''Derek'' is a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English ...

comedy-drama television series starring, written by and directed by

Ricky Gervais Ricky Dene Gervais ( ; born 25 June 1961) is an English comedian, actor, writer, and director. He co-created, co-wrote, and acted in the British television sitcoms '' The Office'' (2001–2003), '' Extras'' (2005–2007), and '' An Idiot Abroad ...

. The

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

was produced by Derek Productions Ltd. for

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

and aired on 12 April 2012. Channel 4 describes the show as "A bittersweet comedy drama about a group of outsiders living on society's margins". On 9 May 2012, Channel 4 announced it had commissioned a full series, which aired from 30 January 2013. On 4 March 2013 (two days before the final episode of the first series was aired), they announced ''Derek'' had been recommissioned for a second series, to be shown again on Channel 4 and later on

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...

. The first series became available for streaming on Netflix on 12 September 2013. The second series, consisting of six episodes, started airing on 23 April 2014 on Channel 4 and concluded on 28 May 2014. In November 2014, Channel 4 announced that a 60-minute "final" special episode of ''Derek'' would air in the United Kingdom on 22 December 2014.

Genesis and pilot

The

pilot episode A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie), in United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television network or other dist ...

aired on 12 April 2012 on

. Filmed in a

mockumentary A mockumentary (a blend of ''mock'' and ''documentary''), fake documentary or docu-comedy is a type of film or television show depicting fictional events but presented as a documentary. These productions are often used to analyze or comment on ...

style, the programming is set mostly in a

nursing home A nursing home is a facility for the residential care of elderly or disabled people. Nursing homes may also be referred to as skilled nursing facility (SNF) or long-term care facilities. Often, these terms have slightly different meanings to i ...

, and centres on Derek, a helper at the home. The title character made his first appearance in the 2001 Edinburgh Fringe show ''Rubbernecker''. Gervais says the programming was inspired by his relatives who work in care homes: "Half my family are care workers. My sister works with kids with learning difficulties. My sister-in-law works in a care home for people with Alzheimer's. And four or five of my nieces work in old people's homes. I always write about what I know."

Plot

Gervais plays 50-year-old Derek Noakes, a care worker at Broad Hill, a home for the elderly; he has worked there for three years. He likes watching

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

shows and

game show A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or demonstrative and are typically directed by a host, ...

s, and is interested in celebrities,

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most ...

and, above all, talking about animals. The viewer is told he is kind, helpful and selfless, with good intentions. He is vulnerable because of his childlike naivety and distractions from society. He is ridiculed and ostracised, as well as marginalised by mainstream society because of his social awkwardness and lack of inhibition. Derek says it is more important to be kind than to be clever or good-looking. Some commentators called him

autistic The autism spectrum, often referred to as just autism or in the context of a professional diagnosis autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or autism spectrum condition (ASC), is a neurodevelopmental condition (or conditions) characterized by difficulti ...

, although Gervais firmly denies this. Gervais, in fact, refuses to confirm whether Derek is intellectually-challenged, autistic, or otherwise.

Cast

Main characters

as Derek Noakes, an employee of the care home *

Kerry Godliman Kerry Anna Godliman (born November 1973) is an English actor and comedian best known for her roles in '' Derek'', ''Bad Move'' and ''After Life''. Early life Godliman was born in Perivale, West London, and trained at Rose Bruford College ...

as Hannah, the care home's manager * David Earl as Kevin "Kev" Twine, a

homeless Homelessness or houselessness – also known as a state of being unhoused or unsheltered – is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and adequate housing. People can be categorized as homeless if they are: * living on the streets, also kn ...

, unemployed

alcoholic Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomina ...

who hangs around the care home *

Karl Pilkington Karl Pilkington (born 23 September 1972) is an English presenter, comedian, actor, voice-artist, producer and author. After working with Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant as producer on their XFM radio show, Pilkington became a co-host of '' ...

as Dougie, the home's caretaker (Main Series 1, guest Series 2) * Colin Hoult as Geoff, the home's caretaker replacing Dougie after he leaves (Series 2 and Special) *

Holli Dempsey Holli Dempsey (born 11 May 1990) is an English actress and comedian. She played Vicky in Ricky Gervais’s '' DerekDerek's Ladies Kerry Godliman And Holli Dempsey'Derek's Ladies Kerry Godliman And Holli Dempsey Reveal What Kind Of 'Office' Ri ...

as Vicky, initially working in the care home on community service, she goes on to become a volunteer, an employee and eventually cover Hannah's maternity leave as acting manager *

Brett Goldstein Brett Goldstein (born 17 July 1980) is a British actor, comedian, and writer. He is best known for writing and starring as Roy Kent in the Apple TV+ sports comedy series ''Ted Lasso'' (2020–present), for which he received the Primetime Emmy A ...

