Stephen Merchant responds to whether he'd work with Ricky Gervais again - and which classic comedy they would never revive

Stephen Merchant has opened up about whether he’d work with Ricky Gervais again.

Merchant and Gervais co-created acclaimed BBC sitcom The Office in the early 2000s and went on to bring hit comedies Extras and Life’s Too Short to our screens.

They also hosted The Ricky Gervais Show together alongside Karl Pilkington, with the trio working on travel series An Idiot Abroad too.

But speaking to The Times in a new interview, Merchant revealed that he and Gervais rarely talk nowadays.

He said: "Would we work together again? Well, never say never, but we wouldn’t revive The Office.

"We’re not in touch a great deal these days but even at our closest we were living quite separate lives. Ricky used to joke that he was 13 or 14 years older than me and so, just as I was discovering my favourite nightclub, he was discovering his favourite comfortable chair."

Merchant and Gervais's last collaboration was the final episode of Life’s Too Short back in 2013.

Since then, Merchant has gone on to star in films such as Logan, Jojo Rabbit and Fighting with My Family, the latter of which he also wrote and directed.

Meanwhile, Gervais has created, directed and starred in Netflix’s hit series After Life, and released stand-up specials Armageddon, SuperNature and Mortality on the streamer. The comedian is also bringing a new Netflix animated comedy series, titled Alley Cats, to our screens in 2026.

Back in 2018, Merchant said he would be open to working with Gervais again, saying "there was no reason not to" but also admitting that they were going in "different directions, creatively".

He added: “If the right idea was there, it’d be good to do something. But at the moment, there’s nothing on the horizon.”

He continued: “We worked together for pretty much cheek-by-jowl for over 10 years and I think it’s that feeling of being pulled in different directions creatively.”

Read more:

• The Office icon's new comedy series finally gets BBC release window confirmed
• Peep Show star says a revival was planned 10 years after finale – and could still happen

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