After signing and starring in ‘The Office’ in the original British version and giving the push for the American to go ahead, Ricky Gervais wanted to get into the ins and outs of television and film in his next series. I’m talking about ‘Extras’, a British sitcom that arrives today on HBO Max.
Composed by two seasons of six episodes each (to which we should add a Christmas special that closes, but is not available), the fiction introduces us to the “tedious” world of extras of film and television productions through the eyes of Andy Millman (Gervais), an aspiring actor who has to settle for extra roles here and there.
behind the scenes
In this way, Millman will surround himself with a group of companions with different aspirations (or none) like Barry from Eastenders (Shaun Williamson) and the platonic friend Maggie Jacobs (Ashley Jensen), in addition to the incompetent “agent” (Stephen Merchant, co-creator of the series) who are accompanied by countless guest stars who walk around the filming on duty.
Among them we find Ben Stiller, Kate Winslet, Samuel L. Jackson, Patrick Stewart, David Bowie, Daniel Radcliffe or Ian McKellen among many others. Stars that the character of Ricky Gervais will try on occasion to make the ball to achieve his dream of having a line on the screen or, at least, not being eliminated from the final montage.
I will not go into spoilers (if you can talk about spoilers for a series with more than fifteen years) but later things change, giving a new dimension —just as or more fun— to the concept of the series and its satire constant to the entertainment industry, a theme that Gervais would touch on in a different way in ‘Life’s too Short’, starring Warwick Davis.
In what we have recently finished seeing the magnificent ‘Irma Vep’, with a pretty funny look at these ins and outs of shootsperhaps it is time to rescue this great jewel that, at the time, conquered both English and American critics as a good co-production between BBC and HBO, winning a Golden Globe and a couple of Emmys and BAFTAs.