The Invention of Honesty
After Life is a Netflix series about a cynical widower with suicidal thoughts who finds the reason to live in looking after his charismatic dog. Despite a serious subject, the production has become one of the most-watched British shows of the decade.
As part of the Stories Festival, a 3-day celebration of cinematic storytelling, I attended the meeting with the actor, writer and director Ricky Gervais, held at the Picturehouse Central in London. It was a large scale event with co-stars Tom Basden, Jo Hartley and Tony Way in the panel and over 200 guests in the audience.
The inspiration for "After Life" came from the feeling of being restricted in expressing one's mind and opinions. "I wanted to create a fictional character who did not care about what he said and could get away with it", recalled Gervais in the interview about his journey from the script creation to the production of the popular show.
Come to think about it, After Life is an upside-down version of the world from The Invention of Lying. In his film from 2009, Gervais formed an alternative reality in which everyone tells the truth. In the Netflix series, we have a disingenuous world full of superficial politeness, with one man deciding to say whatever he wants, often provoking absurd situations.
The third season of "After Life" is coming. What can we expect?
The guests mentioned the fear of watering down the script by the pressure of creating more episodes. The upcoming season may be the last one.
Ricky Gervais spoke about how difficult it is to write a satisfying ending of a successful show without disappointing the audience or jeopardising the continuity of the storyline.
It was a great pleasure to participate in the meeting with the After Life's cast. My only regret would be that there was no opportunity for the audience to ask questions or speak to the actors.
Agnes Prygiel / London / 29.09.2021