as Tom, Hannah's love interest and grandson of Annie, a resident of the carehome

Regular characters

* Ninette Finch as Annie, Tom's grandmother *

Ruth Bratt Ruth Bratt is an English actress and comedian. Bratt has appeared in the BAFTA award winning BBC2 series '' People Just Do Nothing''. In 2022 she was at the Edinburgh Festival in "Starship Improvise" with the Mischief Theatre. Life Bratt was a ...

as Mary * Margaret Towner as Edna *

Joan Linder Joan may refer to: People and fictional characters *Joan (given name), including a list of women, men and fictional characters *: Joan of Arc, a French military heroine * Joan (surname) Weather events * Tropical Storm Joan (disambiguation), multi ...

as Joan * Kay Noone as Lizzie *

Vilma Hollingbery Vilma Jean Napier Brown (21 July 1932 11 September 2021), known professionally as Vilma Hollingbery, was a British character actress. She appeared in various television programmes and films over a span of sixty years, and was known for her app ...

as Elsie *

Tim Barlow Michael John Leigh Barlow (born 18 January 1936), whose stage name is Tim Barlow or sometimes Timothy Barlow, is an English actor who has performed many small roles in a variety of films, television programmes and plays. Barlow left the army ...

as Jack * Arthur Nightingale as Arthur *

Tony Rohr Tony Rohr (born 1940) is an Irish actor. Career Rohr played Grandad in '' The Lakes'' and Solomon Featherstone in ''Middlemarch''. He has also appeared in ''The Bill'', ''The Long Good Friday'', ''McVicar'', '' Softly, Softly'', ''Crown Court' ...

as Anthony, Derek's father * Sheila Collings as Sheila *

Barry Martin Barry Martin (born 1943) is a British artist associated with the kinetic art movement of the 1960s, in which physical movement was incorporated into art. Martin has also explored ideas of movement in the activities of games: among artists whose ...

as Joe * Prem Modgil as Prem *

Blanche Williams Blanche may refer to: People *Blanche (singer), stage name of Belgian singer and songwriter Ellie Delvaux *Blanche (given name) *Blanche (surname) Places Australia *Blanche Harbor (South Australia), a bay on the east coast of Eyre Peninsula **Bl ...

as Precious *

Laura Jane Hudson Laura may refer to: People * Laura (given name) * Laura, the British code name for the World War I Belgian spy Marthe Cnockaert Places Australia * Laura, Queensland, a town on the Cape York Peninsula * Laura, South Australia * Laura Bay, a bay o ...

as Jill * Pamela Lyne as Marge

Guest characters

* Doc Brown as Deon, works at the care home on community service - 1 episode *

Joe Wilkinson Joseph Roland Wilkinson (born 2 May 1975) is an English comedian, actor and screenwriter. He began his comedy career in 2004 and has supported Alan Carr and Russell Howard on tour. He has also made numerous appearances on television programmes ...

as Cliff Twine, Kev's brother - 2 episodes * Vicky Hall as Tracy, Derek's girlfriend - 2 episodes * Toby Foster as Les, Tom's work friend and best man at his wedding - 1 episode *

Tony Way Tony Paul Way (born 7 October 1978) is an English actor, comedian, and writer. He is best known for playing characters in a number of British comedy TV series including '' Extras'', ''After Life'', ''Black Books ''Black Books'' is a Brit ...

as Pete, Jack's grandson - 1 episode *

Robert Vahey Robert Vahey (1932 – 29 October 2013), was a British actor, known for his supporting roles in Samson and Delilah (1959), '' Z-Cars'' (1972), '' Secret Army'' (1978), '' Only Fools and Horses'' (1983 & 1986), '' Mapp and Lucia'' (1985), ''Wycliff ...

as Gerald, Lizzie's husband - 1 episode *

Susannah Wise Susannah Walker Wise is an English television and stage actress. Life and career She trained as an actress at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, graduating in 1995. Wise is best known for her work in the British soap opera '' EastEn ...

as Rebecca, Hannah's former classmate and Jill's daughter - 1 episode *

Ashley McGuire Ashley McGuire is a British actress, known for her roles as Big Mandy in the BBC comedy series ''This Country'' and Vicky Houghton in the BBC One series '' This Is Going to Hurt''. Life and career McGuire attended Rose Bruford College of Speech ...

as Shelley, Marge's daughter - 1 episode *

Tom Basden Thomas William Basden (born 30 November 1980) is an English actor, comedy writer, and a member of the British four-man sketch group Cowards. He has written and performed extensively for comedy shows on the BBC and Channel 4 and often collabo ...

as Autograph expert - 1 episode * Tom Hughes as Andy, a love interest for Vicky - 1 episode

Episodes

Pilot (2012)

Series 1 (2013)

Series 2 (2014)

Special (2014)

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

the first series holds a rating of 53% based on 32 critics, with the consensus reading: "Derek is as irreverent as might be expected from a show starring Ricky Gervais, but this time he brings a surprising amount of depth and empathy to the title character." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, the first series of the show earned a rating of 64 out of 100, indicating "generally favorable reviews". The show generated occasional controversy due to a perception by some viewers it mocks

intellectual disability Intellectual disability (ID), also known as general learning disability in the United Kingdom and formerly mental retardation, Rosa's Law, Pub. L. 111-256124 Stat. 2643(2010). is a generalized neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by signif ...

