Ricky Gervais on his favourite After Life characters and whether it will return for season 4
Watch his interview with Absolute Radio's Richie Firth
Last updated 14th Jan 2022
To celebrate the launch of After Life season 3, the hit show’s creator, writer director and lead star - comedy legend Ricky Gervais - joined Absolute Radio’s Richie Firth on Hometime yesterday evening (13th January).
Will all three seasons available to watch on Netflix right now, After Life follows Tony Johnson (played by Ricky) whose life is turned upside down when his wife Lisa (Kerry Godliman) sadly dies from breast cancer, and it follows his grieving process and how he copes thanks to a motley crew of brilliant and oft hilarious characters.
During their wide-ranging chat on Hometime, Richie asked Ricky who his favourite character is in After Life.
“It changes every time, and it depends for what really,” Ricky said. “I think Anne (Penelope Wilton) on the bench is my favourite in terms of she was there to show the kindness of strangers and she's important, she saves his life. So does the dog! (Tony’s beloved German Shepherd dog Brandy).
“You know, it's not a Disney film, there's no tricks, but I wanted to show that that dog saved his life both literally and metaphorically.”
Ricky continued: “In terms of comedy, I think Brian Gittins (David Earl). I mean, he's such an oddball and he says some of the worst things ever but there ARE people like that! It's funny as well because some people they describe it as ‘an ensemble cast of strange losers and misfits.’ And I think ‘that's what England's like!’
"(Americans are) used to watching ER when everyone looks like George Clooney and Brad Pitt. No, no! Most people look like me and Brian Gittins! We don't look like Johnny Depp! That's normal.”
You can also find out how Ricky casts his actors before writing for the characters right here:
Will After Life return for Season 4?
Just like The Office, which ended after 14 episodes, Ricky confirmed to Richie that After Life will indeed end after season 3 and go out on a high. There will definitely be no season 4.
“I could carry on and it makes sense to carry on when you've got a hit show,” Ricky explained. “It's mad to end it but I think it’s the best decision artistically. And it's still there.
“I think an amazing 18 episodes is better than an amazing 18 episodes and a dodgy six (episodes). It's hard when you do it all yourself. I think if it was an American series, I'd have 28 writers. But it's good in the sense that you can burn all your bridges - you can put everything into it knowing that (it’s going to end) … and sometimes you do do that so you can't come back from it.”
He continued: “No spoilers, but I think this is about the best ending it could have had. Everyone will be the judge of that. But I stand by it and I'll probably have to explain it to a few people and I'm happy to do that. It feels great. It feels great that I've done it. 18 episodes.
“What people don't realise is it's hard to make even mediocre telly. It's still hard. It's still takes ages to write and direct and get it through. I feel the same as I did when I first did The Office - I'd rather it was a million people's favourite show than 10 million people's 10th favourite show. And then Netflix comes along and goes, ‘we know we can make it 100 million people’s favourite show!’ ‘Okay, let’s try that then!’
“I just think you have to go for it because I think if you water it down, you'll probably get it wrong. Whereas if you don't water it down and you get it wrong, at least you didn't water it down. I think it's a no brainer. What usually works is the more honest you are, the more truthful, the more you go for it, the more people like it. All you can do is your best guess for the audience.”
Ricky went on to explain how writing for a TV show is very different to stand-up:
Does Ricky Gervais use a stunt double in After Life?
Ricky also discussed with Richie whether he needed a stunt double for some of the tennis, table tennis and squash scenes in After Life season 3. He also revealed he definitely warms his (squash) balls on a radiator before playing...
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