Ricky Gervais has revealed why he turned down another season of After Life.
The comedian stars in the series as a local journalist named Tony, who is struggling to cope with the death of his wife Lisa (played by Kerry Godliman).
The third season of the show premiered on Netflix last month, and the ending had viewers in floods of tears.
Speaking to Radio Times about the show, Ricky said: “The reason I thought it had legs for a third series, unlike the others [I’ve made], was that I’ve created such a big world. It’s a massive world, with so many characters, and it’s about a bigger issue and bigger subjects. I needed a bit more time.”
The actor went on to say that he “didn’t plan the third” season, adding: “I never plan a second. I hope there’s a second, but I even made the first season [in a way] that it could end there if something happened. Like if no one watched it, if the broadcaster said, ‘That was the biggest flop ever’, or I got hit by a bus.”
“And I never really planned the third until it happened. I said to Netflix, ‘I’ll do a third if the second goes down a storm’, because you don’t want to do it for the sake of it. You want it to be demanded.”
“I’ve really got to end it now,” Ricky said. “It’s mad to end it now. It seems mad on every level, but I think it’s the right decision artistically. It’s a finite story, and that’s its strength.”
When asked if he definitely won’t make another season, the 60-year-old said: “Never say never. You never know what’s going to happen. But at the moment, I’m 99% sure this should be it.”
“I don’t think I can top that ending. And it’s not the end. It’s there forever. It’ll always be around. People are watching it for the 10th time. And hopefully, they’re going to be watching it when I’m dead. I think it’s the right decision [to leave it there]. In 10 years’ time, I think I’ll be proved right.”
Speaking to Digital Spy last month about the show’s emotional ending and what it means, Ricky said: “It’s just that life goes on, you know?”
“When we’re all dead and buried, that field’s still there, the Tambury Fair is still going, that tree is still there, and it’s basically said that we all die, but not today.”
“That’s what the ending is saying. ‘We all die, but not today’. […] Enjoy it while you can, life is so finite. Whenever you are born, and whenever you die, it’s all over. So enjoy that bit, that tiny little bit.”
“You don’t exist for 13 and a half billion years, then you have 80-90 years if you’re lucky, and then you die, never to exist again. So all you’ve got is experience and then you’re dead and buried and forgotten,” he added.
Seasons 1 to 3 of After Life are on Netflix now.
