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See also: Miranda (TV Series).

Miranda
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Miranda
Portrayed by
First seen
Last seen
Appeared in
20
Mention(s)
{{{Mentioned}}}
Episode count
{{{Count}}}
Name
Miranda
Also known as
Queen Kong (Public School nickname)

The Empress of Kong (Tilly)
Congoleeza Rice (Tilly)
Queen Hypo-Congria (by Tilly, in Je Regret Nothing)
Kong
Kongers
Rafael Nude-al
Queen Farticus (Tilly)
Quirky (Mike)
Obese Wan Kenobese

Mrs Preston to be (Gary)
Gender
Female
Age
born 1974
(Caucasian)
Origin
UK
Profession
Joke Shop Owner
Family members
Penny - Mother

Charles - Father
Gary Preston - husband
Benji - Cousin
Michael - Uncle
Stuart - Cousin
Jim - Great Uncle
Georgina - Cousin
Georgina's baby - cousin
John - Uncle

Liz - Aunt
Series(s)
1, 2, 3, Specials
Quote1
Do you like my trinkets? Not a euphemism!
Quote2


Miranda is the main character of the TV series of the same name. The show revolves around her life and life choices, her family and friends. She is the only daughter of Penny and Charles. Her best friends are Gary and Stevie. She is portrayed by Miranda Hart.

Backstory[]

Miranda was born to Penny and Charles in Surrey. At the age of 9, she was deposited at boarding school, like many other upper middle class and upper class British children. She shared a dorm with 'the girls' Tilly, Milly, Bella, Bunty, Pussy, Podge, Whootie, Fanny, and Stinky. She told Stevie that because of such a shared experience, "you all bond for life, even if you hate each other." She met and became friends with Gary Preston and Stevie Sutton in university, and developed a crush on Gary because he was the only man she felt she could be herself with.

Miranda is presented as a slightly out of step woman, who has not quite gotten a grip on her own life. She is still dominated by her mother, and although she did manage to spend her inheritance on a joke shop that she delights in running, it's not 'normal.' She hasn't actually worked out who she is yet, and her insistence on living jolly - singing when people inadvertently speak lyrics, finding euphemisms in almost anything, and doing what makes her happy - is seen as odd by many, including her mother, who wants her to marry and get a real job. She is 34 at the series beginning, and says "34 is not mid 30s, it's late 20s."

Garanda

Coming from a upper middle class background, Miranda is always failing to live up to her parents' and old school friends' expectations. Miranda is actually content with going at her own pace in life, despite her mother's constant attempts to find her a husband. Miranda is a fun, easily amused lady, who finds herself in awkward situations, often leading to her embarrassing herself in front of others. In an attempt to break the tension in awkward or embarrassing situations, Miranda tends to spontaneously sing when she is nervous. She doesn't quite trust herself, and allows that to influence her choices.

Physical Appearance[]

Described as "a bit unusual" by friend, Stevie, Miranda is extremely tall for a woman at 6'1" with short, brown hair and brown-hazel eyes. She is called "massive" and overweight on various occasions throughout the series, as well as clumsy, particularly by her mother and school friends, but characters such as Michael Jackford, Danny, Rupert, Charlie, and particularly Gary, all find Miranda quite attractive and appealing.

Series 1[]

Date
The beginning of series 1 showed Miranda delighted that Gary had returned from his travels in Malaysia, and taking the position of chef in the restaurant next door to her joke shop. They then got together at the closed restaurant and had a very pleasant catch up, he accompanied her home, shocking her by going upstairs at her invitation, he only fled at the sight of a load of baby merchandise in her flat.

Teacher
Miranda and Gary had begun hanging out on a regular basis, and she is a constant presence in the restaurant. He points out his friends Chris and Alison who had agreed to be each other's 'safety spouse' but had, in fact, fallen in love, and he had taken her to Paris to propose. Miranda suggested that she and Gary be each other's 'safety spouse.' He agreed, suggesting they get married at 55 if they have not found 'the one.' Miranda found 55 to be rather an insulting age mark.

Holiday1

Holiday
In Miranda's shop, Gary and she are immediately tempted to play with the new toys after Stevie tells them not to. The caterpillar on a string and the duck on a stick then race across the shop, but they are pulled up short when a customer comes in and asks them about their children - both immediately leap into a lie, feeding off each other's lead, about having two boys called Cliff and Richard, and that they are Mary and Joseph Richards. Miranda later hides out in the local hotel, and says she is in Thailand When she drunk dials Gary, he figures out where she is and arrives to check on her. A drunken Miranda suggests he spend the night with her to prove the ease of their friendship, then passes out on top of him.

Dog
Gary tells Miranda he's been offered the chance to manage a restaurant in Hong Kong. Clive tells Miranda he is waffling and a word from her could make him stay. Gary then protects the half dressed Miranda from Tilly and Fanny when he finds her stuck in the park gates, and blocks their view of her, then helps her escape and gives her his jacket to wear home. Miranda calls his actions 'majestic.' She then tries to tell him how she feels, and daydreams about stopping Gary going to Hong Kong with a lucid, cogent argument for them to try being together; "...my heart skips a beat every time I see you, and I'd say I'd miss you because you're the one person I can be myself with and underneath all the fear, the only person I could consider a relationship with." His response in her daydream, "...I'd say that's what I've been wanting to hear for ages, and I'd turn down Hong Kong and say let's give us a go" was probably close to the truth. In reality, her plea for him to stay failed utterly when he got distracted by Titan.

