She has never fitted in with her old boarding school friends, Tilly (Sally Phillips) and Fanny (Katy Wix) and finds social situations awkward, especially around men.
Nevertheless, when Gary gets a girlfriend called Rose (Naomi Bentley), it prompts Miranda to start a new relationship with Michael 'Mike' Jackford (Bo Poraj), a local reporter whose work soon takes him to Africa.
Abigail Wilson, who worked for comedians Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders, suggested Hart pitch a show to the BBC after seeing her perform in 2003.
[7] Following a read-through of her script with Saunders and BBC executives,[7] a television pilot, based on her semi-autobiographical writing, was filmed in early 2008,[15] and the series was then developed into a sitcom for radio;[7] Miranda Hart's Joke Shop aired on BBC Radio 2 in August and September 2008.
In an interview with the BBC's Writersroom, Hart said of the semi-autobiographical basis for the series: Well I developed this stand-up persona, and that's where it all started from.
[20]Each episode begins with a welcome to audience and a 'Previously in my life ...' segment, and Hart says a joke shop is the "right place" as the setting after being asked to consider an office to "normalise" the character.
The episodes end with a 'You have been watching ...' credits section where each cast member waves goodbye, as seen concluding Jimmy Perry and David Croft sitcoms such as Dad's Army and Hi-de-Hi!.
"[7] Throughout each episode, Hart breaks the fourth wall and addresses the audience directly, a technique described as a "simple creative decision [that] makes this infectious comedy sing";[22] another critic stated "this is hard to pull off, but it works well".
[23][25][26] The second series comprises six episodes and saw the return of Miranda's mother and friends, Stevie, Gary and Tilly.
[27] For the BBC broadcast, following the end of each episode viewers could press the red button, or go online, to watch Hart interview a guest who had inspired her during the writing of the show.
[31] Following the end of episode five, which is a two-hander between Miranda and Penny, the red-button feature saw Hart interview her real-life mother.
[37] In April 2011, Hart announced on The Graham Norton Show that she had set herself to start writing the third series the following month.
[40] On 17 December 2011, Andrew Mickel of Digital Spy reported Hart's involvement with BBC One drama Call the Midwife had delayed the third series of Miranda until Autumn 2012.
[49] The main cast of Miranda (aside from Ellis and Holmes), reunited for the 2017 Royal Variety Performance, for which Hart was the host.
To mark the 10th anniversary of the start of the show, the cast were recorded at the London Palladium in 2019 celebrating and commemorating the series.
[6] Ahead of the first episode airing, Dominic Maxwell in an article for The Times described it as an "old-school" sitcom and said that "It's good fun, if you buy into it.
[61] However, Tarley enjoyed the festive episode of series 2, saying "Hart got away with a lot of the more irritating qualities of her work, with help from the fantastic Patricia Hodge and Sally Phillips.
"[61] She added that Hart is "a great observer of everyday dilemmas" and the best thing of all is she left the door open for a third series.
"[63] The opening episode of the third series became one of the most watched shows in the UK over the Christmas period, attracting a total audience of over 11.5 million viewers.
"[65] Keith Watson, writing for Metro, says the series three finale is a "great end to an up-to-scratch season, Miranda never fails to cheer up an evening, reminding many of us that we aren’t alone in the everyday awkward situations that we might find ourselves in – to some extent, anyway.