I thought he did a really good job of making a sitcom about a character with special needs yet not making the special needs the joke. Very respectful and funny at the same time. I couldn't believe the backlash. The prejudice that it was making fun of people with mental health issues when it was actually doing the opposite. Looking forward to it tonight.
Ricky Gervais is a genius, incredibly thought provoking yet hilarious first episode. Has potential to be his best work yet, coming from the world's biggest Office fan.
It isn't one of those shows where you laugh from start to finish but he does seem to play Derek really well. Especially after watching The Undateables and seeing how autistic people etc act it is actually very close.
I can't say I've watched the undateables, but in my opinion there are a lot of laugh out loud moments, but also a number of profound moments. Think he's really struck the balance and is genuinely promoting a good cause and good on him because he's an absolute legend.
He takes a lot of stick and I believe its unwarranted 99% of the time.
I am a fan of Ricky Gervais, but I have to say his portrayal of the Derek character is awful.
Ruins the whole programme for me. It's way OTT, cheesy, unbelievable and caricature-ish. It's terrible acting and totally ridiculous.
Massive fan of The Office and Extras and I like nearly everything he does, but his take on someone with learning difficulties is embarrassingly unconvincing and plain dreadful. It's just an awful portrayal of a character. It's a village hall am-dram farce type performance from him. Just dreadful acting.
His take on the character of Derek spoils the whole show for me, which is a shame.