Ricky Gervais – After Life
Ricky Gervais’s latest offering, After Life on Netflix, is classed as a dark comedy. Normally, I try to avoid shows where the primary focus is a widowed spouse. Mainly because some of these shows are just badly written, they portray the bereaved as being sad for five minutes then back to taking on the world as if no life changing event occurred.
In typical fashion, when I saw a suggestion to watch Ricky Gervais’s After Life, I flicked onward to see what else Netflix had to offer. It wasn’t until I seen a humours recommendation from another widow, Deb on Twitter, that I thought this show deserves a look. If Deb liked it, it must be good because Deb knows what she’s talking about.
Is Ricky Gervais Widowed
Truthfully, even with Deb’s stamp of approval, I wasn’t expecting a whole lot but boy was I surprised. In short, Ricky Gervais gets it. So much so I wondered had he experienced the loss of a partner? We even discussed this on the Widow.ie community forum, but after a quick google search we discovered he’s in a very happy 37 year marriage which makes the writing all the more remarkable.
“I’d rather be nowhere with her than somewhere without her.”
I found it easy to relate to the character Tony, played by Garvais. Tony curses a world which is without his true love, his wife Lisa who has died from cancer. He’s not afraid to share his unforgiving thoughts with random people, be they friends or strangers, if they displease him. It’s these random outbursts of honesty that will make you laugh out loud while dabbing away the tears.
If you’re widowed you’ll probably even nod along as its very relatable. If you’re not widowed but wish to understand grief, it’ll give you some insight into the effect grief can have on a person.
Second series of After Life on the way
The final episode that ties up the first series, I would say from a widows perspective, is a bit of a let down. It portrays a very simplistic, “all is right with the world” scenario, very soon into his deep grief. From what I have read online, there’s a second series on the way that may very well expand on the up’s and down’s of grief.
Suicide and Addiction in Bereavement
Ricky Garvais in After Life tackles some serious topics in this series, topics such as suicide and addiction in bereavement. While these are subjects that warrant serious discussion, I would like to take this moment to advise anyone who is struggling to talk with a medical professional or contact the Samaritans by phone on 116 123. The Samaritans phone number is open 24 hours 7 days a week.
