Netflix's After Life Review: 6 Ups & 3 Downs

3. It's Funny (And A Lot Better Written Than Some Gervais Shows)

Extras was arguably the funniest of Gervais' shows (aside for the animated Ricky Gervais Show, but that was more down to Karl Pilkington's genius more than anything), and while After Life isn't up to that consistent level, it's definitely very funny in places.

Thanks to a delicate balance between pathos and outright silliness, some of the most successful moments of comedy come from the strangest places too. For instance, the one emotional breakthrough Tony and his father (who suffers from dementia), played by David Bradley is undercut brutally when Tony's outpouring of emotion leads to his father shooting him down instantly.

There's also some humour in Tony's forthrightness - like his refusal to accept a child bully and subsequent use of a c-bomb and a murder threat - and there's more cause here for "old school" Gervais fans to be happy.

All-in-all, the writing is very strong for about 90% of the time and that's what it soars on.