***Warnings for very bad language, drug use, suicide, and sexual references***
Ricky Gervais might well be an acquired taste for many people. He can often be very smug, and hard to like. His film roles are forgettable at best, though his one-man stand up concerts show moments of true brilliance. And when it comes to television, he is the master of observation. Whether in ‘The Office’, ‘Extras’, or the superb ‘Derek’, nobody does pathos mixed with comedy better.
It’s a shame that ‘After Life’ is restricted to Netflix subscribers. I hope that it gets a mainstream TV showing somewhere, one day. Or even a DVD release as a box set. Because it is just wonderful. One of the best things I have ever seen on TV, and a sheer gem of entertainment, tucked away on the streaming service.
Gervais is Tony Johnson, a journalist on a run-of-the-mill local newspaper in a quiet British coastal town. He has recently lost his adored wife to breast cancer, and is completely unable to come to terms with that loss, or to be able to manage the grief that consumes him. If it was not for having to care for the family dog, he might well commit suicide.
So he decides to live a life caring about nothing and nobody. He is rude, aggressive, sarcastic, often spiteful. He shows his colleagues at the newspaper no respect, and despises the stories that he has to trot out for local interest. And his elderly father is in a care home, suffering from Dementia, so he reluctantly visits the old man every day. From this unlikely mix, writer and creator Gervais has conjured up an overwhelmingly good drama. One that can make you laugh one moment, and then be fighting back tears the next. And all in a thirty-minute episode.
It reads like a documentary none of us want to watch. Suicidal thoughts, prostitution, grief and heartbreak, drug use, incredibly bad swearing, and a man facing the abyss of loneliness. But Gervias is a master of the absurd, and his observational skills are yet again put to great use in this series. The familiar cast (many have been in his other productions) is made up of some of the finest character actors in Britain today. The script is bitingly sharp, and location filming makes it all seem very real.
This about a lot of things. True love, trust, memories, and the inability to cope with a drastic change in circumstances. How you deal with colleagues and others you come across, when your own life is in complete upheaval. Very little affects an old cynic like me, but I am not ashamed to say that I watch this with tears rolling down my face. And they are rarely tears of laughter.
It is just perfect. Nothing I have seen in years comes close.
(Except for ‘Fleabag’.)
If you have access to Netflix, please try to watch it.
Now I know what I’m watching tonight.
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Thanks, Sarah. I hope you liked it.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Still need to get around to this one. I think Netflix has almost overtaken “normal” telly for most people. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t have Netflix apart from my husband’s 87 year old grandma and I don’t think she’d watch this.
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I don’t watch much Netflix, Abbi, to be honest. But this short series was incredibly good, as far as I am concerned. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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Thanks for recommending “After Life” It’s definetely a keeper. Great photography, clever story and sharp humor.
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Glad to hear that, OMAL. It’s always nice when a recommendation works.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Looks like a good movie.
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It is a 30-minute episode TV series. Beautifully acted, but lots of very strong swearing. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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Thanks, Pete.
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Thanks for the tip, Pete. Just watched the trailer, and will put it on my list.
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Thanks, Marina. If you don’t mind the constant swearing, the rest is sublime. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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Thanks for the heads up, would have passed this one by without it. Warmest regards, Theo
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Thanks, Theo. I saw it advertised in a TV guide magazine, or I would have missed it. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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We share Netflix among the five of us though only two can be watching at the same time since we have a two person account. I will give it a quick look, but I appreciate your warnings.
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The swearing is very bad, Elizabeth, and constant. But the acting is just spot-on.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Swearing doesn’t get to me. Just gory unnecessary violence for its own sake.
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There’s no violence, and it is often quite funny too. 🙂
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I have been enjoying it. I love the dog getting fed no matter what.
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Very good recommendation Pete! Thank you for that. It seems i should give Netflix a chance. This series sounds very interesting. But i hope we will get it in original English language. 😉 Michael
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If it is not in English, then I wouldn’t bother, Michael. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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:-)) OK :-
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I did watch a couple of episodes (I do have an aversion to Gervais post Office). I thought it was truly brilliant in parts…and excruciating in others. I prob should give it another try to be fair. A lot of people say how good it is.
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Thanks, John. I just found it all so incredibly moving.
Best wishes, Pete.
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I agree ..those scenes were very emotional.
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Almost done with Narcos, so this has got to be next on the list, cheers!
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I hope you like it mate. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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On my list, Pete.
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Thanks, Maggie. Remember the warnings though. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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I remember.
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That’s high praise. You’ve got Netflix now?!
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I got it in January, as a ‘sign on’ from my step-daughter’s account. To be honest, I hadn’t found that much I wanted to see, but this is terrific.
I did a post about getting it.
Best wishes, Pete.
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I probably read it but I can’t be sure. Memory ain’t what it used to be. We came to it rather late too. Internet went for three days last month and man I was feeling it. I dud pop in a Billy Connolly World Tour of England DVD though so that helped me get through it. See if they have Ken Burns Vietnam War series on there in Netflix UK. Highly recommend.
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I have seen Ken Burns’ series on the BBC when it was broadcast. Excellent stuff indeed.
Best wishes, Pete.
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I mostly seem to watch YouTube.
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Hi praise indeed Pete. I haven’t watched this yet, but it’s in my Netflix queue.☺️
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When he gets it right, Kim, nobody does it better. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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I binge watched season 1 and now I’m a wee bit ticked off that I have to wait until 2020 to see more. LOL Thanks for the heads up to such a good show.
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Glad you liked it, Lauren. 🙂
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I have Netflix and I am always looking for something new….I will check it out….thanx…..chuq
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chuq, it’s very ‘English’, but I think you would still get it. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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I like “Thick of it” with Capaldi (sp?)…I will check it out…thanx….chuq
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The Thick Of It was marvellous. 🙂
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Yes I agree….and I believe that HBO show “VP” is based on this show….chuq
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I really have to get netflix!
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If you know anyone who has it, they can ‘add’ you, for nothing. (Up to 5 others, I think)
That’s how I got it. 🙂
Mind you, it’s not all that!
Best wishes, Pete.
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OK , so on your recommendation I watched episode one instead of doing my work that I should be doing. It was a definite yes. I shall complete some chores an go back and watch more. Thanks for the heads up.
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Many thanks, Lauren. It gets more ’emotional’ as it goes on. I am very pleased that you liked it. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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I watched it and loved it. Really funny!
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Thanks, Cindy. I rarely laughed, mostly cried. But I am pleased that you have seen it. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete. x
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Yeah, not the right word, funny. Sardonic humor at its most raw state. Only achieved during the darkest hours.
BTW, how are you feeling these days? Still unfocused?
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Thanks for asking. Maybe not unfocused, but still ‘unsettled’.
Best wishes, Pete. x
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I don’t like him but you make this sound like something I’d want to watch.
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I understand why you might not like him, Mary. But nobody (NOBODY) does things like this better than him. Believe me, it is staggeringly good. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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Thanks for recommending this. I’m not a huge fan of Gervais, though I did like Extras, so I’ll give this a go
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This is much ‘harder’ than Extras, but superb drama nonetheless.
Best wishes, Pete.
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I will put it on my extensive list of shows to watch. Definitely, sounds like a different one out there worth watching.
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I really cannot praise it enough OMAL. So much crammed into 30 minutes. Just amazingly good.
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I know the name Ricky Gervais, but hadn’t seen the actor before. As for Netflix, as they say, “Not gonna happen!”
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I only have it by ‘proxy’, David. I haven’t watched that much on it, but this series is outstanding.
Best wishes, Pete.
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