‘If you don’t like it, you can leave’: A drop of the hard stuff Ricky Gervais won’t water down

Ricky Gervais knows full well that some people might be offended by his comedy.

But the Reading-born star (famous for hit shows such as The Office, Derek and Extras) is never going to filter himself – especially when performing on stage.

“If you don’t like it, you can leave,” the 58-year-old says matter-of-factly.

“I’ve not broken the law. I warn people. I played for 800,000 people – not one complained.

“It goes on Netflix (his stand-up special Humanity launched on the streaming service in 2018) and people take a little bit out of context.

“I could take every bad bit out and put that out and I’d get as many complaints, because they’ll find something.

“The cleaner and nicer you get the less you have left and they’ll still find it. You can’t make a joke without someone somewhere finding it offensive, so you shouldn’t try.”

That’s where the idea for Gervais’ most recent series – the dark comedy After Life – came from.

The Netflix show, which is about to return for a second run, follows journalist Tony (played by Gervais), who is suicidal following the death of his wife, Lisa (Kerry Godliman).

With only his pet dog to live for, he says and does whatever he wants, as he no longer cares what happens to him.

“I didn’t want to make it a vigilante thing. I wanted it to be real and I wanted it to be a comedy,” explains Gervais, when discussing the concept.

“So, I thought, ‘You could say what you wanted.’ And that came with the beginning of people trying to close down on free speech and ‘You shouldn’t offend anyone.’

“So, I thought that’s perfect. I can create a character that can say all the things that polite people are afraid to say. He’s got nothing to lose. He can’t be threatened by human resources cos he goes ‘I’ll kill myself.’”

In series two, we see Tony decide to try to become a better friend and colleague when he realises everyone is grappling with their own problems – especially after learning the Tambury Gazette, where he works, faces possible closure.

But he is still really struggling with grief, something Gervais recognises is a universal theme.

He says he’s had lots of fans share their own stories of loss with him since watching series one of After Life.

“It might be a week before or a year before, but everyone’s grieving about something, whether it’s your nan when you’re little, or a partner,” he notes.

“And that was interesting, because they’d never go up to a stranger and say that, but now they can.”

Has Gervais found writing about Tony a cathartic process?

“Yeah. And I think that’s where the comedy came, actually. Even though it was dark and I wanted people to feel sorry for him and I wanted it to be real. I mean, to start a sitcom with a woman in chemo leaving a message and you know she’s dead – that’s not Terry And June.

“But that’s what also makes you want to root for this man who’s nasty to everyone – even kids.”

The funnyman is referring to a memorable scene in series one when Tony walks past the local school and threatens a kid with a hammer because he found out they were bullying his nephew (we did say it’s a dark comedy).

“Parents have told me, ‘The thing with the hammer? I’ve wanted to do that.’ It’s like, if your kid’s being bullied, the rules go out the window,” says Gervais, who has been with his partner, author Jane Fallon, for more than 35 years.

He points out that his character’s not acting right.

“There are many other things Tony says or does which are terrible.”

After Life series 2 is now streaming on Netflix.