. Tanya Gold, writing for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...

'', dismissed Gervais's claims in ''Derek'', he was satirising prejudice against disabled people, instead saying it "feels more like lazy cruelty than satire". Jack Seale criticised the show for relying on elements and characterisations from other programming by Gervais. ''The Guardian''s Sam Wollaston found it to be "not very good", and says "the whole mockumentary thing feels tired now". Tom Sutcliffe of ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publishe ...

'' questioned the wisdom of commissioning the programming: "To my mind, the pilot of Ricky Gervais's comedy about an assistant in a retirement home already fully explored its awkward – and testing – balance of comedy and emotion." About the titular character, he wrote "Derek's redeeming qualities are the hardest to take – a sense of self-congratulation at the refinement of its sentiments that has a little bit of the bully in it, too." Gervais' performance as ''Derek'' received mixed reviews. Diane Werts of ''Newsday'' reacted positively, saying "Gervais nailed it". Curt Wagner of ''Red Eye'' says Gervais "surprises with some tender, quiet acting, and obvious love of the character. Rob Owen of ''

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', also known simply as the PG, is the largest newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Descended from the ''Pittsburgh Gazette'', established in 1786 as the first newspaper published west of the All ...

'' says "although there could be an ick factor to Mr. Gervais playing a character with developmental issues, that turns out not to be the case. Mr. Gervais creates a character, not a caricature." On the other hand, ''The Guardian''s Sam Wollaston says "Ricky Gervais is out of his depth playing a character that isn't based on his worst foibles." Terry Ramsey of ''The Telegraph'' says "There is Gervais's cringe-making performance in the title role. I'm sorry, but Derek is simply Ricky Gervais in a patterned jumper with a cricked neck. Gervais is not a character actor, and what Derek needs to bring him alive is to be more believable. What he really needs is someone else playing him." The second series of ''Derek'' generated some positive reviews. The second series currently holds a 67% based on 9 critics on

. Hank Stuever of ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...

'' reacted positively, saying "Derek is an honest and often charming endeavor." Kyle Anderson of ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cult ...

'' also praised the show, but says the absence of

hurt the series, saying: "The second series mostly upholds the first's tricky precedent, but the absence of regular Gervais associate Karl Pilkington means the yuks are a bit less hearty." Terry Ramsey of ''The Telegraph'' wrote, "We didn't need a second series of Ricky Gervais's comedy drama Derek." In a review in ''The Guardian'', Sam Wollaston says "That's the other big problem with ''Derek''...it's not very smart. Or very funny. Or very good." '' Msn.com'' says "Ricky Gervais' ''Derek'' remains a mawkish mess. Where to begin? The mockumentary format is moribund. The ethics are muddy. The tone is all over the place in everything but its consistent condescension." Matt D of Unrealitytv.co.uk agrees, saying "The primary reasons for this are the imbalance in tone and Gervais' central performance both of which stop ''Derek'' from a truly enjoyable program." AV Club says "''Derek'' has all the creative ambition of n online video of little piggies and bunnies doing cute things" Indie Wire says "Series two is all over the map." Michael Hogan of ''The Telegraph'' says Derek is a "saccharine series" and "dreadful". Serena Davies, from the same publication, says "the show seems to have been devised by someone of Derek's limited intelligence... will not bewasting any more of my time watching this rather flimsy, curiously pointless program." The special was given two stars out of five by ''The Telegraph''. The reviewer, Ed Power, criticised the episode for the "weak performance" from Gervais and the "sub-

Forrest Gump ''Forrest Gump'' is a 1994 American comedy-drama film directed by Robert Zemeckis and written by Eric Roth. It is based on the 1986 novel of the same name by Winston Groom and stars Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Gary Sinise, Mykelti Williamson ...

sympathy milking". He described it as "glib" and "manipulative". ''The Guardian'' reviewer Julia Raeside concurred, adding "I can find no comedy in it, and it lacks the emotional truth required for a drama."

Awards and nominations

DVD releases

The complete first series of ''Derek'' was released on DVD and Blu-ray on 11 November 2013. The complete second series of ''Derek'' was released on DVD on 17 November 2014. A two-disc set containing the first and second series on DVD was also released on 17 November 2014. Derek: The Special was released on DVD on 26 October 2015. A complete collection set was released featuring series and the special.

References

External links

''Derek'' on Channel 4
* {{Ricky Gervais 2012 British television series debuts 2014 British television series endings 2010s British comedy-drama television series 2010s British workplace comedy television series 2010s British workplace drama television series British mockumentary television series Channel 4 comedy dramas English-language television shows Television shows set in London Television series created by Ricky Gervais