Extras (BBC 1), Parkison: The Final Conversation (ITV), Sense and Sensibility (BBC 1), David Cameron’s Incredible Journey (BBC 2), The Hidden Story of Jesus (Channel 4)
We said goodbye to Michael Parkinson and Andy Millman over Christmas. Andy Millman was the hero of Extras, whose finale went out on BBC1 on 27 December. This was what I think of as a sit-traj, a comedy with more misery than laughs. It was mainly about humiliation: Andy’s doll, based on his character in his grisly sitcom, is outsold by a Jade Goody doll that screeches racist abuse. A harridan from the Guardian (I genuinely have no idea which of my colleagues was meant) harasses him into admitting he’s been lying. The Ivy has no table for him. Schoolboys yell abuse at Darren, the world’s most hopeless agent. The real George Michael is shown cruising on Hampstead Heath and Andy points the paparazzi his way. Only Hale and Pace are more thoroughly humiliated. Maggie lives in a one-room flat and works as a cleaner. Finally, Andy realises he has become a monster, regrets it and goes off with Maggie in a cosy sentimental ending, very much like the finale of The Office. Which was kind, since it was the only cheery moment in the whole 85 minutes. It was all rather odd. Ricky Gervais himself seems to be loving his fame. Is he trying to tell us that inside every gloating celeb there’s a self-loathing nonentity trying to get out?
Parky met all his favourite guests in Parkinson — the Final Conversation (ITV, 15 December). The received wisdom is that Parky was a good interviewer because he let his subjects talk — unlike, say, Jonathan Ross, who is the only star of his show, or Richard Madeley, whose guests sometimes sit slack-jawed, wondering if they will ever get to say anything.
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