Coupling (British TV series)

Coupling
Coupling intertitle (series 1 – 3)
Created by	Steven Moffat
Starring	Jack Davenport Gina Bellman Sarah Alexander Kate Isitt Ben Miles Richard Coyle Richard Mylan
Opening theme	Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps (Vocals by Mari Wilson)
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	4
No. of episodes	28 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Beryl Vertue (series 1 – 3) Geoffrey Perkins (series 1 – 2) Sophie Clarke-Jervoise (series 3 – 4)
Producer	Sue Vertue
Running time	30 minutes
Original release
Network	BBC Two (Series 1 – 3) BBC Three (Series 4)
Release	12 May 2000 – 14 June 2004
Related
Joking Apart

Coupling is a British television sitcom written by Steven Moffat that aired on BBC2 from May 2000 to 2004. Produced by Hartswood Films for the BBC, the show centres on the dating and sexual adventures and mishaps of six friends in their thirties, often depicting the three women and the three men each talking amongst themselves about the same events, but in entirely different terms.

The series was inspired by the relationship between writer Steven Moffat and producer Sue Vertue to the extent that they lend their names to two of the characters.

The show debuted to unimpressive ratings, but its popularity soon increased and by the end of the third series the show had achieved decent ratings in the UK. The series began airing on PBS stations and on BBC America in the United States in late 2002 and quickly gained a devoted fanbase there as well. The show is syndicated around the world. An American adaptation of the sitcom was briefly produced in 2003.

Inception

Moffat had used the breakdown of his first marriage as inspiration for his 1990s sitcom Joking Apart. Retaining this semi-autobiographical trend, Coupling was based on him meeting his wife, Sue Vertue, and on the issues that arise in new relationships. He met Vertue, a television producer who had worked on Mr. Bean, at the Edinburgh Television Festival in 1996. When she eventually asked him for a sitcom, he decided to base it around the evolution of their own relationship. Drunk one evening, he went into her office, wrote the word "Coupling" on a sheet of paper and told her to ask him about it later.

The couple formed the basis for the main characters Steve and Susan. The four other characters are prior relationships and the best friends of Steve and Susan; they represent the extremes of confidence and paranoia between the sexes when it comes to relationships. The two main characters are left to negotiate their own relationship as illuminated by these extremes. "Inferno" was written shortly after Vertue had found a similar tape in the VCR, although Moffat added the 'spanking' element as he "didn't think the real tape was quite pervy enough.'"

The series has made use of techniques that are unconventional in sitcoms, such as split screen and non-linear narratives. The style of the programme is sometimes farce, but by using non-linear narratives it is farce in a way not achievable on the stage.

Main cast

• Steve Taylor – played by Jack Davenport
• Jane Christie – played by Gina Bellman
• Susan Walker – played by Sarah Alexander
• Sally Harper – played by Kate Isitt
• Patrick Maitland – played by Ben Miles
• Jeff Murdock – played by Richard Coyle (Series 1 – 3)
• Oliver Morris – played by Richard Mylan (Series 4)

Characters

Coupling is almost entirely based around the antics of the six main characters. Coupling features no recurring characters that last beyond a few episodes. In the series, "the women are mainly confident and sexually quite voracious, whilst the blokes are completely useless, riddled with self doubt and awkwardness."

Steve Taylor - Best friend to Jeff, boyfriend/fiancé of Susan and ex-long-term partner of Jane, Steve is skilled at saying the exact wrong thing at the wrong time. (While dating Susan, an attractive woman asked him if he had a girlfriend and he said 'no' -- "I meant to say 'yes,' I just missed by one word.") His inability to handle pressure often leads to humorous and hugely inappropriate responses. Despite this, Steve has some common sense and often refutes the seemingly ridiculous things Jeff and Patrick come up with. Despite his flaws, he means well but always seems to lose control of the situation. No reference is made to Steve's job during the series, but in a DVD commentary, Moffat mentions that Steve is, like him, a writer. At least once per series, Steve goes off on a long rant explaining a difference of perspective between the sexes. In series 4, he has a baby boy with Susan.

