Extras - Series 1 Review

Overall Rating

Everything: wonderful script, achingly funny throughout, brilliantly observed.

Can't find any.

An absolutely wonderful follow up to one of the greatest ever British sitcoms, 'The Office'.

Gervais and Stephen Merchant have struck absolute gold again with Extras.

If anything, Extras is a more rounded comedy that will appeal to a wider audience, what with its famous names, yet the priniciples which the writers insisted on in Slough are still in evidence here.

All the toe-curling, painfully cringy humour the pair can create is out in force, with celebs sending themselves up in the most incredible ways, purely for the purposes of entertainment.

Ben Stiller one week telling a Bosnian to stop going on about his dead wife when making a movie with him about her brutal murder, the next Les Dennis ringing The Sun anonymously to say he's spotted Les Dennis shopping in London.

Somewhere in between is the brilliant Ashley Jensen as Maggie, a stunning acting debut surpassed only by Gervais, and only because he gave himself most of the best lines!

Merchant converts to the front of the camera well too, playing a stupid agent brilliantly, while his assistant Shaun Williamson (sorry - 'Barry from Eastenders') completes an unlikely double act.

Gervais, as stated, is the driving force, shifting away from Brent by losing the beard and gaining the ability to actually be funny and likeable.

All in all, this an absolute gem, and anyone worried it will be a flop which couldn't possibly live up to The Office, I would say don't worry - this is fantastic too.