10 Best One-Off Characters On Peep Show
6. Professor MacLeish
Series 2 Episode 4: University Challenge
As one of the more forgotten characters, Professor MacLeish is low on the pecking order of key elements within this episode. And while I might be giving credit alone to the involvement of Peter Capaldi, his role in this early episode serves to highlight some corners about Jez and Mark's friendship.
When Jez and Mark take a trip back to Dartmouth University (for a gig and a girl respectively), their mischief crosses paths with History thespian Professor MacLeish. From the offset, Mark is enamoured with MacLeish and the harem of students he has cultivated around him. While Mark retakes a life at University he always dreamed of, Jeremy's side story faceplants and it's when he gate-crashes MacLeish's soiree that all three characters lay their cards on the table.
MacLeish is (slightly) outed as an intellectual poser, as Jez' oblivious and ignorant attitude calls out MacLeish for his shallow and false persona as a pseudo-intellectual. And while Mark tries his best to cover up the truth about really being at Dartmouth, we as an audience see the fine line drawn in the sand between Mark's intellect and a University lecturer.
Capaldi does a splendid job as the mentor Mark always needed, and as the intellectual folly to Jeremy, there's a brilliant revelation where we as an audience realise that despite Mark's intelligence, he's closer to Jeremy's wavelength than he thinks. Thanks MacLeish.