Starring: Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant, Ashley Jenson and a host of screen celebrities
Directors: Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant
The series: Following the multi-award-winning comedy series The Office was never going to be easy for writers Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. Casting Gervais in a lead role again was a brave challenge: would viewers be able to cast aside the actor's former role as super-annoying boss David Brent?
Gervais (right) makes no exaggerated attempts to hide character traits that could be construed as Brent-ish in his portrayal of Andy Millman, a frustrated actor who never seems to land a role bigger than a walk-on extra in TV and film productions.
All six episodes of this series deal more with the ups and downs of Millman and his best (platonic) friend Maggie Jacobs (Ashley Jenson) in their working lives than with the business of extra work and acting. A big draw for the show was its snagging of Hollywood A-list actors, who star in each episode's fictitious production. The titling of each episode according to its guest seems boastful though, especially considering that some appear only briefly. Such is the case with Samuel L. Jackson, who features for all of about two minutes in the programme. Kate Winslet, on the other hand, is hardly off camera, playing the part of a foul-mouthed cynic. Hers and Patrick Stewart's are the most amusing episodes.
To Gervais and Merchant's credit, the stars are happy to send themselves up, appearing vain, arrogant, neurotic or generally despicable. In most episodes, Millman tries to find a way of persuading someone with influence to get him a few lines of dialogue - or even a few words of monologue - to further his acting career. But, somehow, he always sabotages his chances.