A cult 90s BBC drama series that gave Ricky Gervais one of his earliest TV roles has unexpectedly become available to stream in the UK.
This Life, which ran between March 1996 and August 1997 before airing a reunion special in 2007, followed a group of youthful law graduates living in south London.
It starred Jack Davenport, Amita Dhiri, Daniela Nardini, Jason Hughes, Ramon Tikaram, and The Walking Dead’s Andrew Lincoln as six 20-somethings balancing life and love (and partying) with their careers.
The series – created by The Crown writer Amy Jenkins – also gave guest roles to huge names from the future, including Martin Freeman, Jodie Whittaker, Ralph Ineson, and UK comedy legend Ricky Gervais.
Ricky was credited as a music advisor on the series after his brief 1980s pop career, and even commissioned This Life’s signature theme tune himself.
While initial critical reception was positive, TV viewers took a while to come to This Life, only flocking in their droves during repeat broadcasts months after its initial debut.
By the time it ended in 1997, however, This Life had become one of the more popular BBC dramas of its time and has since been compared favourably to ITV drama Cold Feet.
In January 2007, a one-off special episode titled This Life +10 was broadcast to just under four million viewers, with households tuning in to find out what had happened to their old favourites.
In 2020, a retrospective article in The Guardian called This Life a ‘defining’ series of the 1990s that ‘perfectly captured the hedonism’ of young lifestyles of the day.
Speaking about the series, Jack Davenport said: ‘People liked it because there was no moralising. If you’re 22, you’re going to make some really bad decisions, but that’s okay. Relax.’
Director Sam Miller claimed that production on the show ‘broke a lot of TV rules’ while actress Natasha Little added, ‘I don’t remember there being much rehearsal. It was get up, try it, shoot it.’
Regarding Ricky’s role in the back room, writer Amy recalled: There was a lot of Britpop being played and Portishead were on all the time. That had nothing to do with me.
‘Ricky Gervais was actually the music supervisor. I did love all the music he picked.’
On IMDb, series fan TJCClarke said: ‘Part of what made This Life such a landmark television series was its uncompromising trendiness – its utter refusal to comply with standard dramatic devices.’
ShootingStar82 gave their thoughts: ‘Although its format has been much copied since the late 90s, This Life still retains the same freshness and vitality that made it such a captivating watch first time round.’
At the time, Martin Freeman’s guest role in one episode was just his second TV appearance, while Jodie Whittaker’s main role in This Life +10 was only her fourth credit.
Andrew Lincoln, who starred in all 33 episodes of the series, went on to star in Love Actually and eventually became known worldwide as Rick Grimes in The Walking Dead.
Watch This Life on Amazon Prime Video.
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