Ricky Gervais: 5 Awesome Performances And 5 That Sucked

1. Derek Noakes - Derek

The man who brought us The Office and Extras (and Life’s Too Short, but bar Liam Neeson’s improv let’s pretend that didn’t happen) eventually spent his goodwill with Derek. Seriously, I don’t know what’s more surprising: that he thought this was a good idea or that it wound up running for two seasons.

Gervais casts himself as an autistic carehome worker and the result just comes across as crass. It’s not funny, and you wouldn’t want to laugh even if the writing was better; there's no getting past how tactless it feels.

The actor has claimed the show was meant to be all about prejudice, with his performance sensitive in approach, but the finished product never stops being a caricature.

What's your favourite Ricky Gervais performance? And what's his worst? Let us know your take down in the comments.