine seasons, this year marks a decade since it finally went off-air in 2015 – and to mark the occasion, a few of the show’s stars seem to have been convinced to enter the Bake Off tent.
While Robert Webb isn’t there, David Mitchell, Olivia Colman (who played Mark’s love interest Sophie), Isy Suttie (who played Mark’s other love interest, Dobby), Matt King (Super Hans) and Sophie Winkleman (Big Suze) have reunited for the event.
According to Channel 4, they’ll be tackling a series of seasonal baking challenges under the watchful eyes of judges Prue Leith and Paul Hollywood, as well as the hosts Noel Fielding and Alison Hammond.
On the menu? Well, as befitting the theme, they’ll be taking on the show’s customary challenges – the Signature, Technical and Showstopper – all while paying homage to Peep Show.
Quite how they’re going to be doing that remains to be seen, but one thing’s for sure: it’ll be fine, it'll be totally fine. Que sera, sera. Whatever will be will be. The future's not ours to see.