The name "Steve Taylor" is very similar to "Steven Taylor", a 1960s regular character from Doctor Who, a series Moffat was a fan of and would later go on to write for. Moffat explained that although he was aware of the Doctor Who connection, the "Steve" was chosen because the character was based upon himself, and the "Taylor" to suggest a thematic link to the character of Mark Taylor in his earlier sitcom Joking Apart.

Susan Walker - Best friend to Sally, girlfriend/fiancée to Steve and ex-girlfriend of Patrick, Susan is one of Jeff's co-workers. Susan is usually very sensible and organised, a fact often resented by her friends Sally and Jane. Susan can be very insecure and often takes this out on Steve. Whilst cross she will generally say "apparently," a habit first noted in the first series episode "Inferno," and henceforth mentioned throughout the rest of the series by other characters. Steve and Susan's various arguments and differences of opinion make up a majority of the comic exchanges between them. Susan is a successful career woman, speaks French fluently, and takes her work life very seriously. Whilst Susan's job is never directly referred to, she works alongside Jeff, an accountant, and she reveals she has a degree in Economics. In series 4, she has a baby boy with Steve.

Jeff Murdock (Series 1 to 3) - Best friend to Steve and co-worker to Susan, whom he has dated once. Jeff's constant sexual frustration, ridiculous stories and fantasies about women and sex make up a major part of the comedy. Jeff is terrible at talking to women, often stumbling and unintentionally making up lie upon lie in an attempt to avoid looking stupid. These always backfire on him. He is known for a fondness for the word "breasts", often muttering it during conversations. From titbits he occasionally lets slip, it appears that his problems can largely be traced back to his eccentric and domineering mother (who appears in 2.8, "Naked", played by Anwen Williams). Jeff works as an accountant in an office with Susan, and it is through him that Steve and Susan initially meet.

Sally Harper - Best friend to Susan (and girlfriend to Patrick by series 4), Sally is obsessed with her own appearance and constantly worries about the effects of aging and life in general on her looks. Her worst fear seems to be of dying alone, but she seems totally inept at relationships due to her frequent paranoia which tends to make her out as a very mean spirited woman. Sally runs her own beauty parlour and is a successful businesswoman, but out of the entire group, she is the most insecure and resentful. A Labour supporter, she finds it difficult to reconcile this with her attraction to Patrick, a Tory.

Patrick Maitland - Ex-boyfriend to Susan (and Sally's boyfriend by series 4), Patrick has a one-track mind: sex. This gives him a very narrow view of women, but he is great at courting them. Frequent references are made to his rather large penis; Susan nicknames him "donkey" and "tripod," sparking much of Sally's initial interest in him despite her other objections. He is very good at getting women to bed, and cannot comprehend meeting a woman and not screwing her. It is revealed in the fourth season that he generally leaves in middle of the night. In one episode it's revealed that unbeknownst to him, a woman from his past made a vibrator from a plaster cast of Patrick's erect penis and marketed as the Junior Patrick; the box clearly has a 10-inch measurement on the side when seen later in the episode. Patrick's love of the ladies often backfires, and the series frequently features story lines about his possessive lovers and ex-lovers. Patrick is a successful businessman and is very competitive with others in the same business, but he does have a vague sense of loyalty to his friends. He collects videos of nights with his girlfriends in his rather large "cupboard of love." Despite his Tory political leanings, the character is not to be confused with the real-life Patrick Maitland, the 17th Earl of Lauderdale, who served as a Conservative MP between 1951 and 1959.

Jane Christie - Ex-long-time partner of Steve, Jane is very possessive, and despite breaking up with Steve in the first episode, she never truly seems to let go. Jane has a problem talking to men, often coming on much too strong and appearing desperate or rude to others in her pursuit of a man. Her character also seems to not be too bright, and perhaps even disturbed. In the fourth season, everyone starts referring to her as being "mad." Jane claims to be bisexual, although we have never actually seen her date a woman. Susan time and again expresses skepticism, so this claim may be a ploy to entice men. However, Susan (for her own reasons) makes out with Jane in the fourth series and Jane seems to be overwhelmed but enjoys it. However, her claim is also successfully challenged by Oliver Morris in the fourth series, where he points out that she is indeed not bisexual. Jane works in a local radio station as a traffic reporter, and is popular mainly due to her flirty nature and sexually explicit reports. She was once briefly fired for telling all the drivers to close their eyes to centre themselves and changing the names of streets for her own amusement, among other things, but was re-hired due to her popularity.

