List of Coupling episodes

Coupling is a BBC Television sitcom. Written by Steven Moffat, it was based on his relationship with Sue Vertue, the show's producer.^[1] Martin Dennis directed all 28 episodes for Hartswood Films. The first episode was transmitted on 12 May 2000,^[2] and the final transmitted on 14 June 2004.^[3] The first three series were first broadcast on BBC2, whereas the final series was broadcast on BBC Three.

The show centres on the dating and sexual adventures and mishaps of six friends in their thirties, often depicting the three women and the three men each talking amongst themselves about the same events, but in entirely different terms.

Series overview

Season		Episodes	Originally aired		DVD release date
			Premiere	Finale	Region 1	Region 2	Region 4
	1	6	12 May 2000	16 June 2000	17 September 2001	21 January 2003	1 September 2003
	2	9	3 September 2001	29 October 2001	23 September 2002	28 October 2003	4 May 2004
	3	7	23 September 2002	4 November 2002	22 September 2003	1 June 2004	2 March 2005
	4	6	10 May 2004	14 June 2004	16 August 2004	25 January 2005	7 July 2005

Series one

#	Title	Director	Writer(s)	Original Airdate	Code
1	"Flushed"	Martin Dennis	Steven Moffat	12 May 2000 (2000-05-12)[2]	IPEA231F
Jane resists Steve's various attempts to break up with her. In the meantime, Susan and Patrick are also breaking up. Susan and Steve meet, and Steve asks her out. Steve intends to break up with Jane once and for all just before dinner with Susan. Jeff is on hand for reasons nobody is quite sure of and Susan arrives early, as her beautician friend Sally cancelled her facial appointment in order to have dinner with Patrick at the same restaurant.
2	"Size Matters"	Martin Dennis	Steven Moffat	19 May 2000 (2000-05-19)[4]	IPEA232A
After an out of control pause during a phone call, Susan invites Steve to dinner, offering to cook. While discussing foreplay, Jeff warns Steve of the perils of falling into the Sock Gap and also to look out for Susan’s remote controls. Sally tries to overcome her aversion to Patrick’s political views when informed of his main attraction and Jeff freaks out when Sally, Steve and Jane give him an unusual task.
3	"Sex, Death and Nudity"	Martin Dennis	Steven Moffat	26 May 2000 (2000-05-26)[5]	IPEA233T
While giving Jeff advice on preparing for an interview, Patrick recommends imagining the panel naked, which Jeff begins to practice. Jeff introduces Patrick and Steve to the Giggle Loop. Steve is persuaded to attend Jane’s Auntie’s funeral, but Jane hasn’t told her family the pair have split up. Susan won’t let Steve go alone, and Steve asks Jeff to pretend to be Susan’s boyfriend, beginning a chain of request that sees all six at the funeral.
4	"Inferno"	Martin Dennis	Steven Moffat	2 June 2000 (2000-06-02)[6]	IPEA234N
Susan discovers a porn film, Lesbian Spank Inferno, in Steve’s VCR while Patrick has a new haircut. To avoid a confrontation, Steve tells Susan he loves her, which drives Jane to see her psychologist Jill, who is not interested in having her as her patient. Susan and Steve host a dinner party for Sally, Patrick, Jeff, Jane and Jane’s reluctant psychologist. Before dinner, Jeff and Patrick let slip that they know about the Inferno tape and Sally gives away that Susan has told the girls too, making dinner a very uncomfortable occasion for all. Patrick believes Jill and Jane are a couple and tries to convert her. On the other hand Jill thinks Patrick is Gay and tries to convert him. The tape comes into the conversation and Steve ends up giving a speech.
5	"The Girl with Two Breasts"	Martin Dennis	Steven Moffat	9 June 2000 (2000-06-09)[7]	IPEA235H
Jeff sees a beautiful woman alone in a pub. The attraction is mutual, but they struggle with a language barrier. They chat and end up creating a huge confusion. The girls are just jealous of the Israeli girl who is very beautiful. Steve and Patrick think of names for a porno film.
6	"The Cupboard of Patrick's Love"	Martin Dennis	Steven Moffat	16 June 2000 (2000-06-16)[8]	IPEA236B
Jane visits Patrick at home to discuss the ‘walls’ between them and there discovers a cupboard filled with video tapes labelled with girls’ names. When Steve and Susan independently learn about the cupboard, both realise that as Patrick’s ex, Susan will be in there too. Susan catches guys and Sally them watching the tape without realiing that Susan has been taped over. She breaks up with Steve and then later takes him back.

