Derek Promising, Pilkington Perfect

by Jack “mars bah bah bah” Scrine @mangrovejackson

The opening paragraph of this review is being penned on Jan. 29; about 24 hours before the airing of Ricky Gervais’s latest project Derek, the story of a dim (but not mentally challenged, have no fear) and loveable man played by Gervais, with permanently clenched teeth, a dopey look on his face, and a heart of gold. He works at a nursing home alongside a cast of boring yet noble, lovable yet humble characters. I, like many, am nervous for this series. Life’s Too Short, despite what Gervais will say otherwise, was his weakest ever work. Initial reviews are panning Derek as even worse.

Many “Pilkipedians” and I desperately want it to be good. When you invest more than a decade into the notion a celebrity is a comic genius, and he starts acting like a turnip, you begin to get worried. There are those celebrities who can act obnoxiously and still earn your respect through the quality of their work. Sports stars are afforded even more leeway here, as long as they’re winning games. It’s when the work starts to reflect what we as fans observe of the celebrity’s character, that things get ugly. That’s all I’ll say on the topic of Gervais’s recent personality and work; I wouldn’t want him to Tweet my “Gorp” name to his minions. Don’t worry, Ricky, I’m an atheist. We’re cool, yeah?

There is hope, because the Derek pilot was great. As far as I was concerned, it subtly navigated that path between bland tragedy and comedy that first got Gervais to make me spill tears and laugh in the same breath. And I did again at the end of Derek’s pilot episode. Derek’s fall into the nursing home pond caused a belly laugh; and was a throwback to a story Gervais once told about his dear old mum falling into a pond full of leeches many years ago. It was the kind of moment that rewarded long-term fans of the man and his stories.

So, despite a few sharp and critical initial reviews of Derek in its longer, series form, we’re ready to cheer Gervais on, though it does feel a bit like watching your team go into a match with a couple of key injured players. Commence 24-minute drum-roll. And guess what? The world hasn’t ended. It’s almost a relief after watching the second episode of Derek that not many superlatives come to mind; in a positive or negative sense. Derek is promising without being polished, it is flawed without being painful, and it is interesting without being, well, The Office.

Reviews slating Derek as “the worst thing Gervais has ever done” are just plain wrong. It’s far from it, and shows signs of becoming even better. A few minor quibbles and adjustments could fix many of the problems I had with it. Lose the dramatic piano music, ease off on a couple of unnecessarily explicit, message-driven scenes, and perhaps slow down a bit, and it could even be Gervais back to his best.

The real gem and standout performance comes in the form of Ricky’s long-time bald Manc mate, and namesake of this website, Karl Pilkington. Dodgy-looking wig with visible glue marks attaching it to his roundy baldy head aside, Pilkington steals the show as Dougie in the most understated way possible. Has Pilkington been a great actor waiting for his chance to shine for the past decade, or has Gervais simply cast him in the one role to which he is perfectly suited? Only time and future projects will tell. For those of us who’ve watched him bloom from sound guy at a tin-pot radio station, to podcast sensation, to grumpy Michael Palin, this role is just the icing on the cake. Who would have thought, when Gervais was announcing on the radio that he was going to make Pilkington famous, that we’d see it come full-circle, to Pilkington saving a scene in which Gervais clumsily tries to emphasise that people with disabilities are just the same as everybody else? There were shades of Brent’s majestic “f*** off” to bully Chris Finch in Pilkington’s performance in this scene.

I have some concerns with the other two main supporting characters. Derek’s alcoholic sex-fiend mate Kev (David Earl) seems to be a caricature, an instigator of rotten behaviour without much else to him. But it’s early days. Gervais certainly has more in store for this disgusting individual. More than likely, a redemption scene of sorts, and nobody can deny his skill at crafting such classic television moments. Hannah, played by Kerry Godliman, suffers a little from Gervais’s typecasting of female lead roles in his television shows. There seems to be a little bit too much Maggie Jacobs and Dawn Tinsley in Hannah; uncertain, softly spoken, insecure, kind. Once again though, it is easy to imagine Gervais has more ambitious moments in mind for her before this series is through.

We’ll be watching, and we’re happy to stow the pitchforks and give Derek a pass with credit, so far. Bravo.