Coupling is a British television sitcom created and written by Steven Moffat that aired on BBC Two and BBC Three from 12 May 2000 to 14 June 2004. Produced by Hartswood Films for the BBC, the show centres on the dating, sexual adventures, and mishaps of six friends in their early 30s, often depicting the three women and the three men each talking among themselves about the same events, but in entirely different terms.
The series was inspired by Moffat's relationship with producer Sue Vertue, to the extent that they gave their names to two of the characters. Coupling is an example of the "group-genre", an ensemble show that had proven popular at the time. Retaining this semiautobiographical trend, Coupling was based on him meeting his wife, Sue Vertue, and on the issues that arise in new relationships.
Moffat met Vertue at the Edinburgh International Television Festival in 1996. After production wrapped on Chalk in 1997, Moffat announced to the cast that he was marrying Vertue.
When she eventually asked him to write a sitcom for Hartswood, he decided to base it around the evolution of their own relationship. Drunk one evening, he went into her office, wrote the word "Coupling" on a sheet of paper and told her to ask him about it later. Moffat believes group shows would not have been popular with earlier generations of television audiences, stating: