1
00:00:01,240 --> 00:00:04,517
Just to explain very briefly
what's happening.

2
00:00:04,600 --> 00:00:07,433
I don't know if you're familiar with Extras,

3
00:00:07,520 --> 00:00:10,672
but at the end of the last series,
Andy Millman, the character I play,

4
00:00:10,760 --> 00:00:15,675
he got a chance to make a sitcom, okay?
So this is when we first see the sitcom.

5
00:00:15,760 --> 00:00:19,196
This series starts with the sitcom happening
and it's not how he planned.

6
00:00:19,280 --> 00:00:22,875
People have interfered,
it's become very broad and childish,

7
00:00:22,960 --> 00:00:24,712
and it's... It's just very, very bad.

8
00:00:26,160 --> 00:00:29,312
# Tick tock, alarm clock
I'm gonna be late

9
00:00:29,400 --> 00:00:32,233
# Porridge, toast, kids, car
Bloody school gate

10
00:00:32,320 --> 00:00:34,960
# Factory floor, what a chore
Another week's graft

11
00:00:35,040 --> 00:00:37,919
- # And 50 times a day I hear
- RAY: Are you having a laugh?

12
00:00:38,000 --> 00:00:40,753
# Whatever happened to my dreams?
Is this the life I chose?

13
00:00:40,840 --> 00:00:44,037
# The highlight of my ruddy day
is when the whistle blows

14
00:00:44,880 --> 00:00:47,474
# When the whistle blows #

15
00:00:47,840 --> 00:00:51,913
It wasn't that we were necessarily saying
that anyone who does broad comedy

16
00:00:52,000 --> 00:00:55,516
or knock-about comedy is bad, it was that,
"Don't do it if that's not what you wanna do."

17
00:00:55,600 --> 00:00:59,798
If you wanna be a person of grand
ambitions and integrity, as Andy wants to,

18
00:00:59,880 --> 00:01:03,236
then don't compromise
because you'll find it painful.

19
00:01:03,320 --> 00:01:05,994
You can either carry on and record
this show as we've already planned,

20
00:01:06,080 --> 00:01:09,357
or you can burn all your bridges with the
BBC and you can go back to being an extra

21
00:01:09,440 --> 00:01:12,751
and then you can work your way
back up again from nothing.

22
00:01:12,840 --> 00:01:14,751
What do you want to do?

23
00:01:16,520 --> 00:01:18,955
GERVAIS:
Andy does want to be famous, really,

24
00:01:19,040 --> 00:01:24,240
because he's tired of scrabbling around
and getting, you know, scraps from the table.

25
00:01:24,320 --> 00:01:26,197
And he's stood at a crossroads

26
00:01:26,280 --> 00:01:30,478
when he even accepted to do a show that
he knew he probably wouldn't be proud of.

27
00:01:30,560 --> 00:01:33,029
And I suppose the whole series,

28
00:01:33,120 --> 00:01:36,317
if it's got a message,
is sort of "be careful what you wish for".

29
00:01:41,120 --> 00:01:43,953
I'm sure when everybody
heard that Extras was going to be

30
00:01:44,040 --> 00:01:48,079
the Gervais-Merchant next project,
they were worried that it would be

31
00:01:48,160 --> 00:01:52,154
a kind of in-joke about acting,
and that it was only for other actors

32
00:01:52,240 --> 00:01:55,870
or people who thought they were hip to what
acting was about and film sets were about.

33
00:01:55,960 --> 00:01:58,713
But it isn't.
It somehow takes the side of those

34
00:01:58,800 --> 00:02:03,829
who attentively, intelligently and ironically
and any other adverb-ly

35
00:02:03,920 --> 00:02:08,994
watch film and television,
and sort of is on their side.

36
00:02:09,080 --> 00:02:12,436
He's our man inside,
although he is a professional as well.

37
00:02:12,520 --> 00:02:14,591
It's very hard to explain
quite what the appeal of it is.

38
00:02:15,000 --> 00:02:18,755
Shaun, on EastEnders, they started to turn
his character into a joke

39
00:02:18,840 --> 00:02:22,879
and he walked away at the top of his game.
That's called integrity.

40
00:02:22,960 --> 00:02:27,591
Okay, it doesn't matter what happens
to him now 'cause he's got his dignity.

41
00:02:36,680 --> 00:02:39,911
People are fascinated by fame
and chasing fame,

42
00:02:40,000 --> 00:02:41,559
being famous, having been famous.

43
00:02:41,640 --> 00:02:44,837
And so to us,
it seems like it's as valid a subject

44
00:02:44,920 --> 00:02:48,550
as, you know,
class used to be in '70s sitcoms.

45
00:02:48,640 --> 00:02:52,759
It is a comedy and it's extremely funny,
but it does open up all these questions

46
00:02:52,840 --> 00:02:58,199
about what on earth we do, what relationship
we have forged with television, with actors,

47
00:02:58,280 --> 00:03:01,159
with drama itself, with celebrity,

48
00:03:01,240 --> 00:03:05,598
with the whole nature of the thing
that most human beings in this country

49
00:03:05,680 --> 00:03:08,798
spend far too much time doing,
which is sitting and watching television.

50
00:03:08,880 --> 00:03:11,076
I do a huge amount of it.

51
00:03:11,160 --> 00:03:13,390
One should remember Noel Coward,

52
00:03:13,480 --> 00:03:15,312
who was asked once whether he saw
a television programme.

53
00:03:15,400 --> 00:03:18,950
He said, "Television is not for watching,
it is for being on."

54
00:03:19,120 --> 00:03:22,397
The first day I left the set
and went home in the car,

55
00:03:22,480 --> 00:03:25,757
I don't think I'd felt that confused
for quite a long time.

56
00:03:25,840 --> 00:03:30,152
I've been without a man so long,
I think I'd say yes if Ray asked me out.

57
00:03:30,240 --> 00:03:34,677
- My ears are burning.
- Maybe I can last a few more years.

58
00:03:36,320 --> 00:03:40,518
I didn't actually know what I'd done at all.
'Cause there I am, I'm in a sitcom

59
00:03:40,600 --> 00:03:44,514
that Liza's agreed to be in
'cause she thinks it's a good vehicle for her,

60
00:03:44,600 --> 00:03:47,513
and here I am talking about myself
as somebody else as well.

61
00:03:47,600 --> 00:03:49,796
That's sort of a bit marshmallow-head.

62
00:03:49,880 --> 00:03:53,555
Well, Rita, I know you've had your problems,
but I want you to know this.

63
00:03:53,640 --> 00:03:58,157
- The door to my office is always open.
- Thank you, Mr Stokes.

64
00:03:58,240 --> 00:04:02,393
Yeah, I think it's the bloody hinges.
Get off your arse and fix it, will you?

65
00:04:02,480 --> 00:04:06,553
The sitcom's crap. Only, it's my vehicle.

66
00:04:06,640 --> 00:04:11,510
And somewhere, I think I felt in my marrow,
I felt a bit sort of let down.

67
00:04:12,280 --> 00:04:15,989
A bit sad that I'd said yes to that.
A bit desperate.

68
00:04:16,400 --> 00:04:18,755
I genuinely am fond of
When The Whistle Blows.

69
00:04:18,840 --> 00:04:21,195
It does make me laugh,
and Ray makes me laugh.

70
00:04:21,960 --> 00:04:26,079
- My ears are burning.
- I think I can last a few more years.

71
00:04:26,160 --> 00:04:27,798
Morning, campers.

72
00:04:30,080 --> 00:04:35,837
Andy is the straight man. And as important
as Andy Millman is in the show,

73
00:04:35,920 --> 00:04:40,073
it's not as much fun doing Andy,
a normal man, who's surrounded by idiots,

74
00:04:40,160 --> 00:04:41,594
as suddenly going...

75
00:04:41,680 --> 00:04:44,115
(COMICAL NOISES)

76
00:04:44,200 --> 00:04:45,520
(HIGH-PITCHED GIGGLE)

77
00:04:45,600 --> 00:04:48,797
Oh, Mr Stokes. Will you be nice to her?

78
00:04:52,360 --> 00:04:54,510
And you feel guilty 'cause you think,
"Well, this is easy."

79
00:04:54,600 --> 00:04:56,716
Anyone can put on a wig
and funny glasses and go...

80
00:04:57,560 --> 00:05:00,678
But then you see how far you can go.

81
00:05:01,040 --> 00:05:03,873
GOBBLER: I don't get it.
RITA: Neither does his wife.

82
00:05:03,960 --> 00:05:05,280
Oh, you...

83
00:05:06,960 --> 00:05:08,758
(LAUGHING) I'm sorry!

84
00:05:09,320 --> 00:05:12,870
- MERCHANT: How was that toned down?
- (LAUGHING) I don't... I don't...

85
00:05:12,960 --> 00:05:16,954
This is what I can't resist.
This is the move I can't resist.

86
00:05:18,840 --> 00:05:20,638
I just, I don't know...

87
00:05:20,720 --> 00:05:24,953
We even thought of doing
one whole episode where, almost certainly,

88
00:05:25,040 --> 00:05:27,395
I would also play my sister.

89
00:05:27,480 --> 00:05:29,915
- Definitely would play his sister.
- Split-screen.

90
00:05:30,000 --> 00:05:32,514
Close-up on a completely different...
A woman's hand.

91
00:05:32,600 --> 00:05:34,079
"Can't believe it. What are you doing here?"

92
00:05:34,160 --> 00:05:36,390
"What am I doing here?
What are you doing here?"

93
00:05:36,480 --> 00:05:40,792
And just being exactly the same character,
but she'd have a slightly different wig,

94
00:05:40,880 --> 00:05:42,791
and glasses that went up like that.

95
00:05:42,880 --> 00:05:44,951
"Oh, bloody hell, it's my sister.
I haven't seen her for years."

96
00:05:45,040 --> 00:05:46,792
"Hello, Raymond." "Oh, bloody hell!"

97
00:05:47,280 --> 00:05:50,272
Are you having a laugh?
Is he having a laugh?

98
00:05:50,360 --> 00:05:52,078
(AUDIENCE LAUGHING)

99
00:05:52,640 --> 00:05:55,553
Bizarre thing is that people
started shouting that catchphrase

100
00:05:55,640 --> 00:05:57,153
- at me in the street.
- That is bizarre.

101
00:05:57,240 --> 00:05:59,038
You're having a laugh.

102
00:05:59,120 --> 00:06:00,872
(AUDIENCE LAUGHING)

103
00:06:01,280 --> 00:06:03,237
We were trying to say that it was quite simple

104
00:06:03,320 --> 00:06:05,470
to have come up with
this particular catchphrase,

105
00:06:05,560 --> 00:06:08,393
and people were shouting it without irony.

106
00:06:09,160 --> 00:06:11,151
Are you having a laugh?

107
00:06:11,280 --> 00:06:12,600
(GIGGLING)

108
00:06:12,680 --> 00:06:15,479
- Good catchphrase. It's brilliant.
-It is good, yeah.

109
00:06:15,560 --> 00:06:17,278
(CHUCKLING)

110
00:06:17,360 --> 00:06:21,752
Obviously, the main star
of the first episode is Orlando Bloom.

111
00:06:21,840 --> 00:06:24,514
- Oh, no, I don't believe it.
- What is it?

112
00:06:24,960 --> 00:06:26,871
Just Top 5 Sexiest Film Stars,
for God's sake.

