Both series of Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant???s triumphant Extras are united in this box, and with nothing more than a Yuletide special planned beyond these episodes, it???s a great chance to catch up with this star-packed, offbeat programme.

Unlike their previous The Office, Gervais and Merchant have delivered a less accessible but no less rewarding programme with Extras. It starts with Andy Millman, a ???background artist???, sitting in the shadows of a variety of different shows, before, in the second series, he gets his own spot in the limelight.

What???s helped characterise the series, of course, has been the continued presence of star names in cameo roles. These range from Hollywood bigshots--Samuel L Jackson, Kate Winslet and Harry Pott.., sorry, Daniel Radcliffe--and continue through to familiar faces from British TV--step forward Les Dennis, Ross Kemp and Barry from EastEnders. Most of the plaudits, though, rightly go in the direction of the splendid Ashley Jensen, who emerges as the most likeable and rounded of all the show???s characters.

There???s little danger, it seems, that Extras will dethrone The Office from the top of its creators??? CVs, but thanks to its strong writing, its measured mix between melancholy and amusement, and some superb performances, it more than carves a very strong niche for itself. --Jon Foster

If you buy this DVD and do not find it funny then you must be dead. Seriously though....it's really good.

This is Ricky Gervais and Steve Merchant at their absolute best. And I don't just mean in terms of acting, but its the direction of this series that I find brilliant. These guys get stars like Robert De Niro, Chris Martin, Patrick Stewart and Kate Winslet and add a totally new dimension to their persona. They add a kind of 'Gervais' attribute to each of the stars in the episodes and it just makes for a brilliant comedy series.

Highly recommended.

I fully enjoyed this series.It was very well written,and I really liked the story of Andy Millman,a man who dreams of hitting the big time,as a full time actor.However,he has a useless agent that can only get him extra work.What's so good about it,is the effort he puts in to try and get noticed.As always though,just when he thinks he's done it,a major disaster blows up in his face,instantly shattering his dreams.So,its back to square one as a lowly extra.Its good to see some major stars in the show,constantly being asked by Andy,desperate to get the big break.Its hilarious,and I fully recommend it!

Cleese left us Python and Fawlty Towers. Gervais leaves us the Office and Extras. I'm still enjoying Cleese to this day and I'm expecting the same will be true of Gervais in twenty years. This one's a keeper, as they say.

A brilliant show, the only thing that was a bit of a let down was that there wasn't enough of Karl Pilkington's round head.