On the back of high ratings (3.2 million) rather than critical acclaim, Channel 4 has commissioned a full series of the Ricky Gervais vehicle Derek.
Initially billed as a sitcom, Channel 4 now describes the show as a ‘comedy drama’ when using the show to advertise its on-demand service, after a number critics and viewers dismissed the show as not being funny enough.
The programme had initially sparked controversy due to the lack of clarity with regards to the eponymous character’s mental state, with comedian Stewart Lee saying that the Gervais creation had similar characteristics to that of a person with Down’s Syndrome and stating:
“…[when I was] watching Gervais’s Derek Noakes on YouTube, I imagined feral children trailing real Dereks around supermarkets, chanting “Derek Derek”, as they doubtless would were the series to be made, and wondered if, sometimes, discretion is not the better part of valour.”
Derek will air in early 2013.
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