Series two

#	Title	Director	Writer(s)	Original Airdate	Code
7 (1)	"The Man with Two Legs"	Martin Dennis	Steven Moffat	3 September 2001 (2001-09-03)[9]	IPEA352J
Jeff falls in love with a woman he’s seen on the train, but has only seen her leg. He accidentally tells her he has a wooden leg only to find out that her brother lost his leg when she arranges for Jeff to meet him and his disability support group. Meanwhile Sally can’t stop bragging about her perfect new boyfriend but he soon turns out not to be everything Sally’s made him out to be.
8 (2)	"My Dinner in Hell"	Martin Dennis	Steven Moffat	10 September 2001 (2001-09-10)[10]	IPEA351P
Steve and Susan have Susan's parents over for dinner and a misunderstanding over 'Whistling alone' makes the dinner a hell. Steve meets Mariella Frostrup and accidentally drops his phone. Jane believing the phone to be Sally's puts in Mariella's pocket to later be-friend her. This creates confusion when Susan calls the number. Meanwhile Jeff and Patrick discover the 'Junior Patrick' which gets gifted to Susan's mother by mistake.
9 (3)	"Her Best Friend's Bottom"	Martin Dennis	Steven Moffat	17 September 2001 (2001-09-17)[11]	IPEA355R
Steve sees Sally naked by mistake after she uses Susan's shower. Patrick has "car" trouble, while Steve and Sally are trying to figure out how to tell Susan that Steve saw Sally naked. Steve is also trying to find good opinions he does not have on cushions and fabrics. Jeff introduces the Captain sub-text to all.
10 (4)	"The Melty Man Cometh"	Martin Dennis	Steven Moffat	24 September 2001 (2001-09-24)[12]	IPEA356K
Patrick meets the Melty Man thanks to Jeff and Steve. When his date with Sally goes wrong, both the girls and guys analyse it. Finally they blame each other for the failure to consummate and decide to give it another chance.
11 (5)	"Jane and the Truth Snake"	Martin Dennis	Steven Moffat	1 October 2001 (2001-10-01)[13]	IPEA359S
Jane get sacked due to her eccentricities, and decides to take an "overdose". Not realising what she has taken, she decides to become a children's TV presenter and shows Sally, Steve, and Susan her new creation, Jake the Snake, a truth-telling sock puppet.
12 (6)	"Gotcha"	Martin Dennis	Steven Moffat	8 October 2001 (2001-10-08)[14]	IPEA353D
Steve gets a wedding invitation and it freaks him out because of his own relationship status. Jane and Sally wish they were married. Susan tries to arouse Steve while at their anniversary dinner. Steve ends up proposing to Susan in a strange manner.
13 (7)	"Dressed"	Martin Dennis	Steven Moffat	15 October 2001 (2001-10-15)[15]	IPEA354X
Jane goes to a party wearing nothing but her coat and realises that there are more invites. Patrick wants Sally to pretend to be his wife buts ends up introducing Susan as his wife to competitive friends. Sally makes Steve his pretend husband. Not able to take all this, Steve proposes to Susan and takes her away. Sally becomes Patrick's partner. His friend and his wife are shocked.
14 (8)	"Naked"	Martin Dennis	Steven Moffat	22 October 2001 (2001-10-22)[16]	IPEA357E
There is a Cupboard Incident between Julia and Jeff. They are both bad at asking each other out but end up confessing it to each other. Its Jeff's 30th birthday and his friends are organising a surprise party. Jeff ends up stripping in front of them by accident.
15 (9)	"The End of the Line"	Martin Dennis	Steven Moffat	29 October 2001 (2001-10-29)[17]	IPEA358Y
Both Susan and Steve are getting on each other's nerves; Susan always asking Steve where he's going at the slightest movement and Steve's not making any decisions. While Susan is having issues with her new French Client, Giselle, a man starts hitting on her, thinking she is French, Susan goes along with it, instead of telling him that she is not French. When she tries to remember Steve's phone number (which is later found out because Jeff and Susan accidentally took each other's similar phones), she accidentally calls Bruce's Bar and Grill, a place next to Susan's bar, which is run by Dick Darlingtion, an Australian. Susan has an obsession with Australians so she is shocked that a bar is named after her, which was a sign that it was time to get out of town during her visit to Australia. Meanwhile, Steve has given his number to a girl at the bar by mistake and pretends to be Dick Darlington on the phone to avoid talking to her. Susan calls as a French woman, to keep up the illusion to the man that she is French and that she has a boyfriend, and a weird conversation takes place. Julia calls Jeff and pretends to be French and threatens to spank him for fun. This is answered by Susan and that's where the confusion begins. Finally everything it out in the open and, as everybody claims to be Dick Darlingtion or Giselle, the girl from the bar calls. Everybody hears her conversation with Steve on speaker phone and Susan breaks up with him.

