Kerry Godliman on 'After Life' S3: ‘I’m just as curious as everyone else as to what will come next’

It was one of the big hits of lockdown, coming away with the honour or being the most watched British comedy in the world, so it’s no wonder that fans of After Life are hankering after a new series.

And thankfully, creator and star of the show Ricky Gervais is now working on new material for a third season of the hit Netflix show – however, what’s coming up next for widower Tony is anyone’s guess.

Speaking on White Wine Question Time, Gervais’ co-star in the show Kerry Godliman, who plays his dead wife Lisa, said while she knows a new series is going to happen, there’s only one thing she’s certain of.

“All I know for definite is I am still dead,” she told podcast host and pal Kate Thornton.

“I'm just as curious as the audience are to know what happens next.”

After Life follows Tony, whose life is turned upside down after his wife dies, turning him from a nice guy into someone who does and says what he wants. Godliman revealed that Gervais is usually very collaborative with the writing process, but lockdown unfortunately has changed all that.

“He touches base with a lot of the cast through the writing process, but obviously because of circumstances, we haven't been able to do that,” she explained.

Read more: Ricky Gervais reveals he's started writing the third series of After Life

“Sometimes we even have like workshops or chats where you can talk about stuff and read little scenes that he's written and things like that. But obviously we haven't been able to do that, so I'm having a FaceTime with him tomorrow to just catch up.”

Kerry, who was also recently in drama series Save Me, said that her character in the show is so much nicer than she is – especially as she’s given her blessing for Ricky’s character Tony to find love again.

“She really is a better person than me though,” she laughed. “Every time I think ‘God, these lines - would I say that to my Ben [her husband]? Would I go ‘Yeah. You crack on you another, get yourself another wife when I'm gone.’ I don't know.”

She continued: “You'd want to, wouldn't you? Because you know, that would be the right thing to do, but that's what Tony is going through. Just that awful horrible reality that his soulmate is gone - and what does moving on look like?”

Some fans of the show have asked Ricky Gervais to create a prequel, showing the life that Tony and Lisa had before her sudden death, but Godliman doesn’t think that would work as well.

“That isn't really the spirit of the thing,” she said. “It's like the whole show is about his grief, so if he's not grieving, then it isn't the same.”

Read more: Jo Hartley talks After Life, Ricky Gervais and the moment that made her cry

Godliman, who also starred with Gervais in his show Derek, believes there is a lot of his real life partner, Jane Fallon, in Lisa’s character, which makes her feel immense sympathy for her.

She told Thornton: “I mean him and Jane – who've been together for an awfully long time – there is a lot of Jane in Lisa. Sometimes when he's telling me what he's going to do with Lisa and Tony or whatever, and I just go, 'Oh, poor Jane', because I think you've done this with Jane!”

You can catch Series 1 and 2 of After Life on Netflix now.

Hear Kerry Godliman talk more about her unique relationship with Ricky Gervais and why she had a plastic spider sewn into her wedding dress! Listen now on iTunes and Spotify.