Ricky Gervais: New series of Derek

1 February 2013

After a boat-rocking pilot last year, Ricky Gervais' Derek returned to Channel 4 with a full series this week.

Speaking ahead of the launch of Derek, Gervais said Derek was a return to the real values of The Office, his mockumentary set on the Slough Trading Estate. I've done a lot of media stuff with Extras and the Golden Globes and spoof things for Comic Relief, he said in the Making Of Derek video, released earlier this week. I sort of dealt in that, because it's irresistible to write about what you know. I worked in an office for ten years, I wrote about it. I was in the media, I wrote about it.

The Office had a pathos and there was a weight to it. There were three-dimensional characters. Derek is a return to those Office values. Real people, real problems, and more so. The Office touched on existentialism. But it touched on the existentialism of being 30. This touches on the existentialism of being 90 sometimes. So there's a bit more weight to that.