Series Three

#	Title	Director	Writer(s)	Original Airdate	Code
16 (1)	"Split"	Martin Dennis	Steven Moffat	23 September 2002 (2002-09-23)[18]	ICEC002S
It's been almost a week since Steve and Susan split up due to the events of the second series finale. While the guys go to a strip club and get drunk, the girls drink wine at a beauty parlour. A drunk Steve leaves a message for Susan on the answering machine and they get back together.
17 (2)	"Faithless"	Martin Dennis	Steven Moffat	30 September 2002 (2002-09-30)[19]	ICEC003L
Jeff accidentally accepts a date with Wilma, a girl from his office. The others try to guide him through the date remotely, but Wilma's cunning ways prove too much for Jeff—and Steve, while Jane wants to date James, a religious man, but when she attends one of his meeting, and ridicules all their beliefs in the process, she is shocked to learn that James does not believe in pre-marital sex.
18 (3)	"Unconditional Sex"	Martin Dennis	Steven Moffat	7 October 2002 (2002-10-07)[20]	ICEC004F
After an accidental tongue slip inspired by Jane, Jeff manages to worm his way out of Wilma's charm by telling her his girlfriend is dead and that he is not ready to move on yet. But she comes to his apartment to continue to try and seduce him. Julia, who was leaving town for a business meeting, has instead stayed at his apartment as she was too sick to travel. Wilma discovers the truth and leaves in a fury. Sally and Jane tell Susan about the "Man Check" where a sexy women is sent on purpose to seduce a committed man to check how faithful he is. Steve is shocked to learn that Susan intends to use the services.
19 (4)	"Remember This"	Martin Dennis	Steven Moffat	14 October 2002 (2002-10-14)[21]	ICEC005A
After Patrick shows up at Sally's apartment to "save" her from an imaginary spider at three in the morning, they both remember how they first met at a Susan's office party. Their versions differ slightly, as Sally's memory ends with her in Patrick's arms and Patrick's memory ending with a drunk Sally and him kissing to the Spiderman theme. At the end, Sally and Patrick decide to stop spending so much time together, as nothing will come of it.
20 (5)	"The Freckle, the Key, and the Couple Who Weren't"	Martin Dennis	Steven Moffat & Mykola Pawluk	21 October 2002 (2002-10-21)[22]	ICEC006T
The episode begins with Jeff and Julia trying something kinky while Steve and Susan fight because Steve finds a suspicious looking freckle on his bottom and is upset that Susan hasn't noticed it. Jane introduces her new celibate boyfriend, James, to the group, when Jeff rushes in, still wearing a black, leather mask (from his and Julia's kinky role-playing), to ask the group how long "intestines take", meaning how long does it take for something to pass through the body. Jeff soon runs out when he realizes that he's wearing the mask back to Julia, who's still tied to the bed. It turns out that Jeff swallowed the key to the handcuffs and as Jeff is talking to Julia about why he ran off, the doorbell rings. As Julia realizes that Jeff's lost the key, her ex-boyfriend, Joe (who has just returned from Iraq) turns up and demands to see her. As the group talks, where Jane relaxes Steve by telling him that he's always had that mole, James discovers that Susan was his girlfriend in college. At the end of the episode, James tells Jane that he is going to Germany for a few months.
21 (6)	"The Girl with One Heart"	Martin Dennis	Steven Moffat	28 October 2002 (2002-10-28)[23]	ICEC007N
Susan redecorates the bathroom and removes the lock on the bathroom door, which Steve freaks out over. Susan and Steve have the gang over for dinner which creates problems for Sally as Patrick brings his girlfriend, Jennifer, with him. Sally isn't able to be cool with Jennifer as she struggles with her feelings over Patrick. After some misunderstandings, which leaves Jennifer to believe that Sally is a lesbian (which Patrick had told Jennifer) and is interested in her, Sally yells that she's in love with Patrick and quickly leaves.
22 (7)	"Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps"	Martin Dennis	Steven Moffat	4 November 2002 (2002-11-04)[24]	ICEC008H
Worried that she is pregnant, Sally asks all of the girls to take a pregnancy test so that she knows what a negative test looks like. One of the tests is positive, but, as the tests has been mixed up due to Sally's anxiety, there is confusion over who really is pregnant. Susan is quickly ruled out as being pregnant as she and Steve are trying to have a baby, but there's a problem: it would be a miracle if Susan could conceive. Sally and Jane could still be the ones pregnant as Jane slept with a pizza delivery guy a few weeks earlier when she was feeling "desperate". A week after Sally confessed her love to Patrick, he finally tells her that he loves her as well, as Jane bursts through and shouts that although she's "shagged and shagged and shagged...all the lil bastards missed". At that moment, James returns from Germany and Sally realizes that she must be that one that's pregnant. Just as Patrick realizes that Sally is pregnant, Susan walks into the bar and tells everybody that Sally isn't pregnant, but she is.

