After Life is the latest Ricky Gervais Netflix project and has gotten great reviews from around the world but will After Life be coming back for a second season? We look at the official renewal status, season 2 prospects including when season 2 of After Life would be on Netflix.
Ricky Gervais is no stranger on Netflix with most of his back catalog available on the service plus a plethora of Original content too. His Channel 4 series Derek came exclusively to Netflix and he created Special Correspondents for the service back in 2016. He’s also produced a stand-up special with a second coming later this year.
After Life is a six-part story that shows us the story of Tony, a person who is struggling with life after the shock death of his wife.
After Life Season 2 Renewal Status
Official Netflix Renewal Status: Renewed (Last Updated: 04/04/2019)
There has been plenty of speculation that After Life would be returning for a second season, helped by Ricky Gervais declaring publicly that he was writing the story for Season 2. We can no confirm that this is true and that After Life has been renewed by Netflix and will return for another season. This comes as no surprise considering the reception the show has received from critics and fans alike.
The reaction to #AfterLife has been fucking insane. Best fans in the world. I wish I was a dog so I could lick your faces. pic.twitter.com/aHVgLwRhGq
— Ricky Gervais (@rickygervais) March 9, 2019
Does the story warrant a second season?
Is there any story left to tell for season 2? Well, not quite. If you’ve got to the end, the series wraps up neatly with Tony now remorseful for his past behavior and looking to turn a new leaf by living life to the fullest.
Now Season 2 is confirmed we can speculate on what this means for the story. It will likely divulge into the budding romance between Tony and his Dad’s Nurse. With the Nurse potentially being an integral part of the story in the next season, if Tony’s Dad were to pass away this could have an awful effect on Tony’s outlook on life. This may potentially bring the pair even closer together though considering her time spent as his Nurse.
Gervais has expressed more ideas too. Speaking to DigitalSpy he said this about a second season:
I really would like to do a second series, because I fell in love with the characters,” adding “I’ve got an idea of where it can go. And the second series is always better, usually because you know the actors [when you’re writing for them].
One thing it’s important to stress is that if it was only intended to be a single season long, Netflix would’ve given it a “limited series” badge. That’s not the case with After Life.
After Life – Photo by Natalie Seery
Ricky Gervais doesn’t traditionally do long series
Looking at Gervais’s past work, most of his series have only lasted around 2-3 seasons long at the very most.
His first two breakout sitcoms Extras and The Office only had two seasons plus two specials before ending. Derek is his longest-running show lasting three seasons.
When will season 2 of After Life be on Netflix?
Despite the short seasons, Ricky Gervais is a fast worker. All of his previous shows have operated on yearly schedules so if the series does get a second season, we’d expect it to come around the same time in 2020.
Here are some of the fans reactions to the show and whether they want to see a season 2.
https://twitter.com/thebrownissance/status/1104794227421179904
Omg.
Can't believe I have to now wait for season 2 of #AfterLife .
Why did I do this to myself? pic.twitter.com/3xCQbE0Lzv— Fallible Follies (@FallibleFollies) March 10, 2019
Ricky we appreciate you appreciating us but come on!!!! #Afterlife has been out for 3 days now…. where is season 2??? #lazy!!!
— Mark McGuire (@MarkMcGuire1236) March 10, 2019
What do you think? Should After Life return for a second season? Or should it have become a limited series? Let us know in the comments down below.
Netflix Synopsis: "Struggling to come to terms with his wife's death, a writer for a newspaper adopts a gruff new persona in an effort to push away those trying to help."
