It's fair to say that - like an increasing number of people in TV and film - Ricky Gervais opened up with a closing down sale... Or rather, started with something that he was never -realistically - going to top. The Office was - to say the least - a seminal success on every level. Popular, critical and... the other one.

The fact that even the closing episode of The Office was generally met with contempt - quite why it needed a Christmas special, beyond further enriching Gervais, is beyond anyone's ken - showed he was already a one trick pony.

Of course, like many people that have met with some degree of success in comedy the BBC couldn't deny him. Which isn't surprising given the perpetual absence of good or even tolerable comedy on the BBC these days... outside of panel games. So when someone who wrote, directed and starred in a show that won about a dozen awards in two consecutive years...

So, the "safe bet" of Gervais got another show... Extras. In many ways, it follows the traditions of cringe worthy comedy... but it falls short in so many ways... not least the pointless popularism. The main flaw was always going to be... while many people might have spent a summer in an office job, how many people have ever been an actor? It totally removed the element that everyone could relate to. Millions of people in the West must surely have done SOME office work, if only for a a few weeks. How many people ever tried to be an Extra?

Anyway, after two - quite frankly dire - seasons of Extras... Gervais presumably chose to end the agony of the backlash and contempt for him... Not that it's ever likely to stop. Ironic that he set himself on a pedestal of not doing commercials... presumably because that's "selling out". If Extras and The Office Christmas Special weren't selling out... what is?

The Extras Christmas Special... well, fairly dire and pretty much what anyone who has had the misfortune of watching Extras would have expected. It's hard to see the funny side of celebrities making fun of themselves being fame obsessed. They are... it's just the kind of show that would make you want to stab yourself rather than watch another minute of the laboured, played out jokes with CELEBRITIES. It's just unrelentingly trying to hammer home a message as facile as the faux sitcom.

It would be ironic - not to mention gratifying - if Gervais's career was to follow a similar fate of his screen counterparts. Suffice to say, the same mistakes were made as in The Office Christmas Special. He shows little innovation, originality, humour. People need to stop feeding people that live on the gravy train. Gervais had a single good idea that he did well... Extras, Flanimals (how isn't that a sell out?)... his atrociously awful stand-up routines... all simply proved he was a chancer. Let's hope this timorous effort is a final nail in the coffin.

The inherent fallacy of gravy trains should be obvious from one man - Ricky Gervais.

Few people would dispute The Office as a masterful piece of comedy, the awkwardness of the workplace and so on. Critically and popularly acclaimed... well, the first two series. Many found the Christmas Special to be a rather... saccharine wrap up to the show which had done so well because it didn't force a happy ending on us. That should have been a warning sign.

Naturally, though - someone that makes such a hit becomes rather popular with producers and given the deluge of affection for The Office, not to mention the shower of awards it won... it's no surprise that Extras so quickly graced our screens. Hardly surprising but then, hardly the success of its predecessor.

Many people would - perhaps - accept that a creation like The Office would be a peak which they'd never surpass. Ricky Gervais clearly thinks he's great - criticism of the vastly inferior Extras garnered his irritation. Not just that - he seems unable to bear the criticism that marred the release of The Office and made references to it several times in his startlingly mediocre stand-up.

Now Gervais parades around chat shows, struggling to contain his irritation. Clearly burdened by his obscenely large ego. It's hard to know why he's irritated - one assumes he's doing pretty well for himself. Ironic that his ego grows as the quality of his work drops but that's the gravy train... but we'll have to endure the sucking for a while longer.