Stay with us on this: Peep Show's Super Hans is essentially a 21st century Trigger. We're not bringing his IQ or recall for names into question, just like we're not claiming Trigger has a fondness for red snakes and thinks of crack as "moreish".
Still with us? The trait they share is being superior comedic support for the greatest sitcoms of their retrospective generations and an undeniable treat each time they grace our screens.
So with a seventh series of Peep Show looming (November 26), we caught up with Matt King to find out his greatest moments of the show thus far.
"I like this scene because he [Hans] is off the wall. It was filmed in the early days and I think David Mitchell and Robert Webb were still a bit scared of me. I wasn’t taking actual drugs it was more my background. They didn’t understand me and the world I came from, our backgrounds are different. I didn’t go to university, I’ve worked on building sites, I’m quite a straight shooter and I think that freaked them out a bit. But we’ve been working together for eight years now and got used to each other’s ways."
"When Jeremy is hidden upstairs in the church, listening to Mark’s pre-wedding doubts, he wets himself. It’s bizarre but very funny. Aside from this I loved the whole episode because I got to snog Rachel Blanchard (Nancy in the show), pretend kissing mind you, but hours and hours of lip-to-lip contact nonetheless. They ended up barely using the shot if I remember."
The mushrooming session
"I enjoyed my character talking Big Suze through her first mushrooming experience. Super Hans is the worst person on earth to talk anyone through a freak-out. He tried to reassure her that she shouldn’t freak out because it was quite normal and what she was going to experience was terrifying and sh*t. It was the reverse comforting that I found so hilarious. I think people can relate to those people who tell them ‘It’s going to be okay’ and then also add ‘It’s not going to be okay’."
Breaking a bathroom door
"My number one Peep Show moment so far is in season three (episode three) when Super Hans kicks the bathroom door off its hinges because he’s locked in and gets freaked. His dad used to lock him in the airing cupboard to monitor the home brew, you see. During filming, I got to kick that door off its hinges about six times and it was just brilliant. The energy I had was very powerful."
"This is when Mark met Daryl, who was a WW2 re-enactment fan at weekends but was obviously a massive racist. I’m not going to repeat what he said but he basically complained about what he perceives as wrong in Britain, starting off with something innocuous and ending on something incredibly racist. It’s just a very stupid scene. He was actually played by Steve Edge, who I didn’t know until we met on the show and now we’ve become good mates. We’re even writing a script together at the moment."
Peep Show returns on November 26. Matt King also stars in Whites , the brilliant sitcom which will be available on DVD 22 November courtesy of ITV STUDIOS Home Entertainment.
