Super Hans

Loan manager Mark Corrigan is the owner of the flat that he shares with Jeremy. He is sensible and careful, but often has moments of impulsive and erratic behaviour. He appears to have had a somewhat miserable upbringing, with a domineering father, some infidelity by both parents, and a switch from private to state education. He is a graduate in Business Studies from fictional Dartmouth University, where he met Jeremy. He has a love of history, especially ancient history (which he originally wanted to study at university) and modern military history. Mark is conscious of Jeremy’s intellectual inferiority, but still looks to him for social guidance. Mark is plagued by paranoia as to how others perceive him, and doubts over whether his actions are normal. He is often unable to grasp how modern society operates, and simply endures activities that others seem to enjoy. Mark’s infatuation and relationship with Sophie is a major theme of the first four series. Following their disastrous wedding and break-up, he pursues a series of other women during Series 5, wondering whether each could be “the one”.

A wannabe musician, Jeremy, also known as “Jez”, is a “work-shy freeloader” who is unemployed for most of the series. He is naïve, immature and often selfish, and considers himself very talented and attractive. He tends to be more sociable than Mark, but can sometimes be quite malicious and spiteful. Jeremy is hedonistic and enjoys recreational drugs, as well as casual sex. However, he also becomes emotionally involved in his relationships with Toni, Nancy and Big Suze. Although Jeremy only engages in heterosexual relationships, there are several indications of homosexual desires and experiences, a theme which is discussed by producer Phil Clarke and script editor Ian Morris in their commentary to Episode 4 of Series 3. Like Mark, Jeremy attended Dartmouth University, but his degree classification remains a mystery. It is unclear whether Jeremy’s surname is “Usbourne” or “Osborne” – Channel 4’s official website for the series uses both spellings. However, in episode 5 of series 3, Jeremy’s surname was spelt as “Usbourne” on a letter requiring him to do jury service.

Appearances:
Season 01: 01 02 03 04 05 06
Season 02: 01 02 03 04 05 06
Season 03: 01 02 03 04 05 06
Season 04: 01 02 03 04 05 06
Season 05: 01 02 03 04 05 06

Jeremy’s band-mate and friend, Super Hans likes to think of himself as being superior to others and is an untrustworthy shyster and fantasist. He regularly uses recreational drugs, and experiences a crack cocaine addiction in the second series. His contentious opinions often contradict Jeremy’s own ideas. He works in a recording studio in the first series. At the end of Series 5 he joins a religious cult. Russell Brand originally auditioned for the part.

Appearances:
Season 01: 01 02 03 04 05 06
Season 02: 01 02 03 04 05 06
Season 03: 01 02 03 04 05 06
Season 04: 01 02 03 04 05 06
Season 05: 01 02 03 04 05 06

Sophie is a co-worker and love interest for both Mark and Jeff; she eventually marries Mark, and almost immediately separates from him. She is from a rural background, and a storyline develops where she begins drinking heavily and taking drugs. She is less friendly with, or respected by, their boss Johnson than Mark. As of the end of Series 5, she is pregnant with the child of either Mark or Jeremy.

A loan manager, Alan Johnson (usually referred to and addressed simply as “Johnson”) becomes friends with Mark after meeting him at JLB. Mark was extremely impressed by Johnson, even beginning to question his own sexuality. As of series 2, he became Mark’s boss. Although a smooth, cool and professional businessman and apparently a pillar of the community, he was previously an alcoholic for 15 years. Mark continues to get on well with Johnson despite some upsets. Jeremy by contrast does not, especially after Big Suze leaves Jeremy for him. The DVD commentary to series three episode “Quantocking” reveals that an early draft of the final episode of that series concluded with Johnson committing suicide, though this idea was rejected as being too dark.

Arriving in England from small-town America to escape her conservative upbringing, Nancy is kooky and hedonistic. Her attitude towards love and relationships is very open-minded and is keen to break all the taboos that exist on such matters. She marries Jeremy in series two for visa purposes.

Big Suze lived with Jeremy in a shared flat (which Jeremy nostalgically refers to as the “love shack”) for around a year and a half, prior to the start of the first series of the show. She was often mentioned but did not actually make an appearance until her introduction as a major supporting character in the third series. Suze is incredibly posh, though she appears to want to become more bohemian. She is an actress, but between roles works as a waitress in a café. Jeremy is desperate to get back together with Big Suze, and although they reunite briefly, she later leaves him for Alan Johnson.

Jeff is a Liverpudlian work colleague of Mark’s at JLB Credit and a confident, macho bully. The two repeatedly clash, not least for the attentions of Sophie, who chooses Jeff but leaves him after he continues to chase women. In the later series, as Mark and Sophie’s relationship takes its course, he is frequently seen mocking Mark.

The next-door neighbour of Mark and Jeremy, and an object of their lust throughout the first series of the show. She is separated from her husband Tony at the beginning of Series 1, but the couple reunite during Series 2, although they are still seen arguing. Her father died when she was aged three and she may subconsciously be seeking a “daddy substitute”. She is opinionated and sexually liberal, and engages in casual sex with Jeremy on several occasions. In an early episode, she engages in pyramid selling of cleaning products, but at the end of Series 2 she is shown working as a supervisor in a call centre.