There's not much point in reviewing Life's Too Short too deeply now, as I think I've said all that needs to be said about its quality. It's a big disappointment for many reasons, but mainly because it isn't very funny and the targets of its humour are so lazy. Warwick Davis is doing a good David Brent impersonation, but the focus on his character's life isn't interesting or very revealing. The way the story contorts to include Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant is also awkward, and the celebrity guest-stars have been flops after the premiere's highlight of Liam Neeson.
This fourth episode, for the second week running, was a more pertinent look at Warwick's life (specifically his divorce, which meant a cameo from Garth Marenghi star Matthew Holness as a dour lawyer), but it was more obvious than ever that Warwick's fictional life isn't worth watching. We just go through the motions (people he meets haven't heard of Willow, he falls out of his car, he visits Gervais and Merchant). Davis is brilliant at clowning (loved how he climbed a bookcase to prove he can reach an award on the top shelf), but that's one of the few positives about this episode—the other being the brilliantly gormless Rosamund Hanson as Warwick's dopey assistant. Someone needs to write her something funny for her to appear in. The Steve Carrel cameo was enervated and predictable, topped by a weak Right Said Fred appearance for the climax.
More a jumble of random thoughts this week, but that's all this show really deserves.
written & directed by Ricky Gervais & Stephen Merchant / 1 December 2011 / BBC Two
