The reason: the Blackberry has become an A-list status symbol, an emblem not of its owner's place in the corporate world but in the social firmament (even if that social firmament is really only the local pub) It started, as so many obsessions do, in the US. "They had a deal on The Office where if one person had a doubt and couldn't be talked out of it, then it didn't happen." Whenever Gervais is asked about future plans (they have ideas for two further sitcoms), he always mentions working with Merchant. "We'll continue as long as we still enjoy it," Merchant says "It's a bit like a marriage. Perhaps this is because fame has come early for Merchant: he is still only 30, Gervais is 14 years older "There's no race to be on screen," explains Merchant "I hope to be involved in television for the next 30 years. I don't lie in bed wishing I could be doing Shakespeare soliloquies. Writing, editing and shooting is just such a thrill for me."For all that Gervais occupies the spotlight, it is clear that he and Merchant have a genuinely equal partnership. "I rarely saw any overruling going on between them," says Atalla.
In the new series, based on the world of the theatrical extra, he plays the agent of Ricky Gervais's character, Andy Millman Even then, his screen time will be brief. We wanted to write something that had more of an arc, like a Woody Allen movie, except we could do it over six hours."We will see more of Merchant in Extras than we did in The Office, where he appeared only once as the "Oggmonster". Ben Stiller, Samuel L Jackson, Kate Winslet, and, er, Les Dennis, are just some of the celebrities delighted to appear in the series - all because of the chubby chappie with the winning grin who is now spoken of in the same breath as John Cleese and Tony Hancock But hold on Extras isn't the creation of Gervais alone. As with The Office, it has been co-scripted and co-directed by Stephen Merchant.
Indeed, Merchant was co-writer of the pair's talk show on the London radio station Xfm, and of Channel 4's Meet Ricky Gervais and The Golden Years. He even contributed sketches to The Eleven O'Clock Show when Gervais took over the slot vacated by Sacha Baron Cohen's Ali G. In fact, as long as Gervais has impinged on the national consciousness Merchant has been there. Launched in 1998 and sold in 2002.Married three times - three children, four grandchildren.. Only four days to go The nation eagerly awaits. On Thursday night, BBC2 will broadcast the first episode of Extras, the new sitcom by Ricky Gervais, the comedy genius behind The Office. It's hard work and there's a price to be paid."And I'm not talking about money here, but the emotional costs.
