Mark Corrigan

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Mark Corrigan is a fictional character in the British television show Peep Show, which first aired on Channel 4 in 2003 and remains a cult hit. Mark is played by David Mitchell and was voted the 12th Greatest Comedy Character in a 2007 Channel 4 poll. ^[1]

[edit] Personality

Mark Corrigan is a twenty-something loan manager residing in a flat in London. He attended Exbourne School in Shropshire until his father's British Aerospace shares crashed and he was forced to attend the state-run Fitzalan Comprehensive School. This sudden change from private to state school is believed to have left him somewhat socially damaged. He later attended the fictional Dartmouth University, where he attained a degree in Business Studies. He has a sister, Sarah, a solicitor who shares a great deal of Mark's social shortcomings. Mark is currently living with best friend Jeremy, whom he met at university. Together they sometimes call themselves the "El Dude Brothers"; this name dates back to their days at university, but is now usually only invoked when one of them wants to appeal to the support of the other, against their better judgement.

Unlike the work-shy Jeremy, Mark is conscientious about his job, though his experience of it is dominated by two figures: smooth-talking boss Alan Johnson, who seems to view Mark as something of a malleable protege; and Sophie Chapman. Sophie was originally the object of Mark's rather neurotic affection, although in series three they become a couple and Mark quickly realises his obsession with her was misguided. At the finale of series four, they marry, largely because neither has the strength to admit they want to cancel the engagement. Immediately after the wedding, Sophie has a nervous breakdown and runs from the car screaming "He's horrible!".

Mark is very much a social reject; he is paranoid about nearly everything, thinks too much (usually for the worst) and worries endlessly about wanting to seem normal, something he never quite manages to do. In practice, he spends most of his time obsessing about Sophie or, from series 3 onwards, worrying about his ever-worsening relationship with her.

In Series 1 Episode 4, Mark briefly developed a homosexual crush on Alan Johnson, then only a visiting speaker. In an effort to explore this previously undiscovered side of his personality, Mark rented some gay pornography and eventually came to the conclusion that he was "possibly bi, but basically un-curious." Alan has since become Mark's boss and Mark is still paranoid about his potential to have feelings for Alan.

Unsurprisingly Mark is highly sexually frustrated, and also apparently somewhat repressed; he is disgusted by Jeremy's licentious views (if not always practice) on easy women and kinky sexual behaviour. At first his sexual anxiety was partly a result of a testicular hydrocele, about which he also became paranoid, but the swelling was reduced by surgery. Nevertheless, his fear that women will be unimpressed with his genitals, remains firmly in place.

Politically, as well as in his nature, Mark appears to be primarily relatively conservative, particularly being a proponent of free market and consumer capitalism. He has frequently defended the use of monetary policy as a tool for the benefit of society rather than a "conspiracy". Interestingly though, he has shown more liberal traits, such as scepticism of the Iraq war and in season five expressed an admiration for Paddy Ashdown, former leader of the Liberal Democrats. A running gag is Mark's tendency to think a woman is "the one" and find out he has no feelings for them. Mark also has a habit of thinking minor details and items will ruin or improve his life.

[edit] Interests

Mark's biggest interest is history, in particular ancient history and the Second World War. He often references Nazi history and Adolf Hitler, once played a Nazi soldier in a re-enactment and is a fan of classic war films such as Das Boot. It is implied that his grandfather died in the Second World War^[2]. Mark sometimes spends his spare time on Second World War-related activities, such as playing the computer games Blitzkrieg (he is seen playing it on the side of the Nazis in series 3) and Medal of Honour. He also read the book Stalingrad which was first revealed after an encounter with a group of young boys (aged about 9 or 10) who called him a "paedo" in the street. He later quoted from the same book in a disastrous attempt to seduce next-door neighbour Toni. He is an avid amateur historian, having always regretted not taking Ancient History as opposed to Business Studies at university, to the extent that he briefly attends history lectures at his former university despite not being a registered student, and is amazed at how easy it is to "steal some education".

[edit] References