Series 2[]

The New Me
Miranda tries to make over herself but accepts a date with Danny that actually goes fairly well. Gary returns from Hong Kong and enters the restaurant at the exact moment that Miranda is kissed by Danny. Gary tells Miranda he won't stay if he'll be in the way. Instead, it's Danny who leaves to take a job in the midlands, and Miranda explains she was just being the new her. Gary offers a hug and says he prefers the old her.

Let's Do It
Gary and Miranda have gotten ever more chummy. At one point the pair have their heads together at the restaurant counter, while Stevie and Clive watch them. She asks Clive "Do you think they know they're in love?" Clive says that they don't, and then offers them vouchers for a romantic restaurant so they can see if anything will happen. Miranda tells Stevie it was great with her and Gary just being mates, but agrees to the date. Gary asks her if "there might be an us," and she agrees there might be, so he suggests they sleep together, Miranda is thrilled, but the situation never quite works so they can.

A New Low
Gary is still trying to work out a romantic moment with Miranda, but Miranda is exhausted by trying to keep up with her new friend, 22 year old Tamara, the new waitress at the restaurant. Just as Gary finally manages to get Miranda to head off to a spa hotel with him, Clive lets slip that Tamara is his wife. Hurt and furious, Miranda storms off, and Gary follows her to try and explain that Tamara was just a friend from Hong Kong who needed a green card and he owed her a big favor, so married her for immigration reasons, that they weren't even sleeping together...anymore. Feeling hurt and betrayed, Miranda tells him she moving on from him.

PerfectChristmas

The Perfect Christmas
After weeks of prickly encounters, Miranda begins to forgive Gary for his ill conceived 'marriage' and not telling her about it. After realizing she does not want to deal with her parents at Christmas she asks all her friends over for a Christmas sleepover. The others conspire to leave her to share the fold out with Gary while they all take the bedroom. As they settle in for the night, Gary tells her "don't worry about getting me a present, because I've got the best present I could possibly have - I got my friend back."

Series 3[]

It Was Panning
Gary and Miranda return to the safety of being 'just friends' although they find themselves on "the brink of a kiss" several times, and tell each other there should be "no brinking." Unfortunately, to deflect a brinking moment, he comments that the girl in the movie they were watching was cute, so Miranda angrily suggested he go marry her. When Stevie said Miranda's friend loyalty was to Gary, he replied he didn't want anything to do with her because friends forgive each other. At the end of the episode, Miranda tells Gary he was right and she is now letting go of the hurt and forgives him, they affirm they are still friends.

What a Surprise
After Gary begins dating Rose, a younger, shorter, thinner woman, Miranda never gives her a break, often cutting her off or cutting her out. Miranda then begins seeing Mike. She is delighted to find a man who fancies her as much as she fancies him.

The Dinner Party
Miranda throws a dinner for Mike's dad and a few couples, including Gary and Rose. Her friends talk about the 'almost was' between her and Gary, and Rose is instantly jealous and resentful. When Miranda explains her way of living jolly, and Rose snippily suggests that Gary should be glad his 'thing' with her is over. He defends Miranda, saying that she is his best friend and that if Rose can't handle that, it was over between them. When Mike then tells Miranda that he has fallen in love with her, Miranda is delighted.

Je Regret Nothing
Miranda becomes ill and all her friends are being impossible. When Gary arrives to give her the hugs and sympathy she needs, she is disappointed and cranky that he is so happy at having met someone called Jacinta.

Three Little Words
Miranda realizes that she can't tell Mike she loves him because she is actually in love with Gary, and sets out to break up with Mike, losing track of time and failing to appear to help Gary as he requested. When he angrily calls her on her standing him up, and wants to know what was so important, she blurts out that she had to break up with her boyfriend because she was in love with Gary.

Briefkiss

A Brief Encounter
Miranda is determined to go traveling after Gary claims to want to remain 'just friends.' When after a false start or two, she heads to the station to catch a train to Wick, Scotland. Gary is told by Stevie that Miranda is leaving, and immediately runs to the station to stop her. Back at her flat, Gary at last declares his feelings for her, and they finally kiss properly - several times. When they meet again at the restaurant, she is worried because he is hesitant about telling everyone about them, and when Mike shows up to propose to Miranda, Gary asks her what she says to that. She asks what he says, so he gets down on one knee and proposes as well, leaving Miranda in a fluster of confusion.

Finale Special[]

I Do, But to Who?
After Miranda flees the restaurant and takes refuge from the duel proposals facing her, both Mike and Gary follow. She is suddenly clear as to her choice, and tells Mike she loves him, he's a good man, but she wants to marry Gary. That evening they finally consummate their relationship. When morning also brings her mother and a mood board, Gary suggests they get married in no more than three weeks, to Miranda's utter delight. When Miranda's insecurities make her push him for a verbal declaration, he sees that not only does she not trust him, doesn't trust that he loves her, she doesn't trust herself - that she can be loved, and tells her he can't be with her like that. Weeping, he walks away, telling her she knows its for the best, leaving her weeping as well.

