Final series of Ricky Gervais's 'After Life' gets mixed reviews from critics

Ricky Gervais writes and stars in After Life (Netflix)
Ricky Gervais stars in 'After Life'. (Netflix)

Ricky Gervais’s third series of After Life has arrived – but critics have mixed opinions.

The Netflix show about widower Tony (Gervais) has been a big hit, with the first two series getting the thumbs up from reviewers and audiences alike.

But some have said the show’s third run – which is also its last - hasn’t quite hit the mark.

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The Telegraph gave it just one out of five stars, saying it had “gone from perfectly watchable to a soggy pudding of a series that wallows in its own thin-skinned misanthropy”.

Ricky Gervais writes and stars in After Life (Netflix)
There have been mixed reviews for the third series of 'After Life'. (Netflix)

Critic Chris Bennion said in some ways the plot has not really moved on and that Tony’s life is much the same.

He also said that while the emotions are sincere “they have the depth of a Post-It note”.

It didn’t fare much better in The Independent, getting just two out of five stars in a review that said the series had been “bogged down by sentimentality”.

Reviewer Louis Chilton said there was lots to like, such as a strong cast and a great soundtrack, but that “it’s all undone by a descent into clumsy sentimentalism”.

The iNews review warned that fans hoping for a satisfying and tidy ending were likely to be disappointed.

EDITORIAL USE ONLY Ricky Gervais during the filming for the Graham Norton Show at BBC Studioworks 6 Television Centre, Wood Lane, London, to be aired on BBC One on Friday evening.
The third season of the show is the last. (PA) (PA)

“Not because questions are left unanswered, but because the questions have been abandoned altogether,” wrote Emily Baker.

However, the reviewer, who gave the series two stars, said there were some genuinely funny moments across the six episodes.

She was also full of praise for the performances given by Tim Key and Joe Wilkinson.

There have been other positive reviews, with NME saying that the series is going out on a high.

The publication gave the programme four out of five stars and said that while the show is not for everybody it is “resolutely human”.

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Writer James McMahon said the series was "unapologetically nasty, saccharine, lovely and poignant”.

“It’s also often a bit of a mess, a little bit like life itself,” he added, saying that the final scene is “as poignant as anything Gervais has put his name to before”.

Watch: After Life season three trailer

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