Peep Show’s favourite characters are set to reunite this Christmas for a highly anticipated TV special, but one key star is missing.
David Mitchell, Olivia Colman, Isy Suttie, Matt King, and Sophie Winkleman will front the Great Peep Show Christmas Bake Off this winter, in a TV amalgamation of comedy and cooking magic.
Unfortunately, it looks like Robert Webb, who played Jeremy “Jez” Usbourne, won’t be joining his co-stars for the festive fun as he wasn’t named among the stars.
Peep Show was a Channel 4 classic that ran for nine seasons between 2003 and 2015, when the cast finally went their separate ways.
The upcoming cooking show will mark the first time since 2015 that the entire cast - minus Jez - will come together on screen.
Fronted by Noel Fielding and Alison Hammond, the show will see the Peep Show cast put their baking skills to the test before being judged by Prue Leith and Paul Hollywood.
According to the Channel 4 announcement: “The group will attempt to whisk, knead and decorate their way to glory with challenges paying homage to Peep Show. But will their culinary creations rise to the occasion, or will they collapse like a poorly-proofed loaf?”
But why? Here’s all we know about his absence.
Why is Robert Webb not doing Bake Off?
Webb appears to be absent from the upcoming Bake Off Christmas special, prompting questions from fans as to why.
Unfortunately, there’s been no official word about why he’s not joining his co-stars.
But the actor and comedian has been tied up with other projects, including the sketch series Mitchell and Webb Are Not Helping, which was released in September.
The Standard has approached a Channel 4 representative for comment, but no reason was provided at the time of publication.
Will Peep Show come back?
Peep Show is a sitcom in its own league, being one of the first to introduce viewers to point of view filming and inner monologues. As a result, its been nominated for 37 awards and won nine.
If anything, it’s a cult classic with a loyal following of millennials who fell in love with Mark and Jez’s
Webb’s absence from the reunion baking show has also raised questions about whether he would return to screens in a Peep Show revival.
But it seems like he still has a close friendship with Mitchell, with whom he stars in the pair’s sketch show.
They’ve also spoken about a potential Peep Show comeback in the past, admitting to NME that they might one day return as older versions of themselves.
“We’ve always said that it would be funny to go back and see them as old men,” Webb told the outlet. “Living in the same flat and having the same arguments… I think probably this side of, shall we say, 70?”
The show’s co-creator Jesse Armstrong has also previously expressed an interest in having the characters return, seeing what they are up to in the current day.
