Derek Episode 6 Review

Our verdict on the season finale of Ricky Gervais' inspired comedy-drama.
Well, quite frankly, where to start? Easy, really- if you missed the final episode of Derek's first season on Channel 4, whether by accident or due to an apathy towards the varied past few weekly outings, make it your mission to find 'Episode 6' and watch it right now. Why? Another easy one to answer- quite simply, it's one of the best instalments of 30-minute television that I've had the pleasure to witness in some time.

At first, the premise for this conclusive episode of the season (now announced to be the first of at least two runs) appeared as predictable as ever: Derek and his pals attended the funeral of one of their passed patients in a local town. Where the finale deviated from the norm, though, was by its central characters then taking stock of their own lives, where they were at, what they would hope to aspire to and other conceptual issues. At times, this stunning retrospective piece bordered on eerie hyper-realism, the words in these characters' mouths rightly echoing much of the sentiments that I'm sure many of us would have of our own lives and indeed those same aspirations of pure kindness.

There was a part of this reviewer that always wondered if Derek could successfully manage a full-scale standalone leap into its dramatic and emotional regions for at least a single week. With 'Episode 6', that was truly proved to be the case, as Derek's own father (a little-known actor playing him) was thrown into the mix. Ricky Gervais pitched his protagonist perfectly here, a disorientated and morally stunted child who needed time to accumulate to the return of a fatherly figure in his life. As with The Newsroom last year, Derek showed without fail that successful implementation of Coldplay's beautiful Fix You can make for some of the greatest television around.

At a push, perhaps it could be argued there are still one or two jokes in there, and these could detract for some, but for the majority that's not the case and it's an approach that works for the better. Derek 'Episode 6', then, is without question a beautiful televisual masterpiece that pulls at the heartstrings with aplomb and threw in impactful, thought-provoking moments aplenty to leave an initial legacy for the show that won't soon be forgotten. It's fantastic news to hear that Derek will be back for a second season in 2014, and that new run of episodes can't come soon enough. Bravo, Ricky.
5/5