The cast of Derek have admitted that people either love or hate their sitcom, because it is unlike anything else on TV.

Holli Dempsey stars as Vicki, Brett Goldstein as Tom and Kerry Godliman as Hannah in the comedy series created by and starring Ricky Gervais, but the cast said that while it had plenty of fans, there were also a lot of people who struggled to understand it.

Talking to the Radio Times, Holli said: “I think in this day and age there are a lot of depressing things out there and a lot of stuff on telly that doesn’t make you feel anything – sometimes you don’t want to feel anything – but with this I think it’s so heartwarming and it comes down to human characters.

Derek
(Channel 4)

“It’s not anything more. It’s just humans and kindness and being nice to the person next to you but it’s made people cry. There should be things out there like that that make you feel things and think about other people.”

Brett added: “I can’t think of a thing that’s like Derek. That’s what’s interesting about it because it seems to me that people really love it or really hate it and I think one of the reasons is it isn’t like anything else and I think that annoys people.

“I can’t think of an equivalent – most shows are about murder, or they’re very cynical.”

Ricky Gervais Derek
(Channel 4)

Kerry said of working with Ricky on the Channel 4 show: “He’s exactly what you think he’s like. He discloses a lot of outtakes and I think that’s partly because his fans have an affection for seeing him d*** about and corpsing and it’s all pretty true – that is what goes on.

“It’s like playing with a kid – it’s a lot of fun. And it almost ruins you for other jobs. He’s been very complimentary and I have a lot to thank him for because it’s been quite a break for me, playing Hannah.”