Oliver Morris (Series 4) - Oliver is introduced in the fourth series and eventually becomes involved with Jane. He runs a local science fiction media store called "Hellmouths" and has been out of a relationship for several months. Oliver often has a very cynical outlook, but is prone to accidents, often making a fool of himself in the process. He is sometimes shown gearing himself up to meet women and have sex by thinking to himself, which we can hear. The geekiness of his job is also used for comic effect. Oliver also seems to have inherited Jeff's inability to talk to women, however, unlike Jeff he believes himself to be a ladies man, or in his thoughts word's "a woman-killer, I mean lady-killer..."

Other characters

Julia Davis - Julia (Lou Gish), appears in five episodes spanning over series 2 and 3. She first appears in Naked, as the new whore in the office where Jeff and Susan work. Julia and Jeff soon fall for each other due to their shared inability to hold a reasonable conversation with a member of the opposite sex. Despite overcoming the inevitable troubles with each other, their relationship ends when Julia's ex, Joe, a soldier returns from the front line believing Julia to still be his girlfriend. After finding Julia chained to the bed in her room dressed in bondage gear, Joe attacks Jeff. In the final episode of series 3, Jeff explains that Julia and Joe have left together to discover their feelings for each other, in Bolton.

Tamsin - Tamsin (Olivia Caffrey) is Oliver's Irish ex-girlfriend, who left him for unknown reasons around six months prior to the beginning of the fourth series, and has since become pregnant by another man, with whom she has now split. She befriends Susan at an antenatal class. Tamsin and Oliver seem to have a sour relationship with each other, as is shown over the three episodes in which she features.

James - James (Lloyd Owen) appears in three episodes of series three. He hosts the religious programme at the radio station where Jane works, and Jane pretends to have an interest in religion in order to become his girlfriend. Jane is devastated to find he does not believe in sex before marriage, and even more so to find that he had a fervent sex life before finding God, which included a night with Susan. He leaves on a trip to Germany at the end of The Freckle, the Key, and the Couple who Weren't, and returns in Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps, just as Jane is expressing her amazement that the many sexual encounters she has had while he was away have not made her pregnant ("I have shagged and shagged and shagged and all the little bastards missed!") At this point Jane decides she is better off without him.

Episodes

Main article: List of Coupling episodes

Reception

The sitcom has often been criticised as being a 'British version of Friends.' However, in interviews Steven Moffat has cited Seinfeld as being more of an inspiration and this can be seen in some aspects of unusual plotting and character interaction.

Four series of Coupling were produced for the BBC. The programme was thought to have ended when the American network NBC began work on an American adaptation, which NBC was reportedly hoping to position as a replacement for Friends. Unlike most American adaptations, this show was intended to be a word-for-word duplicate of the British version, except that it was shortened to allow for the shorter running time of North American 'half hour' shows. The programme was attacked in the press long before the first episode aired, because it was more sexually explicit than typical American television. The US version was cancelled after airing just four episodes. It starred Rena Sofer and Sonya Walger, among others. Gina Bellman, who plays Jane in the British series, made a cameo appearance in the first episode of the American adaptation of Coupling.

In 2004, the fourth series started screening on BBC Three, and on BBC2 a few months later. Richard Coyle (who played Jeff) did not appear in the fourth series, and was replaced by Richard Mylan as a new character called Oliver. Richard Coyle did not want to continue in the role and therefore quit. The BBC approached Moffat about writing a fifth series, but other commitments made it impossible to gather the cast. Moffat moved on to write acclaimed episodes for the revived science fiction series Doctor Who. Many fans of the series were angered that Jeff was no longer in the fourth series, and Richard Mylan has said in interview that it took a long time for people to accept his character.

Some fans of the programme were disappointed that the eventual fates of the characters was never made clear, and Steven Moffat provided some short storyline "conclusions" on the website Outpost Gallifrey.

The DVD releases of all four series are currently available in the UK, US, Israel, Canada, Australia, Germany, Portugal, Belgium and Turkey.

External links

• Coupling at bbc.co.uk
• Coupling at IMDb
• Coupling at British Sitcom Guide
• Coupling at Phill.co.uk Comedy Guide
• Extensive quotes especially from Jeff's monologues