Derek: Episode One Review

Our verdict on the season premiere of Ricky Gervais' new drama.
There have been many strange televisual oddities these past few months, yet in this respect Ricky Gervais' comedy-drama Derek takes the cake. At times, it approaches melancholic levels of seriousness and reflection, with a genuine sense of pathos for the elderly residents of its focused nursing home. At other times, though, it's a typical Gervais comedy, albeit packed with a little more heart than some viewers may be used to even from The Office and Extras. So, now the show's back for its first full season, what's the verdict?

Unsurprisingly, writer and director Gervais plays it fairly safe with the narrative of the first full episode, investigating the challenges of counsellors interrupting in the staff's daily lives. The episode's strength, then, lies in its core cast, with the primary focus being on Gervais' protagonist, Karl Pilkington's Dougie, Kerry Godliman's Hannah and David Earl's Kev, and each of these minor British stars get their rightful times to shine with their own unique little moments. It's testament to the creative vision of the show's creator that such minuscule yet significant moments are featured throughout this premiere instalment, and these scenes really do hone in the sense that Gervais has another cult hit on his hands that should really resonate with UK viewers.

On a fundamental level, this character focus does inevitably mean that the episode's structure and narrative is rather basic, though. It's all fairly predictable fanfare both in terms of comedy and pathos, even if the latter moments do hold some extremely compassionate emotion for the more sensitive viewers. Overall, then, Derek's opening episode of Season One is a lovely showcase of what this little-but-ambitious programme has the potential to achieve, and if things continue to develop in a meaningful way, then there's potential for this to be one of the standout shows of 2013.
4/5