Peep Show: Four reasons why Super Hans may be the greatest comic sidekick ever

“Plumbing’s just lego innit? Water Lego”

Peep Show has absolutely refined the art of creating the perfect set of loveable bastards. Both Mark and Jez, let's be honest, are pretty bad people when it comes down to it. But somehow,again and agani, we find ourselves throwing ourselves behind them again as they embark on yet another doomed adventure.

Leagues and leagues ahead of these two in the bastard stakes however, is one of the most horrible, most loveable characters on TV. None other, of course, than Super Hans.

Yes, he throws Jeremy off a stage a few times. Yes, he's continually trying to pinch respective girlfriends and yes, he loves a bit of the 'moreish' crack but somehow, it's just impossible to hate perhaps the greatest comic sidekick ever. Here are four reasons why we think he might just be that.

1. The look: somewhere between Paul Weller, Ian Brown, a Quentin Blake drawing, and a Dickensian villain

The look

2. The voice: a virtuosic lack of vocal inflection means Hans’ questionable statements (eg. “Plumbing’s just lego innit? Water Lego”) are never less than nonchalantly authoritative

3. The vision: whether managing pubs (“It’ll freak em out! What the fuck’s a washing machine doing in a pub?) or dispensing life advice (“You should drop acid at a funeral. Make it more intense”), Hans is the veritable Warhol of the South London suburbs, uncompromising in his dedication to pushing the boundaries.

4. The vulnerability: over eight series, we have to come to know the raddled soul beneath the lairy exterior, from cold turkey attempts to childhood traumas (“Sorry Lads. Locked Doors. Little switch just flicks, you know? Ever since Dad locked me in the airing cupboard to monitor the home brew”).