Derek's estranged father appears and wants to reconnect with the son he abandoned in childhood, but Derek uncharacteristically refuses to forgive him.
Derek is given heartbreaking news, whilst the weight of the world begins to fall on Hannah as she struggles to cope with problems in the care home.
Derek meets the perfect match through his online dating profile; a loss at the nursing home teaches Derek that it's never too late to make amends.
Here's our roundup of the best new series of the year so far, and where to watch them.
Related lists from IMDb users
Title: Derek (2012–2014)
Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below.
With Derek, Ricky Gervais forays back into comedy with a sensitive format that sheds awareness along its humorous path. Styled in mockumentary fashion, Derek (Ricky Gervais) is the story of a man who works in a British nursing home, helping to care for its residents. While Derek could be said to suffer somewhat, lacking in some mental faculty, this remains debatable throughout. The story takes place primarily within the nursing home, yet does venture beyond those walls into the world of the norm. The character subjects vary from typically aged to otherwise different-from-norm. Derek's primary colleague is Hannah (Kerry Godliman), who has apparently worked in the home for some time and exhibits great care toward her subjects. Written by Angela T.
Ricky Gervais is a comic genius the likes of which we haven't seen in decades. His comedy is somehow both universal yet specific, appealing to a worldwide audience yet never losing touch of his English heritage. But enough about that, this is about something more important.... Derek....
The Office was a brilliantly clever comedy, Extras was even better, Life's Too Short was criminally underrated and wasn't given a chance to find it's feet, An Idiot Abroad is a masterful use of a genuinely interesting and captivating idiot and then there's Derek....
Derek is a masterpiece. I have to qualms about stating that. In future years, maybe even five or ten years down the track, Derek will be the sitcom that all other sitcoms are compared to. The sitcom formula of a studio audience and general dumb jokes is already all but dead, and Derek is the nail in the coffin of such shows. In fact, it is the inevitable fresh step forward for sitcoms in general.
Derek lets go of the usual sitcom laughs and replaces them with real life giggles. Sometimes you're not even sure why you're smiling, then you realise it's because of the situation you're watching. Even worse, sometimes you don't even realise you're smiling.
But it's the emotion of Derek that sets it apart from other sitcoms. It's not lame, superficial, meaningless emotion either, it's real emotion, due in no small part to the brilliant supporting cast. In almost every episode I've watched so far I've gotten teary. And thats exactly where the future is for sitcoms. Real emotion. People are getting sick of cheap laughs and emotionless humor. The best comedy comes from tragedy, always has and always will. It's a shame it's taken TV 60 years to realise that. Derek, along with a select few other shows, may very well be the savior of the sitcom. Because if I the future of sitcoms is Two And A Half Men then I might as well kill myself now.