List of Extras episodes

The following is a list of episodes from the BBC television series, Extras.

In total, there are thirteen episodes of Extras (six in each series and one 90-minute Christmas special).

Extras was created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, they also directed and starred in this series.

Series overview

Series Episodes Originally aired
Series premiere Series finale
1 6 21 July 2005 25 August 2005
2 6 14 September 2006 19 October 2006
Christmas special 16 December 2007

Episodes

Series 1 (2005)

No. Episode Celebrity guest star(s) UK viewers[1] Original air date
1"Ben Stiller"Ben Stiller4.83 million21 July 2005
Andy and Maggie are playing extras in the film Ben Stiller is directing, which is based on the life of Goran, an Eastern European man whose wife and son were killed in the Yugoslav Wars. Andy attempts to get a speaking part by befriending Goran, who eventually gets Andy a spoken line. However, Andy gets in an argument with Stiller just before shooting his scene and is kicked off the set. Maggie, meanwhile, takes an interest in one of the crew but it goes wrong after Andy points out that her would-be beau has one leg shorter than the other, which is an issue too big to ignore for Maggie.
2"Ross Kemp and Vinnie Jones"Ross Kemp and Vinnie Jones3.62 million28 July 2005
Andy is working on a television period drama starring Ross Kemp. Andy's rival, Greg, is working on a film with Kemp's rival, footballer Vinnie Jones, in the adjacent studio building. Kemp claims he has had SAS training and tells Andy that he is more of a "hard man" than Jones. Andy then relays this information to Greg, who himself tells Jones. Angered by this, Jones later confronts Kemp, who denies having said anything, and cowers at Jones's threats. After this embarrassment, Kemp admits to a disillusioned Andy that none of his prior claims were true and that wherever he works, he's bullied, contradicting his reputation as a hard man.
3"Kate Winslet"Kate Winslet3.59 million4 August 2005
Working as extras on the set of a Holocaust film, Andy and Maggie befriend the star, Kate Winslet, who hopes to finally win an Oscar with her role as a nun sheltering Jews during the Holocaust (coincidentally, she later won an Oscar for her role in the 2008 Holocaust film The Reader). Maggie is in a relationship with a set assistant who wants her to talk dirty with him over the phone, but Maggie has no idea what to say. Winslet helpfully volunteers explicit advice for Maggie on the subject, but Maggie's boyfriend later dumps her when he catches Andy and Winslet making lewd gestures to each other behind his back. Meanwhile, atheist Andy claims to be Catholic when he takes a liking to a Catholic fellow extra, whose sister (Francesca Martinez) has cerebral palsy, and asks him if he believes no one will have to deal with illnesses in Heaven. However a "get together" with her and "some friends" turns out to be Bible study group and Andy's deceit is exposed, despite his efforts to conceal the truth.
4"Les Dennis"Les Dennis3.93 million11 August 2005

Andy's agent secures him the role of the (very camp) Genie in a pantomime version of Aladdin starring Les Dennis. Dennis is engaged to the much younger Simone Reynolds (Nicky Ladanowski) but is also on the verge of a breakdown due to the many setbacks in his career. When Andy discovers Dennis's fiancée cheating with a stagehand, he becomes very protective of Dennis and at first tries to keep him from finding out. But when Dennis decides maybe it would be best if he splits up with Simone, Andy reveals the truth about her. Devastated, Dennis stops in the middle of the first performance of the pantomime to berate the futility of his life and the lack of enthusiasm from the crowd.

