TV Series: After Life

I just watched the whole of the comedy series "After Life" on Netflix. It stars Ricky Gervais, one of the funniest men on the planet, so I couldn't resist it. It's only six thirty-minute episodes, so you can easily watch it all in a single evening.

It might be hard going for people who don't understand this sort of humour, but it's worth sticking it out. If you don't like the series by the end of the second episode you can drop it, and you've only lost an hour of your life.

Ricky Gervais plays Tony, a man who feels suicidal after his wife dies of cancer. The world around him that used to be bright and cheerful is now cloudy and without hope. Tony makes no secret of his misery, and he's determined to make everyone around him suffer.

Yes, it's a comedy. The humour is in the absurdity of his interactions with other people. Even if the series' content seems too shocking to laugh at, you'll find yourself bursting into laughter spontaneously. I did.

Here are a few of the regular characters in the series. They're all women, because I'm biased. I like women more than men.

Anne is a woman that Tony meets in the cemetery. Her recently departed husband is buried next to Tony's wife. She talks to her husband, and she thinks she can hear him answering.

Emma is a carer in the nursing home where Tony's demented father lives.

Roxy is a prostitute who insists on being called a sex worker. Prostitution was her career choice ever since seeing "Pretty Woman" as a child, and now she's unhappy because she doesn't look like Julia Roberts. Look in the mirror, Roxy! You're ten times as attractive as Julia Roberts!

Sandy is a fellow journalist in the local newspaper where Tony works. She doesn't say much. She just looks at Tony and smiles. Sometimes. At other times she just looks at him and doesn't smile.

Watch the series. Give it a chance. If you know Ricky Gervais' other series, "The Office" and "Extras", you'll have a rough idea what to expect. This is his most extreme opus so far. I don't know how he can possibly push the boundary of humour any further.