Ricky Gervais

Biography: Born in Reading, Ricky went to university in London and obtained a degree in Philosophy. He had a brief spell working in pop, in a band 'Seona Dancing'. He then had a longish stint running the entertainments at a students' union. He then turned back to the music business and managed a band called 'Suede' and after walking away from that, promoted a Queen tribute act. Following that Ricky joined XFM, a then small unlicensed radio station. It was here that he took on an assistant Steven Merchant, who would later become co-writer/director of The Office and Extras. Although Ricky wasn't hired to be a broadcaster, he quite fancied giving it a go and a nightly programme was slotted into the schedule. Eventually this became too much for him to handle by himself, so a lone late-night ten-hours became 120 minutes on a Sunday afternoon chatting to his mate Steven Merchant. They've been doing it off and on ever since. 'Meet Ricky Gervais' came hot on the heels of Ricky's popularity in the 11 O'Clock Show. Conceived as a chat show with games, the structure mainly served to allow Ricky the opportunity to further his comedic status. The show finished in October 2000, but Ricky and Steve had already been developing their ideas for an office-based mock documentary, and months if not years of work would come to fruition on 9 July 2001 when the BBC aired the first episode of The Office. Twelve episodes and a two-part Christmas special later and The Office is consigned to broadcasting history as one of the most perfectly crafted comedy series in British TV ever. Showered with awards and critical acclaim Ricky became a household name. Ricky then decided to put together a stand-up show to while away the evenings away from home during filming. The resulting 'Animals' tour, encompassing at least two theatres within a mile radius of his house, was a smash. This success was translated to his second stand up show entitled Politics. Ricky and Steven then wrote a second television series, Extras. Which has seen just as much success as The Office in the UK. Ricky has also found the time to write two books, named Flanimals and more recently More Flanimals aimed at children, although the richness of the illustrations and the inventiveness of the text combined with the pull of anything produced by Ricky give it universal appeal. A second series of Extras is in the pipeline along with a possible third stand up tour.… Expand