Maggie comes to visit Andy during rehearsal and bumps into an old friend, Lizzie Bunton (Rebecca Gethings), who is dancing in the chorus line. Lizzie then recalls how they first met working together on the BBC children's drama "The Orphans of Penny Farthing Lane". Her closeted gay father, "Bunny" (Gerard Kelly), the play's director, is very controlling of Lizzie's life and treats her like a child. Maggie is invited to Lizzie's birthday party, which she reluctantly agrees to attend. She finds out on arrival she is 30 years younger than all the other guests. Bunny admonishes his daughter, Lizzie, for messing up a rendition of "Making Your Mind Up" by Bucks Fizz during the party. Lizzie then tells Bunny she's not happy pursuing a showbiz career. Maggie is soon asked to leave the party after encouraging her friend to find her own way in life.
5"Samuel L. Jackson"Samuel L. Jackson3.58 million18 August 2005

Samuel L. Jackson is starring as a maverick American cop in a UK police thriller and fellow extra (Steve Speirs) forfeits the opportunity to do a scene with Jackson, to Andy's benefit. When the fellow extra uses the favour as an excuse to befriend Andy, Andy resorts to lies and excuses to shake him off. The man's insistence eventually causes Andy to cave in and have dinner with his colleague, though Andy feels obliged to assure the other restaurant patrons that he and his dinner companion are not a couple. But the man's demeanour proves to be too much, and a frustrated Andy ends up plunging his face into his soup after being invited to the Ben Elton musical We Will Rock You before abruptly leaving.

Maggie is attracted to a young mixed race actor. Despite some initial misunderstandings due to her over-sensitivity about race, she successfully asks him out on a date, but further misunderstandings end the date early. When she chats with Jackson on set the day after, she confuses him with Laurence Fishburne (an obvious jab at people who often misidentify the actors).[2] Andy tries to save the ailing conversation but only succeeds in making things significantly worse, resulting in Andy forfeiting the line he had earlier managed to get with Jackson.
6"Patrick Stewart"Patrick Stewart3.86 million25 August 2005

Andy and Maggie are working on a production of Shakespeare's The Tempest alongside Patrick Stewart. Eager to get his sitcom script noticed, Andy gives a copy to Stewart, who in turn tells Andy about his own script: a lewd film in which he will star as a man who can undress women with his mind. Stewart agrees to circulate Andy's script, and the BBC invite Andy for a meeting.

Andy is asked to rewrite his script with staff writer/producer Damon Beesley (Martin Savage) with a view to a pilot episode being filmed. But when Andy complains to Maggie about how annoyingly camp Damon can be, and she later repeats Andy's apparently homophobic remarks to Damon, the BBC threaten to pull the plug on Andy's show. After Andy apologizes to Damon, Damon forgives him and work on the pilot resumes. The conflict in the second series of the BBC meddling with Andy's sitcom is hinted at when Damon insists that Andy's old boss saying "Are you 'avin' a laugh?" should become a catchphrase for the show.

Series 2 (2006)

No. Episode Celebrity guest star(s) UK viewers[1] Original air date
7"Orlando Bloom"Orlando Bloom
with Keith Chegwin, Liza Tarbuck and Sophia Myles		3.62 million14 September 2006
Andy's new sitcom, When The Whistle Blows, is being filmed, whilst Maggie appears as an extra in a courtroom drama with Orlando Bloom and Sophia Myles. Andy begins to get worried as his script has been reworked into a sitcom filled with broad humour and an over-reliance on catchphrases. When his attempts to intervene result in him being threatened with the possibility of returning to the status of a mere extra, Andy backs down and is forced to make and star in a show he hates. Meanwhile, Orlando Bloom refuses to believe that Maggie does not find him attractive and waxes lyrical about his dislike for Johnny Depp and Darren attempts to persuade Andy to give Shaun Williamson his role.
8"David Bowie"David Bowie3.84 million21 September 2006
The critical response for When the Whistle Blows is entirely negative but Andy gets encouragement from the public as he is recognised in the street and in his local pub – though he isn't eager to endlessly repeat his catchphrase from the show. Shaun takes Andy to a celebrity bar he used to frequent, where Andy finds himself on the receiving end of opposite treatment from the people there who openly mock and disdain him. Andy tries to talk with David Bowie and explains his situation, however this backfires as Bowie proceeds to make up a song ridiculing him. In the end, Andy reluctantly returns to his local pub to seek recognition from the people he had previously disdained, being forced to come to terms with the fact that the fans he has aren't the fans he wants.
9"Daniel Radcliffe"Daniel Radcliffe
with Warwick Davis, Diana Rigg, Phillip Schofield, Fern Britton, Nick Ferrari, Matthew Wright, Lowri Turner and Richard & Judy		3.46 million28 September 2006

