UK Comedy Coupling

This page contains information on 'Coupling', the hit BBC TV sitcom. It contains some useful information on the various series, DVD and video releases, a brief episode listing, and some useful links. Please visit our new Coupling forum and get talking about the series.

"Coupling" first hit screens in the UK on the 12th of March 2000, being transmitted at 9:30pm on BBC2. The first episode, 'Flushed', was watched by 2.6 million people. As the series contains a mix of observed comedy, and adult humour, the show fast became a success, having struck a chord with many TV viewer who can relate to at least one of the characters. The series was taken up by NBC in the US in 2003 - This page is dedicated to the original UK episodes.

For those that don't know the series... find a copy and watch it! A description doesn't do it justice. If we had to categorise the show, I guess it's a mix of Friends-with-edge (six thirty-somethings), Game On (sexual themes) and Men Behaving Badly (male attitudes). Essentially set around the successes and failure of the six character's sex lives, a few new concepts get introduced to us early on... such as the 'Giggle Loop' (the harder you try not to laugh, the more you want to), 'Porn Buddies'(a friend who, on hearing of your death, will clear the porn out of your house before your parents get round), and 'Unflushable' ex-girlfriends. Funniest scene has to be Steve at a dinner party forced into justifying his favourite porn film as art, rather than a "lesbian spank inferno". Oh, and Jeff trying to score with an Israeli girl without the aid of an interpreter (he doesn't collect ears in a bucket...)

Coupling is written by Steven Moffat and produced by his wife, Sue Vertue, and the fact that the two lead characters, Steve and Susan, share the same name, may indicate something about the origins of the series. As Steven says in a BBC press release, "Like most writers, I write about what has recently happened to me. I wanted to explore the idea that when two people get together they bring all sorts of other people with them – their exes, their best friends.A little community forms around the couple.That was happening to me, so I wrote about it. The result is a post-watershed sitcom about chatting in bars and kitchens and getting close to just the sort of people you think you ought to hate... all the characters are a little bit of me – although I like to think I'm a little more successful with the opposite sex than Jeff is – and, in fact, I've got a baby son to prove it!".

2004 saw the series enter its fourth season, with the fanbase growing all the time. Richard Coyle, the actor playing Jeff,opted to leave after Series 3, and a new character, Oliver (a love interest for Jane) subsequently appeared.

Coupling's main characters are:
Steve Taylor (Jack Davenport, "This Life")
Jane Christie (Gina Bellman, "Silent Trigger")
Susan Walker (Sarah Alexander, "The Strangerers", "Smack the Pony", "Green Wing" )
Sally Harper (Kate Isitt, "Is it Legal?")
Patrick Maitland(Ben Miles, "Peak Practise", "Cold Feet")
Jeff Murdock (Richard Coyle, "Lorna Doone", "Strange") Series 1 - 3
Oliver Morris (Richard Mylan) Series 4 onwards

Writer: Steven Moffat ("Joking Apart", "Chalk", "Press Gang")
Producer: Sue Vertue (Vicar of Dibley, Mr Bean)
Director: Martin Dennis (Men Behaving Badly)
Executive Producer: Beryl Vertue (Men Behaving Badly)
Produced by: Hartswood Films, Twickenham, UK

As the series was first aired on BBC2 against Channel 4's rating-grabbing comedy Friday night, Coupling was missed by many. The first series was shown on Friday nights on BBC2 in mid-2000. Series 2 started in September 2001 (Monday at 10pm on BBC2) with nine episodes, not 6 as in Series 1.

Coupling News

Please take a look at our Coupling forum

Series summary

Below is a short guide to the various series of Coupling showing in the UK:

Series 1 (May 2000)	1. Flushed - The classic dilemma... how to dump the 'unflushable' girlfriend. The gang meet up for the first time in a restuarant for the date from hell... a six-some including best friends, an ex-girlfriend, and two ex-boyfriends. 2. Size Matters - Steve discovers the terror of phoning a girl and not knowing what to say, Jeff explains about the sock gap, and we find out why Susan's remote controls never work. 3. Sex, Death and Nudity - The friends encounter the 'giggle loop' at Jane's Aunt's funeral 4. Inferno - A classic. After Susan discovers some of Steve's porn, he's cornered at a dinner party to explain that "Lesbian Spank Inferno" is a work of art. 5. The Girl with Two Breasts - We've all been there... chatting up a girl in a bar, telling her how you collect girls ears in a bucket. Lucky then, that she can't speak a word of English. Thanks to a recent site visitor for providing the correct spelling of the Hebrew word for breast... 'Shadayim'. 6. The Cupboard of Patrick's Love - Patrick's a cunning chap... he's managed to videotape his conquests, and his cupboard is bulging. Sally wants to get into the cupboard collection, and Susan wants to get out...
Series 2 (Sep 2001)	1. The Man with Two Legs - Classic Jeff in action. After plucking up the courage to talk to a girl on the train, he fakes a leg amputation. Implausible? Maybe, but without it, we'd never have heard the best line ever... "I've got the keys to paradise, but I've got too many legs". 2. My Dinner in Hell - Patrick discovers he's been reproduced in plastic, and Susan's parents discover that Steve's a whistler. 3. Her Best Friend's Bottom - Steve gets a glimpse at naked Sally, and "little Patrick" has some performance issues 4. The Melty Man Cometh - Continued from the last episode... impotence advice from the boys eventually solves the problem 5. Jane and the Truth Snake - Jane goes 'odd' after getting sacked (socked?) from her job in a traffic helicopter, and Patrick manages to convince his new girlfriend that a threesome is the way to go 6. Gotcha - One year on, Susan's expecting a proposal. Will telling Steve that she'd like to eat lesbians in their uniforms do the trick? 7. Dressed - Jane discovers what to do when you arrive naked at a dinner party, and Patrick's pretend wife Sally just isn't blonde enough. Jeff's too busy with his torch to get involved 8. Naked - Jeff finally finds love, in the form of work boss Julia (Lou Gish). When she lures him into the boardroom for a Birthday surprise, it's not what he expected. "Oh Jeffrey..." 9. The End of the Line - A clever, clever end to the last series. An episode full of French bitches, and an Australia full of Susan's ex-lovers. Swapping phone numbers is never a good idea.
Series 3 (Sep 2002)	1. Split - Steve and Susan split up, and make their way to the Temple of Woman 2. Faithless - Jeff encounters Wilma (Emilia Fox) in the stationery cupboard, and hopes she's forgotten about the photocopier incident, while Jane tries to get lucky with the deeply religious James (Lloyd Owen) 3. Unconditional Sex - Wilma wants to "borrow" Jeff for some fun. Sally tells Susan about "Man Test" and Steve compares his relationship to the Cold War 4. Remember this? - How Patrick (aka Spiderman) and Sally first met. Will they get it together?5. The Freckle, the Key and the Couple Who Weren't - Steve worries about a mysterious freckle, and Susan's concerned that Jane's aware of it. 6. The Girl with one heart - Jane has her heart set on the new pizza guy, and Sally receives an unexpected advance. 7. Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps - Patrick and Sally get their feelings out in the open, and can we hear a tiny patter? Last in the series, transmitted 4th Nov 2002
Series 4 (May 2004)	Series 4 started on digital TV channel BBC3 on Monday 10th May 2004, with a run on BBC2 expected in July. BBC3 is available on Sky and Freeview. Sadly, the series doesn't feature Jeff (as Richard Coyle has decided not to be a part of the 4th series), but features a new character, Oliver. 1. Nine and a half minutes - Jeff's off the scene, and we're introduced to Jane's date Oliver - three times"Arial, Verdana" 2. Night Lines - Steve's execution nightmares are getting worse (firing squad and jelly babies!) - we're also introduced to the phone call that never dies, and get another peek into Patrick's cupboard 3. Bed time - Answering the two eternal questions... Why do women like to snuggle like hairy inquisitive sex octopuses, and why isn't Patrick allowed to go home? 4. Circus of the Epidurals - A surprise reunion at the ante-natal class brings the spank inferno dinner from hell flooding back to Steve. Bring on the string quartet... 5. The Naked Living Room - Oliver's living room has lost the battle with pornography. Will Jane disapprove 6. Nine and a half months - Jeff makes a reappearance (well, in a way), to help Steve through the joys of childbirth, and Sally's determined to find out if Jane's on tape in Patrick's cupboard...
Series 5	In early February 2005, series creator Steven Moffat recently posted in GallifreyOne, a Doctor Who forum, stating that the BBC had asked him to work on a fifth series, but getting the cast together "just got too difficult". He also stated that he felt that he'd "finished the story with the last one" and "that it was a good note to go out on". One small ray of hope - he mentioned that the team would be working on a Christmas Special. Discuss in our forum...

Coupling on DVD and video

Series 1: The DVD and video of Series 1 were released in September 2001. You can order the DVD or the video from Amazon, or from the BBC shop. Click here for reviews.

Series 2: The DVD and video of Series 2 was released on 23rd September 2002. Order the DVD or the video from Amazon, or from the BBC shop.

Series 3: The DVD and video of Series 3 was released on 22nd September 2003. As well as all seven episodes, the Series 3 DVD contains the following:

• Audio commentary from Jack Davenport (Steve) and writer Steven Moffat
• Compliation of a couple of dozen outtakes from the recording of Series 3
• A feature including interviews with the cast.
• Unfilmed script extracts

Order the DVD (containing two discs) or the video from Amazon, or from the BBC shop .

Series 4: Now available. The DVD of Series 4 was released on the 16th August 2004. As well as all six episodes (no Jeff!), the Series 4 DVD contains the following:

• "From Script to Screen" - Behind the scenes of Series 4 (40 mins)
• Compliation of ten minutes of outtakes from the recording of Series 3

Order the DVD from Amazon, or from the BBC shop.

For details of when you can next see an episode of Coupling on a UK TV channel, give the DigiGuide TV listings service a try. For more on DigiGuide, see our Digiguide page.

Coupling links:

Mailing list: Radio and Telly - Stay up to date with changes to this site, plus Coupling announcements

Coupling in Germany - Unofficial German Coupling site

Coupling FAQ:

The theme tune, "Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps", is by Simon Brint and is performed by Mari Wilson. Thanks to a site visitor for adding that the theme is in fact a Latin Jazz standard, originally "Quizas, Quizas, Quizas" and popularized by Nat King Cole.

The Coupling theme tune is available on CD, on the Mari Wilson Platinum collection - available from Amazon.co.uk.

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