Started March 8, 2019 · Ended · Based on 3 seasons, 18 episodes through January 14, 2022 · TV-MA · 30 min
Tony Johnson works at a free local paper in the made-up English town of Tambury. His wife Lisa dies of cancer, and he feels crushed by grief. He thinks about ending his life, then decides to live while saying whatever he wants and ignoring polite rules. The tone mixes sharp jokes with sad, quiet moments about loss and loneliness.
Over three seasons Tony slowly changes. He still misses Lisa, but he starts helping friends, caring for his dog, and talking with Anne, a widow he meets by the graves. He also looks after his dad, who has memory problems, and grows closer to people at work. Later seasons lean more toward small kindness and meaning than pure anger. The story stays fixed on one man's pain, friendship, and whether life is still worth living after a great loss.
Community feedback
Was our 7% Woke rating accurate?
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for After Life.
Woke representation / casting
Not present in this title.
0%
Woke political dialogue
Not present. Features blunt exchanges that poke fun at hypersensitivity and odd identity claims, but these moments support character development rather than ideological advocacy.
0%
Identity-driven story themes
Not present in this title.
0%
Western institutional / cultural critique
Tony sometimes mocks belief in God and Jesus in short comic talks with a coworker and his nephew. Those bits push a plain atheist view and brush off soft religious comfort. They stay brief and personal. The show does not turn them into a big campaign against Western life, gender roles, or race power systems.
12%
Woke character or canon changes
Not relevant. Original fictional story.
0%
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
Not present. No notable public claims that the show pushes woke, DEI, or identity politics; available reactions either praise its candor or critique other aspects like pacing.
0%
Creator track record context
Ricky Gervais is the main creative force and has a long record of mocking political correctness. Cached scores for him and the other listed crew stay very low. Animal-rights passion appears in his public life, but this series is not built as activist messaging.
5%
Production
TV Show · 2019
Burned out on life, Miles undergoes a strange procedure at a strip mall spa -- and wakes to find he's been replaced by a better version of himself.
TV Show · 2016
Rebellious Mickey and good-natured Gus navigate the thrills and agonies of modern relationships.
TV Show · 2016
In his funky California beach enclave, Chip's the go-to guy for personal insights. But he isn't quite as enlightened when it comes to his own baggage.
TV Show · 2020
New passions. New fashions. New Emily? A plucky American marketing whiz spreads her wings in life and love after landing her dream job in Paris.
TV Show · 2024
When aristocratic Eddie inherits the family estate, he discovers that it's home to an enormous weed empire — and its proprietors aren't going anywhere.
TV Show · 2026
The mayor of a New England town resolves to turn it into the next tourist hot spot, despite local warnings that it's cursed.
TV Show · 2021
A seemingly ordinary British couple become the focus of an extraordinary investigation when two dead bodies are discovered in the back garden of a house in Nottingham.
TV Show · 2018
A hit man from the Midwest moves to Los Angeles and gets caught up in the city's theatre arts scene.
