Extras has held a special place in my heart, coming to it straight to it hot off the heels from the groundbreaking The Office. I fell instantly in love with the series, and since airing it’s only gone from strength to strength. Each scene is so well written and has a lot of replay value for hidden jokes and details. The freelance journalism part is probably my favourite moment of the whole show and still rings so true nowadays.
Series 1 is about Andy Millman (Ricky Gervais’) rise which has a lot of funny moments, but series 2 excels when he has the series. In fact the funniest moments is him working his sitcom “When the Whistle Wind Blows’ and his useless agent and Barry from Eastenders. The muffin, the Artexing and being caught having a wank are just pure gold. Long time fans will notice a few jokes from their XFM days such as “watching TV through Dixon’s window” reference when talking to a homeless person when Andy gives him £50.
The Christmas Special speech at the end is something that resonates still and is pretty powerful, you will be reaching for the tissues when it cuts to Maggie watching Andy do his speech from inside the Big Brother house. Overall a great ending, in a way I’d love him to revisit the character but then again maybe it’s best left where it is.
Overall it’s definitely my favourite thing Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant have done, it’s available on Netflix and BBC iPlayer.