Andy receives a bit part in a new fantasy film starring Daniel Radcliffe, who fancies himself a teenage Romeo and tries to seduce every woman he meets – including Maggie, and then blaming it on someone else every time he gets caught. Over lunch, Daniel invites himself to join Andy and Maggie and accidentally flicks a condom onto the head of Dame Diana Rigg.

Andy takes Maggie out for a meal and inadvertently offends the mother of a teenager with Down syndrome, leading to an increasingly hysterical reaction in the British media, who take his comments out of context. Andy manages to quell the anger, but back on the film set, he gets into a fight with actor Warwick Davis over remarks Andy privately made to Maggie – which she later repeats to Davis's fiancée. During the altercation, Andy accidentally knocks Davis unconscious, leading to the loss of his bit part and further embarrassment from the tabloids.
10"Chris Martin"Chris Martin
with Ronnie Corbett, Richard Briers, Moira Stuart, Davina McCall, Patricia Potter and Stephen Fry		3.6 million5 October 2006

Andy makes a charity appeal video and meets Chris Martin from Coldplay, who appears as a shameless self-promoter interested only in advertising his album. Martin requests to make a cameo on When the Whistle Blows and appears on the show to play "Fix You" despite Andy insisting against it. Despite angry reviews at the shameless celebrity appearance on his sitcom, Andy is nominated for a BAFTA. Through the misendeavours of agent Darren and friend Maggie, Andy manages to upset both Richard Briers and Patricia Potter, an ex-girlfriend, who goes on to humiliate him from the stage.

Co–nominee Stephen Fry wins the award in Andy's category and privately rebukes Andy for his sitcom's use of laugh tracks, silly wigs and catchphrases. Darren then manages to get himself and Andy banned from all BAFTA events when they are caught alongside a drug-taking Ronnie Corbett.
11"Sir Ian McKellen"Sir Ian McKellen
with Germaine Greer, Mark Kermode and Mark Lawson		3.66 million12 October 2006
With the critical reaction to his sitcom getting more scathing, Andy asks Darren to find him some serious theatre work as a way of regaining some reputation. He is recommended to Ian McKellen, and is cast in a play about a homosexual relationship – "A Month of Summers". With his upper school friends led by Jonathan Cake turn up for the first night, and McKellen's sudden decision that he should kiss his male co-star, Andy feels increasingly uncomfortable to the point of leaving the play midway through the first performance. Darren asks Maggie on a date, which comes to an awkward conclusion.
12"Jonathan Ross"Jonathan Ross
with Robert De Niro and Robert Lindsay		3.85 million19 October 2006

Convinced that he has outgrown his sitcom and his agent, Andy becomes detached from his friends after appearing on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross and becoming friends with Ross. Andy is also getting very sick of Darren's incompetence and sets him a task: find a way for him to meet Robert De Niro or be fired.

Despite making excuses, Andy is coerced into visiting a boy who is in hospital with cancer and asks Maggie to go with him. Robert Lindsay, who appeared on the Ross show with Andy, is incensed that he, the more famous and talented actor (according to him), was not asked to visit the ailing child and gate-crashes the scheduled visit. Lindsay becomes livid when the sick child shows no recognition of Lindsay's earlier work, especially his appearances as Wolfie on 1970s sitcom Citizen Smith.

Just as Andy is about to fire Darren when he catches him masturbating over a pornographic pen, Darren tells Andy he has arranged a meeting with De Niro. The meeting time conflicts with one of Andy's scheduled visits to the sick boy, but guilt at the burden he is imposing on Maggie combined with his suspicion of Darren's empty promises forces Andy to keep his appointment with the boy at the cost of meeting De Niro. Lamb is able to pacify De Niro with the pornographic pen, and at the hospital, Andy receives a call from Lamb and De Niro, who invite Andy to meet up at a pub, which he and Maggie accept.

