Warwick Davis -- who's really good looking in addition to having sharp comic timing -- decides to resuscitate his career by leeching off his friends Gervais and Merchant...and essentially doing David Brent on camera. The extraordinary thing is that G&M cast Davis to play a version of their old character(s), an unfunny schmuck in fact, in order to show his (Davis's) actual existing comic talent. Certainly the most humane depiction of showbiz dwarves I know of. Gervais in particular gets dinged for meanness and arrogance all the time, but Life's Too Short (Davis's title, by the way) is a fine showcase for a man who's never been allowed to play comedy in his own face.
In other words, what looks like exploitation is -- as usual for Merchant and Gervais -- actually a generous celebration of a talented, funny friend who'd otherwise never have been given a chance to show off. (If you realize Karl Pilkington is a genius, you'll see where this is going.) Note, by the way, that Davis's character is a mix of Merchant's agent, Gervais's Andy Millman, and of course David Brent himself: literally a warm beating heart hidden underneath the wacky goings-on.
(More introspection: the scene in episode 3 with the boy in the wheelchair is a punch in the gut, and Davis helps bring out its painful humanity.)
I could do without the 'Yay! Cameos!' aspect, though the actual cameos are mostly quite funny, Liam Neeson's in particular. 'I don't take notes.' Heh.