Series Four

#	Title	Director	Writer(s)	Original Airdate	Code
23 (1)	"Nine and a Half Minutes"	Martin Dennis	Steven Moffat	10 May 2004 (2004-05-10)[25]	ICEC898P
This episode is told from the perspective of the three different couples, all within nine and half minutes. Jane is on blind date with Oliver Morris (Richard Mylan), an owner of a science-fiction bookshop. Through Susan and Steve, who are arguing about the similarities between the "John Hurt" moment and birth, mistake him for a gynecologist. Meanwhile Sally, now Patrick's girlfriend, is tempting Patrick between a last minute golfing trip and sex.
24 (2)	"Nightlines"	Martin Dennis	Steven Moffat	17 May 2004 (2004-05-17)[26]	ICEC899J
After a five way phone call between Steve, Susan, Patrick, Sally and Jane, some wild opinions and shocking secrets are revealed within the group. Meanwhile, Oliver is trying to find out if his girlfriend Tamsin is pregnant.
25 (3)	"Bed Time"	Martin Dennis	Steven Moffat	24 May 2004 (2004-05-24)[27]	ICEC900S
Patrick tries to find a way to go home after his sexcapdes with Sally. When he asks Steve for help, Steve tells Patrick that it can't be done, especially since that night is the first dinner party Sally is hosting. Meanwhile, Jane has invited Oliver over to Sally's dinner party, but Oliver is worried as his nipples are rather large. When it becomes obvious that Patrick will be going home after the party, Sally starts drinking and when everybody is about to leave Sally, clad in a blonde wig and red oven mitts, sings a song about Susan entitled "Susan: The Happy Trotting Elf". The episode ends with Patrick and Sally ending up in bed, Patrick saying " bollocks" that he wasn't able to go home.
26 (4)	"Circus of the Epidurals"	Martin Dennis	Steven Moffat	31 May 2004 (2004-05-31)[28]	ICEC901L
After Susan asks Sally to be her birth partner, each friend in turn gets asked to come to an antenatal class as 'backup'. Susan mulls not using epidural during her delivery. At the antenatal class (led by Jill, first introduced in the episode 'Inferno'), the boys and the girls discuss attitudes to pain relief during birth in separate groups.
27 (5)	"The Naked Living Room"	Martin Dennis	Steven Moffat	7 June 2004 (2004-06-07)[29]	ICEC902F
Oliver and Jane run into each other at the shop, and begin to feel each other out. Jane asks to come into Oliver's flat, and Oliver realises that he hasn't bothered to hide his pornography any more. They expose each other emotionally, and when Oliver tells Jane that she "makes up any old rubbish just to get attention", Jane exposes herself physically. At the end of the episode, Susan's water breaks and she goes into labor.
28 (6)	"Nine and a Half Months"	Martin Dennis	Steven Moffat	14 June 2004 (2004-06-14)[3]	ICEC903A
Jeff returns in female form to comfort Steve as he awaits for Susan to give birth. After discovering Patrick actually did sleep with Jane, Sally looks through his cupboard to find something else...an engagement ring. Oliver and Jane try their best to have sex, but are constantly interrupted. Steve and Susan have a baby boy.

External links

• Coupling at the Internet Movie Database
• List of Coupling episodes at TV.com
• Coupling at epguides.com

