RICKY ON LOCK DOWN AND LAUGHTER

Originally from Reading, funnyman Ricky Gervais talks about the overwhelming reaction to After Life season two, plus what life has been like for him in lockdown

- JENNY DAVIS

After Life season two has had an incredible reaction since it began streaming on Netflix. The follow-up to the hugely successful first series, which is written, directed by and stars Ricky Gervais, has had an added poignancy with its release during a time when many have fears and worries about their loved ones.

In After Life season two, Ricky returns as small-town news reporter Tony, who continues to feel the loss of his late wife – a loss that nearly drove him to suicide.

Here, Ricky, who grew up in Whitley, Reading, and based his famous series, The Office, in Slough, talks about why he thinks After Life resonates so much with TV audiences and how he’s coped with the lockdown.

How have the last few months been for you?

You won’t hear me complain, not when there are nurses doing 14-hour shifts and I’m swanning around being a writer in a house with a garden. I’ve been getting on with it. My tour is postponed but we’ll do it another time when everything is back to normal and people can enjoy it more. I’d be writing now anyway, not that I am writing [laughs] but I could be writing if I wanted to. I’ve been doing a lot more exercise to fill the days. And there’s a lot more hours in the day when you don’t have to go anywhere for things like this [the interview]. I’ll wash but I don’t have to get dressed or get in a car.