Derek

[BoRED S2upid]

That was poor unless it got a lot better after the 15 minutes I watched ive been more amused in a real life old peoples home. If anyone else had sold that concept to Ch 4 it wouldn't have had air time.

[Morningside]

I cannot stand the bloke and have NEVER watched one episode of the office but I thought I would give it a go.

It had some good observations there I think:
Douglas - the caretaker is a classic example of ones who just do the job. The old picture was a classic example of why bother its st (as he says) although he does redeem himself.

Hannah - I know of a few that have drifted into the work and care too much sometimes for the residents. And she played the part very well.

Derek - IF he toned the part down slightly without the classic 'yeah' traits and lost the jaw I think it could work better.

As for Joan, and the reaction of Derek I found it quite touching and moving.

I will watch again but I cannot see how they can make a series out of it and it could be just a one-off special.

[Northern Munkee]

Watched about 5mins, which happened to be the scene with the mouse on the piano YouTube clip scene, and aside from the dodgy hair, the strange mouth thing he was doing, two things went through my mind A) the long running gag in Tropic Thunder that if you want to get an Oscar/credibility, you have to play a "Rainman"'role, indeed this could have been Andy from Extras desperately seeking thespian cred, B) waiting for Gervais, to knowingly turn to camera, and slyly as he does with his stand up, and say something off colour about the disabled.

Then I realised it appeared to be a semi straight role and thought fk off, who wants to watch an hour of disability (rolls eyes - I am Ricky Gervais and I claim my £5)

[spud989]

PW said:

spud989 said:

Your point?

My point is that I struggle to think of any comedian that ever substantially changed their act, yet people always bring it up as a negative as if it is unique to performers they don't like, and ignore the fact the ones they like do it equally.

"Peter Kay always does the same thing, people move on", "Ricky Gervais always does the same rubbish" etc, etc.

You rarely hear "I love how Morcambe & Wise's act stayed the same for all those years" or "isn't it great how the Marx Brothers did slapstick & gags in all their films"

It is a lazy way of criticising.

OK. But some comedians are 'safer' and more likely to stay in vogue for longer. Gervais was doing something different - which was the flavour of the week for a while - but quickly became tired.

[Japveesix]

GALLARDOGUY said:

I simply can't watch anymore. Gervais' face and the thing he's doing with his mouth make me cringe.

I've not watched it yet, may give it a try, but that stupid jaw/face thing just seems so unnecessary and spoilers the trailer clips for me, so I assume is almost unbearable in the ful thing

[durbster]

spud989 said:

Gervais was doing something different - which was the flavour of the week for a while - but quickly became tired.

There were plenty of spoof documentaries before The Office but non so sharply observed. The thing Gervais hasn't recognised is that documentaries have moved on since he found success spoofing them. When The Office came out, it was based on a fly-on-the-wall documentary technique that saturated prime time TV at the time but I can't think of anything like that nowadays (although I don't watch much TV so this point may be completely invalid ).

[McClure]

durbster said:

There were plenty of spoof documentaries before The Office but non so sharply observed. The thing Gervais hasn't recognised is that documentaries have moved on since he found success spoofing them. When The Office came out, it was based on a fly-on-the-wall documentary technique that saturated prime time TV at the time but I can't think of anything like that nowadays (although I don't watch much TV so this point may be completely invalid ).

Yeah. What he should've done is a "talent show" spoof.

Have the bloke/woman in some horrible life; have the trials and tribulations of the show; have the struggle to adapt to fame; and finally the plummet back into obscurity.

Great opportunities for characters too; eg the judging panel etc.

Sorted.

[Bullett]

McClure said:

Yeah. What he should've done is a "talent show" spoof.

Have the bloke/woman in some horrible life; have the trials and tribulations of the show; have the struggle to adapt to fame; and finally the plummet back into obscurity.

Great opportunities for characters too; eg the judging panel etc.

Sorted.

Like Peter Kay did?

[McClure]

Bullett said:

Like Peter Kay did?

Did he?

Oh yeah, that thing where he played a Susan Boyle type? Nah, Gervais would do it much better than that.

[TheHeretic]

I thought it was good. Very Gervais, but I thought the story was good, the issues it was about was good, and you actually felt for the characters.

[vixen1700]

So quite a mixed response then.

Recorded it, so will give it a go tonight.

[Halb]

Yeah a mixed bag, it did get better as it went on.

TheHeretic said:

I thought it was good. Very Gervais, but I thought the story was good, the issues it was about was good, and you actually felt for the characters.

I felt for the characters, I thought Gervais did a good job.

[Steamer]

Loved it.

You can't really call it a comedy, its certainly not a piss take - if anything its really compassionate. But as usual Gervais gets enough awkwardness into the characters to make it really intriguing.

[stephen300o]

I thought it was really good, even though Ricky over did the face a little, he put a heartfelt performance in. A throwback to when there were touching moments in the office, as his recent stuff has just used his sarky side.

[oobster]

Just finished watching this on sky+

People who watched thinking they were going to get a comedy shouldn't think that just because gervais is in it it'll be funny. I quite liked it and agree with the poster above about overdoing the lower jaw thing. If they go ahead with a series i might watch, but the scruffy appearance with the greasy straight hair and the 'old' clothes combined with being in character would be enough without the jaw thing.

[HeatonNorris]

Gritty, realistic, highlighting the plight of people at the fringes of society.

Derek is obviously not quite 'all there', and exactly the kind of person who ends up either pushing trolleys around in a supermarket car park, or working in care homes - usually in a subsidised placement.

Thought it was very touching and nicely done.

[TheHeretic]

HeatonNorris said:

Gritty, realistic, highlighting the plight of people at the fringes of society.

Derek is obviously not quite 'all there', and exactly the kind of person who ends up either pushing trolleys around in a supermarket car park, or working in care homes - usually in a subsidised placement.

Thought it was very touching and nicely done.

Absolutely. The jaw thing might be annoying for folks who know Gervais, but there are people out there who absolutely fit this character to a tee. I thought it was well done, and it could well, for a series, actually address many things.

[toppstuff]

TheHeretic said:

Absolutely. The jaw thing might be annoying for folks who know Gervais, but there are people out there who absolutely fit this character to a tee. I thought it was well done, and it could well, for a series, actually address many things.

Completely agree.

It is well documented that PH is full of powerfully built company directors, but the fact is that this drama did shine a light into a considerable section of modern society.

Characters like those in the drama exist all over this country, care homes like that one are literally in every town, and there are many, many people who live in that way in support of them. They have a story to tell and I congratulate Ricky Gervais for daring to try and tell it.

[northwest monkey]

Lordbenny said:

Jesus Christ, give it up Gervais, you'll never top The Office, you're a 'has been'....this is shite.....see ya!

100% agree.

Don't even like him live - I actually find him very uncomfortable to watch for some reason.

The Office was genius work & up there with Fawlty Towers in my opinion but everything he's done since has been poor.

[vixen1700]

Watched it last night and just thought what was the point of all that really?

Didn't really get the characters and it wasn't funny at all, although my mrs. enjoyed it.