IT has been a long wait but Peep Show makes a welcome return on Wednesday.

Channel 4’s dark, awkward comedy is now on its ninth – and sadly final – series but if the first episode is anything to go by we are in for a treat.

Set six months after repressed nerd Mark (David Mitchell) and deluded layabout Jeremy (Robert Webb) went their separate ways, the pair are reunited for Super Hans’ (Matt King) stag do.

The end of the last series saw both the lovable losers declare their love for Mark’s girlfriend Dobby (Isy Suttie) but Jeremy is reluctant to apologise while Mark refuses to show his emotional scars.

One of the highlights of the episode is seeing the ice break between Mark and Jeremy who are like best friends and worst enemies all at once.

But there is plenty of the series’ signature schadenfreude with Jeremy now living his bohemian life…out of a sleeping bag…in Super Hans’ bathroom.

Newcomer Tim Key (Sidekick Simon from Alan Partridge) is also excellent as Mark’s new stuffy flatmate, Jerry.

The joy of Jesse Armstrong and Sam Bain’s Peep Show is the way the characters vocalise internally what everyone thinks but no one would say.

But one of the darkest but undoubtedly funny scenes in this episode is a conversation between Mark and Jeremy about how to get rid of Jerry.

Peep Show’s last series is set to reunite most of the cast, including Olivia Colman, so let’s hope for a fitting and cringeworthy finale.

- Peep Show is on Wednesday at 10pm on Channel 4.