Extras

Having missed the start of The Office, you know what? I went one better and completely missed the first series of Extras. I only watched the first series on DVD one Christmas. Again written by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, this is set in the world of TV and film extras.

Extras is a co-production between the BBC and HBO. The basic premise, certainly of the first series is the interaction between the major stars of the film or programme being shot and the extras - generally focussing upon Gervais's character Andy Millman and his long time friend Maggie Jacobs (Ashley Jenson). Then there is the relationship between Millman and his long suffering agent, Darren Lamb (Merchant). Finally we have Barry from Eastenders played by Shaun Williamson - everybody, bar Millman calls him Barry or Barry from Eastenders.

The first series was shown first on BBC2 between 21 July 2005 and 25 August 2005 (it started later on HBO - 25 September 2005). Series 2 ran from 14 September 2006 until 19 October 2006 (started 14 February 2007 on HBO). The Christmas Special was shown on 27 December 2007 on BBC2, with an earlier date of 16 December 2007 on HBO.