113
00:06:26,960 --> 00:06:29,156
- Are you in it?
- Number one.

114
00:06:29,560 --> 00:06:33,440
We had this nice storyline about the idea
that Ashley, who's always looking for a guy,

115
00:06:33,520 --> 00:06:36,399
suddenly, for some bizarre reason,
doesn't find Orlando attractive.

116
00:06:36,480 --> 00:06:38,073
Come out for a coffee with me,
you know. Come on.

117
00:06:38,160 --> 00:06:40,674
Just get to know me,
get to know the normal me,

118
00:06:40,760 --> 00:06:43,400
take a better look and, you know,
see the attractiveness.

119
00:06:43,480 --> 00:06:45,278
But I don't think you are.

120
00:06:45,440 --> 00:06:47,670
And then we got Orlando,
and we were working with him,

121
00:06:47,760 --> 00:06:50,639
and then we thought, "Oh, my God."

122
00:06:50,720 --> 00:06:56,511
At the end of episode 6, series one,
she takes down a poster of Orlando Bloom.

123
00:06:58,400 --> 00:07:01,950
- We thought, "What's the chances of that?"
- That doesn't make any sense.

124
00:07:02,040 --> 00:07:05,032
So she would like him.
And we thought, "No one will remember."

125
00:07:05,120 --> 00:07:08,238
We were hoping that they'd think it
was Johnny Depp if they remembered at all.

126
00:07:08,320 --> 00:07:09,355
Keith's on his way.

127
00:07:09,440 --> 00:07:11,750
- Keith?
- Keith Chegwin.

128
00:07:11,840 --> 00:07:15,356
Keith Chegwin? Can he act?
He's a TV presenter, isn't he?

129
00:07:15,440 --> 00:07:16,555
I think, for us,

130
00:07:16,640 --> 00:07:19,598
the person who really stole that first episode
was Cheggers, Keith Chegwin.

131
00:07:19,680 --> 00:07:21,876
- Amazing.
- Because that was such a big ask of him.

132
00:07:22,000 --> 00:07:25,709
When I got the script through, I thought,
"Oh, God. I'm really worried about this."

133
00:07:25,800 --> 00:07:29,350
'Cause I read the first bit, and it was me,
you know, being an idiot.

134
00:07:29,440 --> 00:07:34,037
Then I read the second bit,
it was me having a go at Jews and queers.

135
00:07:34,120 --> 00:07:36,760
Then I read the third bit,
which I'm having a go at black people.

136
00:07:36,840 --> 00:07:40,470
I thought, "I'll blow it.
I may as well kill my career in one go."

137
00:07:41,160 --> 00:07:43,037
Men have knobs,

138
00:07:43,880 --> 00:07:45,871
women have fannies.

139
00:07:46,440 --> 00:07:48,556
Pop knob in fanny,

140
00:07:49,920 --> 00:07:51,069
not up the arse.

141
00:07:51,160 --> 00:07:52,798
- People forget that he was an actor.
- Yeah.

142
00:07:52,880 --> 00:07:54,518
He was a child actor,
but he was also, amazingly,

143
00:07:54,600 --> 00:07:57,353
in Roman Polanski's version
of Macbeth, bizarrely.

144
00:07:57,440 --> 00:07:59,317
And then, obviously,
went on to do Cheggers Plays Pop.

145
00:07:59,400 --> 00:08:01,914
And so I think people had forgotten
that he was once an actor,

146
00:08:02,000 --> 00:08:04,469
and I think we were also surprised
at how good an actor he was.

147
00:08:05,200 --> 00:08:09,159
And put it this way,
if God had wanted a cock up an arse,

148
00:08:09,240 --> 00:08:11,629
he wouldn't have given us minges.

149
00:08:12,000 --> 00:08:13,957
The truth is, if you're not happy,
I'm right behind you.

150
00:08:14,040 --> 00:08:16,111
- Right.
- And I've got the perfect replacement.