Christmas special (2007)

No. Episode Celebrity guest star(s) UK viewers[1] Original air date
13"Christmas special"Clive Owen, George Michael, Gordon Ramsay, David Tennant, Hale & Pace, Lionel Blair, Dean Gaffney, June Sarpong, Lisa Scott-Lee, Chico Slimani, Jonathan Ross, Karl Pilkington and Vernon Kay5.63 million16 December 2007 (US)
27 December 2007 (UK)

After three series of When the Whistle Blows, Andy is more famous than ever. He can get a table at the exclusive Ivy Restaurant without booking, and he's moved to a posh new flat on Hampstead Heath as well. But it's arch-nemesis Greg who's got the career and agent Andy wants. With a new blockbuster film opening to rave reviews, Greg's portrayal of Percy Shelley alongside Clive Owen's Byron has earned him a firm place on the A-list. Fortunately, Greg's agent offers to represent Andy as well, which means Andy can finally hand Darren Lamb his walking papers – or at least leave a message to that effect. With a proper agent on board, Andy abruptly quits his sitcom in order to free himself up for better offers.

Andy is so caught up with new agent Tre Cooper's plan to get Andy "to the top of the B-list" as soon as possible that he completely fails to notice things aren't going nearly as well for Maggie. Though Tre secures her a small part in Clive Owen's new film, she decides to stop being an extra after Owen and the director come up with a bit of staging that involves Owen flinging manure in Maggie's face. With no experience in any other line of work, Maggie has to resort to being a cleaner to pay the rent, which she can no longer afford and so is forced to move from her flat to a dingy little bedsit. Since Andy now phones only when he needs her to help him with some scheme or other, Maggie is left entirely to her own devices. Nearly destitute and thoroughly despondent, she pops in at Darren's new (and former) employer, the Carphone Warehouse, to see if he can offer her a place alongside former EastEnders co-stars Shaun Williamson and Dean Gaffney, who have also resorted to working there.

Meanwhile, Andy's decision to walk away from his sitcom has backfired. New agent Tre won't return his calls, so Andy is forced to accept acting gigs that he sneered at only a few months ago (specifically, roles on Doctor Who and Hotel Babylon) just to keep himself in the public eye. Andy finally manages to track down his agent, who tells Andy that he can have either "fame and fortune" or "integrity and respect," but not both together, Andy chooses fame and fortune and begs Tre to pull whatever strings are necessary in order to get him back on television.

Andy finds that the strings Tre has offered to pull land him in the latest cast of Celebrity Big Brother, but Andy has no idea who anybody else is (apart from Lionel Blair); the other house members include Lisa Scott-Lee, X-Factor finalist Chico Slimani, a woman who leaked a sex tape of herself on the Internet, and a mother whose son was murdered. He quickly realises that by appearing on a show where everyone is so desperate for fame that they voluntarily "hand in their dignity at the door", rather than bolster his career, what he's actually done is just the opposite. After making an impassioned speech to this effect on camera, at the same time using the opportunity to make a heartfelt and tearful apology to Maggie, who is watching at home, Andy walks off the show.

Ironically, Andy's Big Brother speech gives him exactly the kind of attention and respect he's always wanted. Though he finds himself suddenly a media darling, with his agent fielding calls from the likes of Elton John and David Beckham, Andy decides that the only place he really wants to be is anywhere Maggie wants to go. Happily reunited, the two drive off down the motorway towards Heathrow Airport.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Weekly Top 30 Programmes". Barb.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-01-04. (No permanent link available. Search for relevant dates.)
  2. ↑ http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/showtracker/la-et-st-laurence-fishburne-laughs-about-being-mistaken-for-samuel-l-jackson-20140211-story.html

External links