Garanda final

The Final Curtain
Miranda decides that everything Gary said was correct. She says she has to start living for herself, and pulls out her bucket list. After facing down her mother and telling her not to come back until she can accept that Miranda can live her own life, she returns Gary's things to him and tells him they did the right thing. After an intervention with a therapist, she realizes that she has grown, that she's okay, that she doesn't need Gary, but she want's him, and doesn't want to do her life without him. She interrupts Clive's wedding to the customer, thinking Gary was marrying Jacinta on the rebound. Gary pulls her aside and asks her, "Will you elope with me? Just us. Because I've realised I don't want to be without you, I love you, Miranda." They ask the officiant to marry them at the reception. The series closes with the couple happily married.

Relationships[]

  • Stevie - Miranda owns a joke shop with her best friend Stevie as manager. Although the two of them are the best of friends, they often find themselves competing in bizarre challenges such as bubble wrap popping, bouncy ball demolition derby, and for every man in uniform they see.
  • Gary - She met Gary at university, and he is every bit the unusual person that she is. They became fast friends, and that survived the few years he traveled in Asia, picking right back up on his return. There was always an undercurrent to their friendship that they tried to explore more than once, and after some dramatic ups and downs, Gary proposes to Miranda in the series finale.
  • Tilly- Miranda and Tilly were boarding school friends. Although she initially finds Tilly and her ways very annoying, the two of them eventually develop a closer relationship, and Miranda plotted to protect her from an unfaithful fiancée.
  • Clive - Clive is the manager of the restaurant situated next door to Miranda's joke shop, and as such she is a regular there even before Gary turns up. Clive is a good enough friend to be invited to Miranda's Christmas sleepover.
  • Mike- Miranda's boyfriend in Series 3. Miranda begins her relationship with Mike by pretending to be the perfect girlfriend. When she finally shows her real self, Mike says that he has fallen in love with her. Mike proposes after Miranda accidentally says that she loves him, when she was trying to say it to Gary. Miranda eventually declines Mike's proposal and accepts Gary's.  
  • Pennymiranda
    Danny - Danny was the replacement chef at the restaurant during Gary's three months in Hong Kong between series 1 and series 2. He was told by Clive that Miranda was the only single woman in town, and upon overhearing her renounce men, asked her out on a date that went quite well. Despite his interest, when Gary returned, he left for Birmingham, not wanting to be in the way.  
  • Penny - Miranda's mother. Although Miranda is often annoyed by Penny's attempts to set her up and her constant badgering about getting engaged, she often relies on Penny, and the two are quite close. In Just Act Normal, it is revealed that Miranda thinks Penny doesn't respect her life decisions, and Penny feels Miranda is ungrateful for the effort she puts into helping her. She is happily in attendance when Miranda does finally marry.

Quotes[]

  • I have tried to be a grown up, but I have no interest in abiding by the adult rule book. I want to do fun things that make me happy, which for the record, include making vegta-pals.
  • The new me is currently worse than the old me.
  • I will have to do something intrinsically evil.
  • The stop of us will be un-two-able!
  • You're an actual literal tiny little weirdo.
  • You might call me a child. Good. For if adults had even the slightest in-the-moment joy of a child, well, then frankly the world would be a better place.
  • A savory muffin? Life is full of enough disappointments!
  • As for saying Gary might find me attractive being a bold claim, well, I have also realized that women like me can be sexy, it's just the world might never affirm it, so it takes us a little longer to realize it.
  • I need to focus on my dreams instead of faffing after some stupid boy.
  • I've had it! I've officially had it, Mum, with your constant meddling and your absolute inability to let be and do and say exactly what I want to be and do and say...until you can accept that, then...you are just going to have to get out of my life.
  • Behold! I am woman and phoenix, both. But not in a mutanty way.
  • You can shove my parachute up your skinny amuse buche exit hole!

Trivia[]

  • She was born weighing about 10 lbs (4.5 kg).
  • In Before I Die, her birthday of 1974 was misread by the council as 1914 and issued her a bus pass and meals on wheels.
  • The first ring Gary gives her when he proposes was a Monster Munch crisp ring.
  • Both Rupert and Charlie were initially obsessed with her.
  • The only 'perfume' she's used in show is Febreze, Stevie had to point out 'Mountain Fresh' was not actually a proper scent.
  • Miranda loves to make Vegta-pals, as well as Fruit Friends, including Gordon and an eggplant named Aubrey. She drank most of the fruit friends in the finale.
  • She hates running and loves galloping.
  • She once weighed her breasts to see how much they'd cost to post.
  • Her mother claims that Miranda farts every time she stands up.
  • She will not eat anything that sounds like a character in the soap opera, Coronation Street such as pearl barley.
  • She describes Stevie as both a "tiny little weirdo" and "all I've ever really had."
  • Miranda and Penny don't have a confirmed surname.

Gallery[]

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