Extras - Series 1 DVD > Reviews > Background Action

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Liked it
Story	Good
Characters / Performances	Good
Special Effects	Standard
How does it compare to similar films?	Good

Advantages:	Funny, Decent Extras
Disadvantages:	Some of the big stars disappoint

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Where do you go to when your last project won a ton of awards and was a huge success with audiences and the critics? That was the task facing Ricky Gervais and his comedy partner Stephen Merchant. The Office had gone out on top after two series and two excellent Christmas closers.

Now with a bit of clout the pair decided to rope in some familiar faces for their new endeavour entitled 'Extras'. The show revolves around the life of Andy, a man in his forties scraping a living as an extra on various productions. Of course he sees himself as a proper actor without a real break. Joining him for the ride is fellow extra Maggie and together they encounter various scrapes and mishaps on set. Each episode revolves around a different production with a big star. The first series attracted the likes of Samuel L Jackson, Kate Winslet, Ben Stiller, Patrick Stewart, Ross Kemp…. and Les Dennis.

There was a bit of mixed reaction to the show on release. That was always inevitable, as people would expect another Office when it wasn't. Personally I think the show delivered some good laughs throughout. At its heart the show was about the struggle of life and how someone else always has it better. I'm sure many expected the episodes with the bigger stars to get the most attention. Well to be honest the episodes featuring Sam Jackson and Ben Still are probably the weakest. The best comes from Patrick Stewart, closely followed by the mental breakdown of Les Dennis.

The Stewart episode features one of the best comedy scenes of 2005 in my opinion. Andy approaches Stewart in his trailer and strikes up a conversation about scripts. Stewart expresses his ideas for a screenplay but all it involves is Stewart seeing women with no clothes. Dennis nearly comes close with his closing scene and the punch line 'if it's up there I'll give you the money myself'.

Extras is well worth a look and I hope there's a second series in the near future.

-Good Lord!-

Extras comes in a two-disc set. The first disc houses the six episodes of this first series. It worth noting that the first episode is the Ross Kemp one. On it's broadcast they started with Ben Stiller; I don't know the reason for the difference.

Sound and vision wise it's fairly solid. The 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer is pretty crisp for a TV production. The stereo soundtrack serves it's purpose, as you'd expect.

-S.A.S stands for super army soldiers-

The second disc contains a decent array of extras. The out-takes run for around twenty minutes and perhaps it's a little long. It mainly consists of Gervais cracking up at every given opportunity.

The deleted scenes section features a few gems that were obviously cut for pacing. A highlight is Andy's attempt at Reggae.

'Finding Leo' is a ten-minute featurette as Gervais and Merchant scrable around trying to contact Leonardo Di Caprio. Having had Jude Law pull out, they need a replacement and this shows the troubles they have.

'Taping Nigel' is a featurette featuring Gervais and his editor Nigel. Basically it's a torture tape as Gervais makes Nigel his prank monkey and makes him do various stupid things. The highlight being making Nigel wear a gimp mask made out of sellotape.

Finally there is a twenty-minute 'making of' where Gervais and Merchant talk about the idea for the show and making it. It also gives them opportunity to plug some of their merchandise.

-Finally-

Extras is a funny show with stuff that is re-watchable over and over. I'd definitely recommend it.