Picture from BBC
I have always been a fan and admirer of the comedian and writer Ricky Gervais, and believe that he hasn't put a foot wrong creatively. It could be something to do with his late start that meant that he had nothing to prove and he has never compromised in order to get his work out. When The Office was first shown on television it was totally on his terms, no laughter track, on BBC2 instead of straight after Eastenders on BBC1, and minimal advertising. He also took charge of casting and directed the series, and had they said no to any of these requests he would have walked. Andy Milman in Extras shows in series 2 how life could have been different in the parallel world in which Ricky agreed to anything to get on the box. Milman's autobiographical comedy drama When the Whistle Blows became everything he didn't want it to be and played to the lowest common denominator audience. The opening titles and feel of the fictional sitcom within Extras were brilliantly observed as the whole thing felt like a terrible ITV sitcom from the 1980s. It is Ricky's integrity that I have always admired the most, turning down offers that most comedians would jump at such as panel shows and adverts in order to maintain control of his work. Not for Gervais the cheap and nasty publicity machine, not this man.
Unfortunately, there is another comedian called Ricky Gervais who seems to be undoing all this good work and undermining the real Ricky Gervais by going against everything he stands for. It all began when the pretend Ricky Gervais appeared in a car advert, something the real Ricky (who can't drive) would never do. During the Red Nose Day telethon of 2013, Gervais revived the David Brent character in a sketch with Doc Brown. The real Ricky Gervais would have left it there as a quirky one-off for charity, despite having dissed telethons when a guest on Room 101, but the pretend Ricky Gervais used this as a springboard to bring back the character of Brent in a YouTube series called Learn Guitar With David Brent, something that might be considered a crass thing to do on a charity night. Also, the song from the Comic Relief sketch, 'Equality Street', was released as a free download clocking up millions of hits, shame nobody thought of charging for it because millions of pounds would have found its way to those who need it.
The real Ricky Gervais should really take out an injunction on the pretend Ricky Gervais before it goes too far because last night I saw something that the real Gervais (the one with artistic integrity) appeared on Children In Need to perform, in character, the title song from his new film Life on the Road. The real Ricky Gervais surely wouldn't do something as crass as plugging his movie/soundtrack album/songbook on a charity telethon? Not twice?
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