‘After Life’ Season 2: Netflix Release Time & Everything You Need to Know

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After Life – Rich Hardcastle / Netflix

Ricky Gervais’s After Life is returning to Netflix for season 2 in April 2020 and if you’re looking for everything you need to know about the series, you’ve come to the right place. Here’s what we know about season 2 of After Life. 

The six-episode first season of After Life arrived on Netflix back on March 8th, 2019. The comedy sitcom features a roller coaster of emotions and has been one of Netflix’s best new debut shows of 2019 so far.

The show has been nominated for multiple Emmy awards. The guys over at GoldDerby has placed Ricky Gervais as one of the favorites to top the best actor category. Despite Gervais’s recent fall out over award shows including a recent statement where he said: “all award shows are tedious.”

Ricky Gervais since the release of After Life has signed an exclusive deal with Netflix where Netflix gets the first look at any new projects. Don’t forget, Ricky is also involved with another two projects coming to Netflix too.


When will season 2 of After Life be on Netflix?

Thanks to the announcements made by various social media accounts from Netflix, we now have confirmation that the second season fo Afterlife is coming to Netflix on April 24th, 2020!

What time will After Life season 2 be on Netflix?

As is tradition with every new Netflix Original, After Life will be available to stream on Netflix from Midnight Pacific Standard Time. This means if you live in Europe, you’ll receive the latest season on the morning, and if you like in Asia or Australia you’ll have to wait until the late afternoon or evening:

Time Zone Time available to stream
Pacific Standard Time 12:00 AM (GMT-8)
Mountain Standard Time 1:00 AM (GMT-7)
Central Standard Time 2:00 AM (GMT-6)
Eastern Standard Time 3:00 AM (GMT-5)
British Daylight Savings Time 08:00 AM (GMT)
Central European Time 09:00 AM (GMT+1)
Eastern European Time 10:00 AM (GMT+2)
India Standard Time 13:30 PM (GMT+5:30)
Japan Standard Time 16:00 PM (GMT+8)
Australian Eastern Time 18:00 PM (GMT+10)
New Zealand Day Light Time 20:00 PM (GMT+12)

Has After Life been renewed for season 2?

The renewal of After Life came in just after a month of season 1 landing on Netflix across the globe. The news came from Netflix’s See What’s Next account.

Ricky has repeatedly expressed his love for the reaction for the show. Saying: “I have never had a reaction like this before. It’s been insane. And heartwarming. But now I have to make sure the second season is even better so I’ll probably have to work much harder than usual. Annoying really.”


Who’s returning to the cast of After Life season 2?

Everyone, with one exception, has been confirmed to be returning for season 2 of After Life.

That means Tom Basden is returning as Matt, Tony Way as Lenny, Diane Morgan as Kath, Mandeep Dhillon as Sandy, David Bradley, Ashley Jensen, and even Paul Kaye.

There have been a few new additions to the cast teased with Gervais referring to them as “added surprises”.

Of course, the one exception is Julian who won’t be returning after his untimely death in season 1.


Where is Afer Life season 2 in production?

Current status: Post-Production (last updated: October 2019)

The second season of After Life has officially finished filming. This was confirmed in a tweet by Ricky Gervais!

Now that the series is in the editing process, we could expect to see a trailer drop soon.


What to expect from season 2 of After Life?

For most, the first season actually wrapped up quite nicely. Tony’s character arc full circled and he came out the other side far more positive. That’s led many to question where exactly what direction season 2 would cover.

One thing Gervais has repeatedly pointed out on his social media is that he won’t be killing off the dog in season 2. That’s a relief to all as I don’t think I could handle another dog death scene after the one in Derek.

Natalie Seery / Netflix

Of course, more death could be in store for Tony with his father (played by David Bradley) currently in a care home with Alzheimer’s disease.

Tony is also now back on the dating scene again with him planning a date with his father’s nurse. Hopefully, we’ll actually get her name this season too.

We’ll also see what happens at Tony’s workplace which, like most print media, is struggling.


Will After Life continue after season 2?

If you’re looking for news about season 3 of After Life, it’s a little too early. Ricky’s work has traditionally only lasted two seasons. If you look at The Office and Extras, both shows only lasted two seasons with some Christmas specials thrown in for good measure to wrap up. Likewise, Derek, which was carried as an Original in the US, also ran for two seasons and saw a special.

In an interview, Gervais said, “I do like doing 12 or 14 episodes.” Saying “It’s a great length to put everything in it and have nothing left.” but spoke to the fact that he is a smaller production than most series but didn’t rule out a third and potentially further season saying he’s getting old and may have to milk this series a little longer.


How many episodes will there be for After Life season 2?

There has been confirmed to be once again, six episodes making up season 2. This goes against the usual 10 episode seasons we often see with Netflix Originals. The reason for this is likely because of Ricky’s past in not wanting to overstay his welcome.


Ricky Gervais’s Second Netflix Stand-up Special is coming soon

There’s even more Ricky coming to Netflix in the near future beyond just After Life too. Netflix has a second stand-up comedy special on the way but details on that are scarce at the moment but we do know the name of the second title.

The second special is called SuperNature which gives us an idea that it’ll focus heavily on nature, something Ricky regularly advocates for.

It’s not clear when it’ll be on Netflix but tickets are available for the tour which is set for over summer 2019. That could mean the special is aired later in 2019 or at some point in 2020.

His first special on Netflix arrived in 2018 and was entitled Humanity.

In the meantime, as customary for every Ricky Gervais series thus far, a blooper reel featuring Gervais’s infectious laughing.

We’ll keep updating this preview every month up until the release of After Life season 2 on Netflix. Are you looking forward to season 2? Let us know in the comments down below.

Written by

Founder of What's on Netflix and based in Norwich in the United Kingdom, Kasey has been tracking the comings and goings of the Netflix library for a decade having started the site in 2013. Kasey maintains the what's new library, keeps the coming soon lists up-to-date and writes about new and upcoming Netflix movies, series and games.

 Poster

Official Netflix Synopsis: "Struggling to come to terms with his wife's death, a writer for a newspaper adopts a gruff new persona in an effort to push away those trying to help."


Rating: TV-MA
Language: English
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Cast: Ricky Gervais, Tom Basden, Tony Way
Season Additions:
  • - Season 3 was added to Netflix on January 14th, 2022
  • - Season 2 was added to Netflix on April 24th, 2020
  • - Season 1 was added to Netflix on March 8th, 2019