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After Life - Ricky Gervais

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  • Stig said:
    What a fantastic list. I'm going to set it as a personal challenge to use all of those.
    I hope your haemorrhoids have settled down.
  • My haemorrhoids are definitely Khange khodah.
  • My wife and I watched this in just two sittings. Don’t think I have come accross so many comments that people did similar or even less. That speaks volumes.
  • This really is an excellent piece of work. Thought provoking about what is important in life and for me personally made me think a lot more about not over reacting to things you can't control such as Brexit, my mum's dementia and ignorant people. Will try to rise above it in future x. Cheers Ricky.
  • Watched it all tonight.
    Thought it was very good.
  • edited March 2019
    Watched it all in one sitting on Sunday! Don’t like him at all but thought it was absolute genius! Fair play to him!
  • the ending brought about things that i could relate to with older relatives suffering with dementia etc, and how you just have to go along with it. 
  • edited March 2019
    rikofold said:
    hawksmoor said:
    I personally think it's the best thing he's done. Funny and genuinely moving. The graveyard bench scenes with Penelope Wilton were very sweet, with an unforced rapport between the two characters/actors.
    This in spades. 

    I get why Gervais is marmite, but I genuinely think this is the best thing he's done.

    You really have to get past the arsehole he portrays in the first episode or two though, because it's a journey for his character and it's beautifully handled - through his relationships with the other characters and in particular with Wilton's character who's similarly grieving.  The landmark moment with his junkie mate really makes you think. 

    I watched it in one sitting and I thoroughly recommend doing it that way. 

    Edit:  Thought the last episode rushed it a bit. Without wishing to spoil, I just think that smaller incremental gestures - acknowledgements - would both wrap and leave open at the same time, rather than the Damascene conversion portrayed, whilst I'm sure unintended. That's the one moment I think Merchant really would have made a difference to. Grief isn't a linear thing, although that might be the get out clause for a second series (not that I think it needs one).
    That’s a good point that he is an arsehole at the beginning through grief and anger and gradually goes back to being the nice bloke his wife describes in the videos. His giving of the bike etc and fixing things does make more sense then, in that context.
    Despite my comments earlier, I do think it is a remarkable piece of work, because I do keep thinking about it, which demonstrates, I guess, that it has significant impact. And say what you like about ol Ricky, he’s never afraid to go there, wherever there might be  ;)
  • Great telly. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Lots of laughs. Worrying to think how I would respond to losing my wife. 
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  • CHG said:
    Great telly. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Lots of laughs. Worrying to think how I would respond to losing my wife. 
    fk that, id just take all the gear and put myself out of my misery
  • I really liked the way he used watching video clips on the laptop rather than just memories/flashbacks. Much more real feel to it
  • I can see that I'm swimming against the tide here, and it's hard to convince people when it comes down to taste. So I'll just make a complimentary recommendation: if you're looking for something on similar lines, a well-handled and unsentimental study of grief, I recommend watching Manchester By the Sea.
  • Just watched the whole series. 
    Touching, sad, funny, thought provoking. 
    If you're a Gervais fan you should love it. 
  • I can see that I'm swimming against the tide here, and it's hard to convince people when it comes down to taste. So I'll just make a complimentary recommendation: if you're looking for something on similar lines, a well-handled and unsentimental study of grief, I recommend watching Manchester By the Sea.
    Manchester by the sea is 10 times anything that after life is. But it’s not something I’m wanting to watch again in a hurry. Great bit of work though. 
  • I was quite enjoying it right up until the last episode. The final episode played out like they'd had a writer's room where they listed every nice thing the character could have done they could think of, and then forgot to edit it down and ran with every idea by mistake. Considering it was only 6 episodes, devoting one to just closure on things that he'd just done was a bit much. Gervais is normally really good at judging the emotional moments but this part seemed endless.

    I also really disliked the plot with Julian the addict. Gervais' character gave him the money to kill himself knowing what he would do. He then lied about it to his boss and never told Daphne about it, but continued to comfort her over his death. Neither of these points were ever resolved. We were supposed to see a big redemptive arc for the character but that was nagging away at me the whole time, as if either of those characters had known the truth they wouldn't have had any more to do with him.

    I normally like that UK shows are really short, but I think there were enough characters and enough story that it needed to be a fair bit longer to develop all the characters he wrote in. Sandy seemed like she was going to be an interesting character but all we ever learned about her was that she lived with her family and that she was slightly too emotionally invested in her co-worker's misery. I think it shows how interesting the world Gervais created was, but it just felt so compressed
  • I can see that I'm swimming against the tide here, and it's hard to convince people when it comes down to taste. So I'll just make a complimentary recommendation: if you're looking for something on similar lines, a well-handled and unsentimental study of grief, I recommend watching Manchester By the Sea.
    Manchester by the sea is 10 times anything that after life is. But it’s not something I’m wanting to watch again in a hurry. Great bit of work though. 
    Blimey mate talk about comparing apples to pears! Manchester by the sea was a brilliant film with a couple of career best performances but it was actually depressing to watch and it makes me feel down thinking about it, there was no up or light to it at all. Just a glimmer of hope if that 

    Afterlife is a situation comedy set against a very painfully sad background. Ricky Gervais does impart a lot of his thoughts into his characters and narrative but luckily his thoughts are provocative and amusing and work within the setting he created. 


  • I'm a fan of Gervais and have seen most of his stand up shows live. Sadly I thought this script was lazy and/or rushed, with lots of recycled material. Very few lol moments, i found the show as a whole rather contrived and predictable. Kerry Godliman is terrible actor, I'm suprised she is still employed as one. Highlights for me were Diane Morgan (cunk) and David Bradley who plays Tony's dad.
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  • How is KG a terrible actor??
  • I didn’t think she was. Was just interested to hear the reasons.
  • I know was agreeing with you. 
  • Talal said:
    JaShea99 said:
    How is KG a terrible actor??
    She isn't. 
    She is bloody awful, Gervais only uses her as it distracts from his own one dimensional character. Reminds me of Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker.
  • Scene scene in Extras (S2 E1 “Orlando Bloom”) with Keith Chegwin is comedy gold. Tears. 
  • JamesSeed said:
    Scene scene in Extras (S2 E1 “Orlando Bloom”) with Keith Chegwin is comedy gold. Tears. 
    The whole of Extras is a Tour de Force.
  • Second series ordered by Netflix.
  • Surprised to hear the comment about Kerry Godliman.

    Monologues to camera are tricky to get right and I thought she did a very good job.
  • Second series ordered by Netflix.
    Never in doubt really. But personally, I think it ended perfectly and should be left alone.
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