Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown of celebrity. Andy Millman (Ricky Gervais) is back and more miserable than ever in this darker and devastatingly funny finale to the Emmy-winning series. Though his sitcom When the Whistle Blows rates six million viewers, he is, as ever, mindful of the critics' barbs and jealous of colleagues landing the prestige film roles he covets. "I'm not proud of having Britain's No. 1 catchphrase," he grouses (actually, he has sunk to No. 3, now trailing "You are the weakest link, goodbye"). Worse, he has become a right bastard, arrogantly treating crewmembers and his one true friend, Maggie (a heartbreaking Ashley Jensen), like dirt. Andy finally drops his clueless and incompetent agent (series co-creator Stephen Merchant) and quits the show. "Don't worry about me," he proclaims. "The phone won't stop ringing."

Unlike the finale of The Office, this super-duper-sized episode really has no loose ends to tie up. In Andy's humiliating comeuppance (he sinks to portraying an alien on Dr. Who and joins the desperate housemates on Celebrity Big Brother), Gervais has the perfect vessel with which to rail against soul-sucking celebrity, degrading tabloid culture, and "the gutter press." As for Andy and Maggie, those longing for some kind of Tim/Dawn hookup may not get exactly what they want, but they will get what they need in the lovely final scenes. A-listers having a laugh at their own images have always been one of Extras' special treats. The finale features jaw-dropping cameos by Clive Owen and George Michael, performing community service yet again. --Donald Liebenson

I am a great fan of the Gervais-Merchant team and their comedy with a message about us all and our obsession with celebrity. This programme finishes off the story of Andy Millman and his ego-centric and determined quest for fame and fortune (not integrity as it turns out - or does it?). I really like this finishing episode even if it is a bit more serious than the previous `Extras'. Merchant is really very good in this.
However, I had two concerns when it had finished. One was the nagging feeling that rather than edifying us the writers were starting to `take the proverbial' out of the viewers. Of course, this is what they always do but this time I get the feeling that they might believe their own rhetoric about themselves a bit more than they should, and are actually becoming like those that they ridicule. The second point, related to the first, is the addition of mood music into the piece - not just the jingling Christmas music but romantic and sad mood music. Their comedy did not need a laughter track so why do the `dramatic' bits here need to reinforce the mood? It cheapens the production and might indicate their coming into the mainstream (moronic and predictable). It was probably the BBC offering them a lot of money to do this (which they [jokingly?] say in the extras on the DVD), but "you must use our sound effects people who are getting concerned that you have left them out so long". The effects are so obvious when you are not expecting them from this pair. So I hope art does not become reality with them but the indications are that they have run their course...such a pity. However, well worth a watch - I hope it is not the swan-song of their previous classy efforts.

I beg to differ with the other reviews of the Extras special.

This 90 minutes episode is full of "special guests" and it can be very slow to watch.

RG's character gets a rather bad run of luck and it looks all far fetched.
In the end they try to wrap it up quickly and give a nice ending but without the effect of The Office ending ( which was much funnier )

There are some good moments mainly due to Steven Marchant.
2 1/2 stars

This is more than just a comedy. It has some uncomfortable truths in it about modern-day fame and celebrity; about how people are prepared to sell their souls to the devil for a slice of stardom. Dont get me wrong here, the comedy is brilliant. But at the same time it mourns the state of society when young people are left uncontrollable sobbing wrecks because they have nothing else in their lives than some dream about celebrity on the X Factor. This DVD is brilliance. It is comedy, but it takes a huge swipe at the greed and self-centredness of fame and celebrity while the true stars and heros are probably sitting next to you on your sofa

nice end to the series, lot of laughs plus some food for thought as well, excellent

Gervais is a genius when it comes to ending 'sitcoms', two series then finish with a big final episode. If you enjoyed the two series of extras then you will love this show, it's a brilliant way to conclude the series. Includes some interesting characters from various shows. I would definatly recommend this to any Extras fan, do NOT miss this.