The theme song from Peep Show is "Flagpole Sitta" by Harvey Danger. This song appears from the second series and following series.
'Peep Show' was originally set to be called 'POV', after the show's Point-of-view perspective. The idea however was scrapped as writers Jesse Armstrong and Sam Bain felt that the title would make the show sound 'too gimmicky'.
The actors sometimes wear 'camera helmets' to get close-ups and actions that can't be done with a normal camera.
In the first two series, the flat scenes were filmed in a real flat in Zodiac Court, Croydon (renamed as Apollo House in the show). However before series 3 began shooting the owners of the flat demanded more money and the producers decided to film the flat scenes in a studio with a set replicating the flat interior. Since then this is how the flat scenes have been filmed, with exterior shots of Zodiac Court tower block used as inserts between scenes. The studio for series 3 and 4 was a former carpet warehouse in Neasden, for series 5 and 6 a disused army barracks in Mill Hill was used and series 7 was filmed in the former studio of the now-cancelled The Bill (UK) in Merton.
Jeremy and Super Hans constantly change the name of their band from episode to episode. In "The Interview" Super Hans says it's called The Hair Blair Bunch or Spunk Bubble, Jeremy says it's Momma's Kumquat, in "University Challenge" it's Coming Up For Blair, in "Holiday" it's Various Artists ("to fuck over people with iPods") and in "Jeremy's Manager" it's Curse These Metal Hands. In "Man Jam", they join a band called Man Feelings. Jeremy gets kicked out of it but when he gets a job working for Ben's website he promises to get them featured on it on the condition they change their name to Danny Dyer's Chocolate Homunculus. In "Jeremy Therapised" Super Hans decide to officially end the band but neither of them can remember what it's called, Jeremy guesses it's 13 Bastards.
The camouflage jacket that Jeremy wears throughout the series is a US military design.
With very few exceptions (and apart from establishing shots of locations at the beginning of scenes) every shot is from a character's point of view (as if the viewer is seeing things through their eyes). Also, every single scene features either Mark or Jeremy, if not both.
Super Hans was originally written with Danny Dyer in mind. Russell Brand also auditioned for the part and Jake Wood was one of the final three before Matt King was cast.
Throughout the series, Mark has a large, modern flatscreen television in his lounge (although different models have been used), however a 2009 Guardian interview with David Mitchell, which was held in his flat, revealed that his own television was an old, long-obsolete model which couldn't even show teletext. Mitchell said he felt a certain pride in that it still worked fine and that "fear of change, laziness and busyness" was the reason he hadn't upgraded his home and its contents to something more befitting of his success as a comedian.
Like Mark and Jeremy, comedy duo David Mitchell and Robert Webb (Mitchell and Webb) met at university. Although they went to Cambridge, Mark and Jeremy went to the fictional (and probably much less prestigious) University of Dartmouth.
In an interview for The Culture Show Uncut (UK)Jesse Armstrong and Sam Bain said that two of the main inspirations for Peep Show were the scene in Annie Hall where Alvy and Annie are talking and their real thoughts are shown as subtitles, and also the documentary "Being Caprice" (2000) (which in turn was inspired by Being John Malkovich), which used a POV style of filming that they thought was an arresting technique which would go well with the inner thoughts/voice-overs of Mark and Jeremy. They also cited Danny in Withnail & I as an inspiration for the quirky, drug-addled Super Hans (also the dynamic of an even weirder third character alongside a double act).
Other influences were the American comic "Hate" and Seinfeld (Bain has said "There's probably a bit of George Costanza's DNA in Mark Corrigan")
In the pub scene where Super Hans is speaking to Jeremy, Hans mentions people like Mark 'clicking their fingers to the Lighthouse Family'. Earlier in the episode, while Mark is entering the bus, we hear he is listening to 'Ocean Drive' by The Lighthouse Family.
Toni's flat is actually the same flat as the one used for Mark and Jeremy's, the production team just redecorated it.
The painter referred to as "God" by Mark and Jez is actually from the American show The Joy of Painting hosted by painter Bob Ross, which ran on PBS from 1983-1994.
So far this is the only episode of Peep Show that has been given an 18 certificate by the BBFC, consequently the Series 1 DVD is labelled with the 18 logo. This is because of the gay porn video featured in it.
Like Mark, in real life David Mitchell does not have a driving licence.
On the Series 2 DVD (Region 2 UK), the title for this episode is "The Commission".
In real life, there is no University of Dartmouth. The closest official universities to Dartmouth are the University of Plymouth and the University of Exeter.
This episode features a character called Sam who is a Buddhist. Writer/Co-Creator Sam Bain is a Buddhist.
The Mitre Tavern, which is used as the setting for the pub that Merry hands over to Jeremy and Super Hans, has been closed since 1999.
When Mark and Jez are at Mary's flat and she's beginning to show signs of a mental breakdown, Mary tells Mark, "My bone's got a little machine." This line is taken from the song "Bone Machine" by the alternative rock band the Pixies, which opens their 1988 album "Surfer Rosa."
While on the arcade dance machine with Big Suze, Mark thinks "She's probably got a title, she's just too modest to say." In real life, Sophie Winkleman later married Lord Frederick Windsor (son of Prince Michael of Kent, a cousin of the Queen) in 2009, thus she is allowed to use the title Lady Frederick Windsor, however she has said she doesn't plan to use it.
The Crown in Chalfont St. Giles, where Mark and Sophie have dinner, was used as the setting for Captain Mainwaring's bank in Dad's Army.
The scene where Mark and Jeremy go looking for Sophie in the Quantock Hills was actually filmed somewhere in the Chilterns, probably in the Buckinghamshire region since two other locations in that county are used. None of this episode was filmed in the Quantocks, which are 100 miles away from London in Somerset.
The first draft for this episode was very different to the final draft. It started with Johnson about to get married to Toni, taking her exes on his stag weekend and afterwards starting to drink again (he's a former alcoholic). Mark and Sophie go to Paris for a weekend, coincidently Jeremy and Nancy also go there to keep up the charade of their marriage to fool the Home Office. Toni leaves Johnson and it ends with the news that he has committed suicide. For various reasons this story was scrapped, although lines and other elements from it are in the finished episode.
As the thieves are leaving with Mark and Jeremy's TV, one says to Mark "Fuck off, clean-shirt." He is played by the same actor who played the tormenting little hooligan kid who calls Mark "Clean Shirt" in the first ever episode. It's possible this could be the same character, grown up.
The comic that Dobby is reading while having lunch is 'Viz', the long running British adult comic with risqué gags and crude toilet humour. The pages she is looking at show an episode of The Fat Slags, one of Viz's most well-known comic strips.
Two scenes involve Jeremy looking at the picture of the famous English composer Edward Elgar printed on a £20 note. As of 1st July 2010, Elgar £20 notes have been withdrawn from circulation and are no longer legal tender, having been replaced by a new design featuring the 18th century economist Adam Smith, which was introduced in 2007.
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