151
00:08:16,200 --> 00:08:19,431
- For what?
- For you, for your character. It's only Barry.

152
00:08:19,520 --> 00:08:20,794
(ANDY SIGHING)

153
00:08:21,400 --> 00:08:23,073
- All right, Shaun?
- He's all set, knows all the lines.

154
00:08:23,160 --> 00:08:26,596
When I first got the call to do Extras,
I was never in any doubt that I'd do it

155
00:08:26,680 --> 00:08:28,910
'cause I'd always wanted to work
with Ricky and Steve anyway,

156
00:08:29,000 --> 00:08:31,799
'cause I was a huge fan of The Office, but...

157
00:08:31,880 --> 00:08:34,554
It's always worrying going back,
'cause I'm playing Shaun Williamson,

158
00:08:34,640 --> 00:08:37,200
but I'm also playing Barry.
And after three years out of the soap,

159
00:08:37,280 --> 00:08:41,239
you know, you're always trying
to shake off your soap character.

160
00:08:42,480 --> 00:08:44,756
And I think this is about the only thing
that would've tempted me

161
00:08:44,840 --> 00:08:46,592
to go back to be "Barry", as it were.

162
00:08:46,680 --> 00:08:49,718
I remember when we were writing
the first series, we always had this idea

163
00:08:49,800 --> 00:08:52,110
that whenever Andy came in to see his agent,

164
00:08:52,200 --> 00:08:55,716
there'd be a person sat outside
the agent's office, desperate for work.

165
00:08:55,800 --> 00:08:57,996
- Yes?
- Oh! You all right?

166
00:08:59,720 --> 00:09:01,279
- Is he in?
- Yes.

167
00:09:03,200 --> 00:09:05,669
And I think, straightaway,
the first thought was Shaun Williamson.

168
00:09:05,760 --> 00:09:06,795
Barry from EastEnders.

169
00:09:06,880 --> 00:09:09,030
I can't remember there ever being
another option on the table.

170
00:09:09,120 --> 00:09:14,399
No, I remember why. We found it funny
that people refer to him as "Barry".

171
00:09:14,480 --> 00:09:15,550
- Yeah.
- Even the press.

172
00:09:15,640 --> 00:09:16,789
They'd say, "Barry from EastEnders."

173
00:09:16,880 --> 00:09:18,359
Or Shaun
"Barry from EastEnders" Williamson.

174
00:09:18,440 --> 00:09:21,910
Exactly, yeah. And we thought,
"I wonder if that bugs him?"

175
00:09:22,000 --> 00:09:23,877
Do you remember this guy?
It's only Barry off EastEnders.

176
00:09:23,960 --> 00:09:25,553
- Hello.
- Oh, yeah.

177
00:09:25,640 --> 00:09:27,074
He said, "That's exactly true."

178
00:09:27,160 --> 00:09:29,959
He's been in meetings with people,
with executives,

179
00:09:30,040 --> 00:09:33,192
that have said, shake his hand and said,
"Well, great to see you, Barry."

180
00:09:33,280 --> 00:09:36,716
And he hasn't said anything.
So we thought, "Well, this is great."

181
00:09:37,000 --> 00:09:38,559
The thing about Barry is,
and I've noticed this, right,

182
00:09:38,640 --> 00:09:42,110
people will laugh at him,
they never laugh with him. It's extraordinary.

183
00:09:42,200 --> 00:09:43,395
Look at that face.

184
00:09:43,480 --> 00:09:45,630
There's a sort of undercurrent
of tragedy to it, isn't there?

185
00:09:45,720 --> 00:09:50,237
The dynamic between the agent and Barry
just seemed so much fun

186
00:09:50,320 --> 00:09:53,676
that it seemed mad not to sort of beef up
their roles a bit in the second series.

187
00:09:53,840 --> 00:09:55,831
When the scripts were actually delivered,
I couldn't believe it.

