In the Netflix original series ‘Afterlife’, which has recently been greenlit for a second series, Ricky Gervais plays Tony, a newspaper journalist crippled by grief after his wife of 25 years dies.

His pain unravels through his relentless bullying of his almost loveable colleagues, cultivated by his unwavering misanthropy.

However, Tony is far too humorous to be your typical on-screen bully. Lenny, played by Tony Way, is the brunt of most of his outrageously non-PC jokes.

Endearingly, he allows himself to be Tony’s punch bag (metaphorically punching him with fat jokes), which makes the cruel torment somewhat tolerable.

Sandy (Mandheep Dhillon), a wide-eyed young journalist, is new to the paper and watches the disputes of her colleagues with amusement.

She’s sweet and loveable yet her character lacks development, which is unfortunate given her true concern for Tony. Desperately she says, “Please be happy Tony” and cries with him, which seems to poignantly echo the voice of viewers.

Tony’s gravely nihilistic attitude makes him feel invincible, calling it his ‘superpower’, and his despair for humanity and staunch atheism acts as a mirror for Gervais’ own philosophy, who’s just as outrageous in real life.

Gervais uses his writing as a device to display what grief is like for someone who’s certain there’s no afterlife, and in many parts of the programme, his tragic hopelessness is harrowing and certainly sob-worthy.

Although branded as a dark comedy, the sobs do seem to outweigh the laughs and if you’re looking for something light-hearted you’d be better off turning to ‘The Office’.

Nevertheless, Tony’s dark humour serves as a much needed coping mechanism, which in turn offers highly entertaining viewing at times.

Toward the end of the series, things grow less bleak for Tony. With the help of wise widow Anne (played by Downton Abbey’s Penelope Wilton) he’s guided into the realisation that he cannot live the rest of his life as a bitter and indignant pessimist.

His journey through grief continues as we’re left fairly, but not entirely, satisfied at his discovery that life after the death of his wife, Lisa, may not be as doomed as he had thought.

Ricky Gervais’s ‘Afterlife’ is a pleasantly unique performance in a TV culture so heavily reliant on the glamour of big budget productions.

The simplicity of the show’s set illuminates Gervais’ seamless script-writing and hard-hitting dialogue to make it one of the few watches where tears of laughter and sadness stream at once.

Although imperfect, Gervais provides an outstanding microcosm to grieving men and the struggles that we all may face at some point in our short yet precious time on Earth.

The show is most definitely a worthy watch. It proves that Gervais is so much more than a stand up act or provocateur, yet he still manages to encompass his old traits to create this marvellous showpiece.

To read more by Emily, check out her blog https://emilyjournalsblog.wordpress.com/ or follow her on Instagram @emilyredmanx