After Life: Fans Realise They've Seen Coleen In The Show Before

Netflix hit series After Life returned for its third and final series, with Ricky Gervais’s melancholic comedy having us crying and laughing in equal measure.

The new batch of episodes sees newbie Coleen (played by Kath Hughes) start at the newspaper as an intern, and strikes up an unlikely friendship with Tony (Gervais).

However, some eagle-eyed fans have spotted that Coleen has popped up in the series before.

You can watch the video below.

Fans will remember that Coleen first popped up in the fictional village of Tambury in the first episode of the first season, when Tony had to buy some pet food for his beloved dog, Brandy.

Coleen was working at the supermarket, where Tony finds her to ask where the dog food was.

Coleen deadpanned: “It’s by the cat food.”

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Tony, who was unimpressed by her attitude then asks where the cat food is, and after he’s rather flatly told, snidely tells her “Don’t get up.”

In fact, Coleen’s tenure as a supermarket shop assistant is referenced when she reappears in season three.

After being announced as Sandy’s replacement, Tony asks Coleen if she’s feeling okay.

“Not really, I’m absolutely gutted,” she said. “I worked my way up to management in my old job.

“[I worked] at the mini-mart, but it went bust during the pandemic so I’ve had to take anything, even though the money’s s**t and I don’t know what I’m doing.”

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Things do manage to improve for Coleen throughout the series, as Tony helps her find her own home, using his wife’s life insurance.

Fans have been left in floods of tears with After Life’s return, with many calling it the ‘best series ever’.

Hundreds took to social media, admitting they had been sobbing at the show. One wrote: "What have you done to me @rickygervais. I’m nearly 50 and spent the afternoon crying in my room like I was nine again! I loved #afterlife so much. Thank you to your brain, to you and to your whole team. #AfterLife3 is just a wonderful, beautiful wonderful #masterpiece."

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While another said: "So many great moments landing right on the feels. Had me laughing, crying and more importantly it instils hope beautifully!"

You can read more about that here. 

After Life is available to view in Netflix.

Topics: Netflix, TV And Film

Kimberley Bond

Kim is a journalist at Tyla, and has previously worked at the Evening Standard, Radio Times as well as several national newspapers. A showbiz obsessive and a television fanatic, Kim is particularly interested in celebrity gossip, A-list events and the latest releases on either the big or small screen. Contact her at [email protected]

@0xKimberley