Jeremy Usborne

Jeremy Usborne
Vital statistics
Names	Jeremy Usborne Jez (by friends), Dr. J. (by Mark) Pumpkin, Little Henry Hassle (by mum), Jezebel (by Megan)
Gender	Male
Race	Human
Occupation	life coach, musician, handyman, love butler
Origin	Peep Show Series 1 Episode 1: Warring Factions (September 19, 2003)
Alignment	Mixed
Age	28 years (Series 1) 40 years (Series 9)
Created By	Andrew O'Connor, Jesse Armstrong, Sam Bain, David Mitchell, Robert Webb
Height	178.8cm (5ft 10in)
Weight	Varies

Jeremy "Jez" Usbourne, portrayed by Robert Webb, is one of the main protagonists in the sitcom Peep Show, alongside Mark Corrigan. He is Mark's best friend and flatmate in Croydon, London. A wannabe musician and later a fraudulent life coach, Jez is mostly unemployed throughout the series.

Appearance

Jeremy Usbourne is a tall, slim man with a slightly scruffy appearance. He typically wears casual clothing, often opting for t-shirts with band logos or quirky prints, paired with jeans or trousers. His fashion sense is somewhat disheveled, reflecting his carefree and hedonistic personality. He also sports a somewhat messy, unkempt hairstyle, adding to his overall laid-back, "rockstar" vibe. Jeremy often appears in various states of disarray, whether from his hedonistic lifestyle, lack of a steady job, or his emotional rollercoasters related to his relationships.

Personality

Characterised as a naive, immature, and often selfish "work-shy freeloader," Jez considers himself talented and attractive, despite lacking ambition or success. Sociable and hedonistic, he indulges in recreational drugs, casual sex, and parties. Although he values his friendship with Mark, Jez's behavior can be malicious and self-serving. He has engaged in actions such as bullying Mark, poisoning him to save a party, kissing Sophie, and encouraging Super Hans' drug relapse. Despite his flaws, Jez often provides a contrasting dynamic to Mark's more neurotic personality.

Biography

Jeremy had a turbulent upbringing. His father left when he was 10, and he harbors resentment towards his mother, Jackie, for frequently introducing new boyfriends into his life. Despite their rocky relationship, she continues to support him financially, even calling him "Pumpkin" and topping up his mobile phone. Mark, Jez's flatmate and best friend, has a relatively good rapport with Jackie despite Jez's disrespectful treatment of her.

Jez considers himself a musician, though he rarely practices or performs. Throughout the series, he relies heavily on Mark for financial support, receiving loans, free rent, and occasional money from Jackie. He has held a string of short-lived and often unmotivated jobs, including roles as a music studio receptionist, a call center worker, a legal secretary, a gym employee, and a handyman. He also briefly worked at JLB and with Super Hans in a removal service business. In Series 8, he becomes a self-proclaimed life coach after Mark gifts him a fake certification, claiming to have coached famous individuals, though the truth of these claims is questionable.

Jeremy occasionally attempts to find proper employment, often at the insistence of others, but typically fails interviews or loses the job quickly. His stagnant life is a source of frequent criticism from Mark, though Jez himself seems largely unconcerned.

Jeremy's musical pursuits are often in collaboration with his eccentric friend Super Hans, though Jez is habitually excommunicated from their bands. Despite being a multi-instrumentalist, their musical endeavors often involve more brainstorming of band names than actual rehearsals. Notable names he supported include Danny Dyer's Chocolate Homunculus, Various Artists, 13 Bastards, and Mama's Kumquat.

In matters of relationships and sex, Jeremy is highly experimental and views intimacy as part of his artistic expression. While typically promiscuous, he occasionally develops deep emotional connections, particularly with partners like Big Suze, Nancy, and Elena. His sentimental nature is evident in acts such as sculpting a bust of Elena's head and keeping mementos like Big Suze's personal items.

Jeremy's relationships are predominantly with women, but he has had several same-sex experiences, admitting to Sophie that he has slept with more men than she has (four). In Series 9, he has a romantic encounter with Megan's boyfriend, Joe, prompting him to question his sexuality. While Jeremy ultimately refuses to label himself strictly as gay or straight, his relationship with Joe emerges as one of his healthiest, marked by genuine commitment and mutual respect—qualities often missing in his relationships with women.

Jeremy has been diagnosed with chlamydia twice, once before Series 3 and again in Series 5, allegedly contracted from his partner Paula. He initially avoids informing Big Suze, his then-girlfriend, about the condition. Despite briefly qualifying as a nurse after attending the University of Dartmouth, Jeremy's medical knowledge is minimal. For instance, he is unaware of the side effects of chlamydia when diagnosed in Series 5.

Jeremy hails from Kent and is notably uncultured. His literary repertoire consists only of Mr. Nice and The Book of Bunny Suicides, the latter being a cartoon compilation. He claims to have read Mr. Nice four times, though he admits in Series 9 that he was high each time, leading him to forget the book and repeatedly enjoy it as if it were new.

Trivia:

• In the Series 4 commentary for episode 4, producer Phil Clarke and script editor Ian Morris discuss Jeremy's bisexuality and his sexual identity within the show.
• Although actor Robert Webb confirms that Jeremy's surname is spelled "Usbourne," this spelling appears on a CD in the pilot episode, there have been various misspellings of the name in the series, such as "Osborne," "Osbourne," "Usborne," and "Usbourne." The official Channel 4 website has used both "Usbourne" and "Usborne."
• The inconsistency of his surname is humorously addressed in Series 8 when Mark gives Jeremy a fake life-coach degree, prompting Jez to remark that "Usbourne" is spelled correctly, "with a U and everything."