Ricky Gervais

Who could have foretold, when The Office was first aired in 2001, that Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant's comedy series would go on to be shown in 80 countries, "break" America and win a Golden Globe award? Tonight, BBC Two delights Wernham Hogg fans with a re-airing of the entire first series (six episodes). The programmes are interspersed with interviews with the cast, including Ricky Gervais, Mackenzie Crook and Martin Freeman. Comedy bigwigs - Richard Curtis and Ben Stiller among them - also offer their thoughts on the inimitable series.

Tonight, BBC Two is screening all six episodes of the first series of The Office, the landmark comedy that transformed the sound of fingernails being dragged down a blackboard into laughter. And like the commentary on a DVD, the episodes are interspersed with insights from Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, the co-stars Martin Freeman, Lucy Davis and Mackenzie Crook, and famous fans including Richard Curtis, Ben Stiller and Hugh Jackman.

Ricky Gervais writes about A Night At The Office

"I was very pleased when I heard that the BBC were planning a retrospective of The Office. Usually they make those things when the creator dies. This way I can watch it myself. Perfect."

Stars come out for BBC2's Office night

BBC2 will dedicate an entire evening to airing the first series of The Office later this month, including new footage of Ricky Gervais and the team talking about its impact alongside comedy stars such as Friends' Matthew Perry and Spinal Tap's Christopher Guest.

How 'The Office' became an opera

One music student has transformed The Office into an opera - to the delight of Stephen Merchant and Ricky Gervais.

A good day at the office

An interview with Ricky Gervais in the Financial Times.

Ricky Gervais's The Office: the perfect TV comedy?

The fact that The Office being remade in yet another country, for the sixth time and on this occasion in Israel, confirms once more the universality of Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant's comic creation. That and the fact that, by now, they must be so stupendously rich that their recent Comic Relief sketch could only have been a tame understatement.

Are Mathew Horne and James Corden the next Morecambe and Wise? On the strength of this, probably not - and the quicker Corden starts writing the next Gavin & Stacey series, the better.

What differentiates this from other sketch shows is that some parts were shot in front of a studio audience and it was directed by Kathy Burke - a comedy god. But it's the usual hit-and-miss affair of sketches that work (superheroes meeting off-duty, a camp war correspondent and a brilliant Ricky Gervais impersonation) and those that don't.

There's a surprising amount of naked flesh as the lads seem to get their kit off at the drop of a hat. The duo's popularity should help them ride this one out but as their awkward stint presenting the Brits showed, being mates is one thing - creating that effortless on-screen chemistry is a lot, lot harder than Ant and Dec make it look.

Corden & Horne, surely? If we're talking comedy double acts, that's got to have a far better ring to it than Horne & Corden, wouldn't you say?

Anyway, no matter - what we have here is another brand new sketch series, this time featuring the pair, aka Matthew and James, who co-hosted The Brits with Kylie last month, and whom the nation knows best for the excellent Gavin & Stacey (which Corden also co-wrote).

This new show of theirs, it's worth noting, is aimed at an audience that's comfortable with a fair bit of crudity, but it has to be said that even the near-the-knuckle material is funny first and rude second, if you get my drift.

And if nothing else, episode one is worth watching just for Corden's brilliant Ricky Gervais impression.

A brand-new sketch show from Gavin and Stacey stars Mathew Horne and James Corden. OK, we admit that on the evidence of their BRIT Awards double-act, there's not a great deal to suggest Gavin & Smithy off Gavin & Stacey's move into sketch show territory is going to be much cop. Even Smithy's joke about bunking up with Kylie was, essentially, the same gag he cracked about Keira Knightley at an awards bash last August. Then again, characters such as a pair of rubbish magicians and a lovely pop at Ricky Gervais inspire some faith in the lads. File under 'promising', then...