Extras tells the story of Andy Millman, an actor who never seems to be able to get past being an extra. On the plus side, he never forgets his lines because he never has any. He’s been an actor for five years but thanks to his totally useless agent (Stephen Merchant) he has never actually gotten to act.

With guests like Patrick Stewart, Ben Stiller, Samuel L Jackson and Kate Winslet, playing slightly skewed versions of themselves this show is a lot of fun.

One of the extras on the DVD is entitled “The Difficult Second Album” and I think this is just that. It was always going to be difficult to follow up a hit series like “The Office” and while the new Ricky Gervais series “Extras” is good, I don’ think it ever quite reaches the the same heights.

That’s not to say this isn’t a good series. All six episodes are well written and have some absolutely hilarious moments.

I think my biggest problem is that Ricky Gervais is so identified with his role from “The Office” that it took me most of the six episodes to get used to him playing a different character.

If you are a Ricky Gervais fan or a bit of a film buff, this is definitely a fun series worth owning but I think most people will watch it once and leave it gathering dust on the shelf.

Recommendation: Buy it if you’re a fan but hire it if you’re just curious about the series.

Rating: 3/5