References

1. ^ Sternbergh, Adam (2003-09-07). "Selling Your Sex Life". The New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A03EFD61538F934A3575AC0A9659C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all. Retrieved 2008-04-01. 
2. ^ ^{a b} "BBC - Coupling - Flushed Episode Guide". Bbc.co.uk. http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/coupling/episodes/s1ep1.shtml. Retrieved 2008-12-21. 
3. ^ ^{a b} "BBC - Coupling - Nine and a Half Months Episode Guide". Bbc.co.uk. http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/coupling/episodes/s4ep6.shtml. Retrieved 2008-12-21. 
4. ^ "BBC - Coupling - Size Matters Episode Guide". Bbc.co.uk. http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/coupling/episodes/s1ep2.shtml. Retrieved 2008-12-21. 
5. ^ "BBC - Coupling - Sex, Death and Nudity Episode Guide". Bbc.co.uk. http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/coupling/episodes/s1ep3.shtml. Retrieved 2008-12-21. 
6. ^ "BBC - Coupling - Inferno Episode Guide". Bbc.co.uk. http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/coupling/episodes/s1ep4.shtml. Retrieved 2008-12-21. 
7. ^ "BBC - Coupling - The Girl with Two Breasts Episode Guide". Bbc.co.uk. http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/coupling/episodes/s1ep5.shtml. Retrieved 2008-12-21. 
8. ^ "BBC - Coupling - The Cupboard of Patrick's Love Episode Guide". Bbc.co.uk. http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/coupling/episodes/s1ep6.shtml. Retrieved 2008-12-21. 
9. ^ "BBC - Coupling - The Man With Two Legs Episode Guide". Bbc.co.uk. http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/coupling/episodes/s2ep1.shtml. Retrieved 2008-12-21. 
10. ^ "BBC - Coupling - My Dinner In Hell Episode Guide". Bbc.co.uk. http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/coupling/episodes/s2ep2.shtml. Retrieved 2008-12-21. 
11. ^ "BBC - Coupling - Her Best Friend's Bottom Episode Guide". Bbc.co.uk. http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/coupling/episodes/s2ep3.shtml. Retrieved 2008-12-21. 
12. ^ "BBC - Coupling - The Melty Man Cometh Episode Guide". Bbc.co.uk. http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/coupling/episodes/s2ep4.shtml. Retrieved 2008-12-21. 
13. ^ "BBC - Coupling - Jane and the Truth Snake Episode Guide". Bbc.co.uk. http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/coupling/episodes/s2ep5.shtml. Retrieved 2008-12-21. 
14. ^ "BBC - Coupling - Gotcha Episode Guide". Bbc.co.uk. http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/coupling/episodes/s2ep6.shtml. Retrieved 2008-12-21. 
15. ^ "BBC - Coupling - Dressed Episode Guide". Bbc.co.uk. http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/coupling/episodes/s2ep7.shtml. Retrieved 2008-12-21. 
16. ^ "BBC - Coupling - Naked Episode Guide". Bbc.co.uk. http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/coupling/episodes/s2ep8.shtml. Retrieved 2008-12-21. 
17. ^ "BBC - Coupling - The End of the Line Episode Guide". Bbc.co.uk. http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/coupling/episodes/s2ep9.shtml. Retrieved 2008-12-21. 
18. ^ "BBC - Coupling - Split Episode Guide". Bbc.co.uk. http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/coupling/episodes/s3ep1.shtml. Retrieved 2008-12-21. 
19. ^ "BBC - Coupling - Faithless Episode Guide". Bbc.co.uk. http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/coupling/episodes/s3ep2.shtml. Retrieved 2008-12-21. 
20. ^ "BBC - Coupling - Unconditional Sex Episode Guide". Bbc.co.uk. http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/coupling/episodes/s3ep3.shtml. Retrieved 2008-12-21. 
21. ^ "BBC - Coupling - Remember This Episode Guide". Bbc.co.uk. http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/coupling/episodes/s3ep4.shtml. Retrieved 2008-12-21. 
22. ^ "BBC - Coupling - The Freckle The Key And The Couple Who Weren't Episode Guide". Bbc.co.uk. http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/coupling/episodes/s3ep5.shtml. Retrieved 2008-12-21. 
23. ^ "BBC - Coupling - The Girl With One Heart Episode Guide". Bbc.co.uk. http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/coupling/episodes/s3ep6.shtml. Retrieved 2008-12-21. 
24. ^ "BBC - Coupling - Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps Episode Guide". Bbc.co.uk. http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/coupling/episodes/s3ep7.shtml. Retrieved 2008-12-21. 
25. ^ "BBC - Coupling - Nine and a Half Minutes Episode Guide". Bbc.co.uk. http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/coupling/episodes/s4ep1.shtml. Retrieved 2008-12-21. 
26. ^ "BBC - Coupling - Night Lines Episode Guide". Bbc.co.uk. http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/coupling/episodes/s4ep2.shtml. Retrieved 2008-12-21. 
27. ^ "BBC - Coupling - Bed Time Episode Guide". Bbc.co.uk. http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/coupling/episodes/s4ep3.shtml. Retrieved 2008-12-21. 
28. ^ "BBC - Coupling - Circus of the Epidurals Episode Guide". Bbc.co.uk. http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/coupling/episodes/s4ep4.shtml. Retrieved 2008-12-21. 
29. ^ "BBC - Coupling - The Naked Living Room Episode Guide". Bbc.co.uk. http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/coupling/episodes/s4ep5.shtml. Retrieved 2008-12-21.