188
00:09:55,920 --> 00:09:57,513
I flicked through episode 1,

189
00:09:57,600 --> 00:10:00,240
and I was already in episode 1
more than I was for the entire first series.

190
00:10:00,320 --> 00:10:01,833
And then it just got better and better
the more I read,

191
00:10:01,920 --> 00:10:03,831
so I was over the moon with that.
It was wonderful.

192
00:10:03,920 --> 00:10:06,639
I have so much fun
doing scenes with Shaun.

193
00:10:06,720 --> 00:10:09,394
I just think he's a genuinely
great comic performer.

194
00:10:09,480 --> 00:10:14,634
I mean, he's inventive, he's warm,
he'll just come up with little ideas,

195
00:10:14,720 --> 00:10:17,872
just little tiny little subtle touches
which really amuse us.

196
00:10:18,080 --> 00:10:20,117
I was quite overawed, I think, the first series,

197
00:10:20,200 --> 00:10:22,999
and didn't put as much of myself
in it as I'd have liked.

198
00:10:23,080 --> 00:10:26,835
But this time I'm getting a bit braver,
and just experimenting a bit more

199
00:10:26,920 --> 00:10:28,638
'cause I know I won't get shouted at now.

200
00:10:28,880 --> 00:10:31,759
For instance, I'm having to feed him
some cake at one point,

201
00:10:31,840 --> 00:10:33,956
and as he leans in to take a bite of the cake,

202
00:10:34,040 --> 00:10:35,439
- he just said, "Hello."
- Hello.

203
00:10:35,520 --> 00:10:38,990
- Here's a lovely bit of muffin, mate. Try some.
- Hello.

204
00:10:39,680 --> 00:10:40,909
Hello!

205
00:10:41,440 --> 00:10:42,919
(LAUGHING)

206
00:10:44,200 --> 00:10:45,429
Hello!

207
00:10:46,120 --> 00:10:47,349
Hello!

208
00:10:47,560 --> 00:10:49,358
- Hello. Hello to the cake.
- Just said "hello" to the cake.

209
00:10:49,440 --> 00:10:51,431
So suddenly now, it's this entity.

210
00:10:51,520 --> 00:10:53,238
He's personified it,
that it can understand him.

211
00:10:53,320 --> 00:10:54,754
- It's mutual.
- Yeah.

212
00:10:54,840 --> 00:10:58,515
He's thinking,
"The cake knows I love it, I love the cake."

213
00:10:58,600 --> 00:11:01,114
And we just couldn't... And then he upped it.

214
00:11:01,200 --> 00:11:03,840
- That's lovely. Try some.
- Ooh, hello, you.

215
00:11:03,920 --> 00:11:05,115
(GERVAIS LAUGHING)

216
00:11:05,200 --> 00:11:06,554
You swine!

217
00:11:07,600 --> 00:11:10,718
-"Hello, you." Really sexy, to a muffin.
- Yeah, yeah.

218
00:11:11,440 --> 00:11:13,670
- Try some of that.
- Hello, you.

219
00:11:15,920 --> 00:11:17,593
(GERVAIS LAUGHING)

220
00:11:17,880 --> 00:11:22,238
- Lovely bit of muffin, try some of that.
- Oh, hello, you. Sorry, sorry.

221
00:11:22,320 --> 00:11:25,836
- Go on. Lovely.
- Why's he eating it like that?

222
00:11:25,920 --> 00:11:27,399
Yeah, why are you eating it like that?

223
00:11:27,480 --> 00:11:29,630
Me hands, I've been cleaning out the toilet.

224
00:11:33,560 --> 00:11:34,880
- Mmm.
- Mmm.

225
00:11:35,320 --> 00:11:37,550
Why is he eating it like that?

226
00:11:38,920 --> 00:11:40,877
Why's he eating it like that?

227
00:11:40,960 --> 00:11:44,237
Me hands, I've just been
cleaning out the toilet...