Ricky Gervais

How Ricky Gervais took on his school bully - with Polos

Ricky Gervais once made the hardest pupil in his school cry - by hitting him in the face with a packet of polos.

Life's Too Short preview

There's good news in store for fans of Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. After a successful 30 minute pilot and the announcement of a full series commission last year, we can reveal some more details about Life's Too Short, as part of BBC Two's summer/autumn season.

Sophie Ellis-Bextor confirms 'Life's Too Short' cameo

Sophie Ellis-Bextor has revealed that she is filming a cameo for Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant's new comedy series Life's Too Short.

I don't understand why American critics took so vehemently against The Marriage Ref, created by Jerry Seinfeld. On the strength of this ITV remake, it looks like harmless fluff.

Or maybe the harmlessness was the reason for the critics' harshness. Maybe the Americans expected Seinfeld to come up with something edgier and more substantial than a comedy panel game in which three celebrities pass jokey judgements on minor marital spats.

The US version, despite savage reviews, has limped to a second series. The only reason for its survival seems to be Seinfeld's ability to fill the panel with heavyweight celebrity pals like Madonna, Alec Baldwin and Ricky Gervais.

Their counterparts for this version were considerably less starry: comedians Sarah Millican and Jimmy Carr (clearly we don't see enough of him on television), and, as host Dermot O'Leary described her, "British pop and yoga royalty" Geri Halliwell.

I can't see this version making it beyond a single series. The domestic disputes are barely disputes at all and there's nothing at stake, not even a cash prize.

Saturday's participants were a middle-aged Tom Jones impersonator who's fed up with his wife leaving him "to do" lists; a young woman who wants her 31-year-old clown of a husband to grow up and stop hanging out with teenage skateboarders; and a lovely, octogenarian couple, married for 53 years, who are having a genteel disagreement over the husband's habit of making endless jars of pickles (cue some patronising "oohing" and "aahing" from the studio audience).

Hardly the stuff of Relate counselling. In a TV landscape coarsened beyond belief by the likes of Jeremy Kyle, The Marriage Ref doesn't stand a chance.

Pink & Ricky Gervais commercial wins PETA top ad prize

An animal rights public service announcement narrated by Pink and Ricky Gervais has won a major advertising prize.

Audio: Ricky Gervais on filming his new BBC sitcom

Speaking from the set of Life's Too Short, Ricky Gervais tells Richard Bacon: "It's a fake documentary... the premise is that he's making this to try to get his career back on track."

Gervais insists he didn't diss US version of The Office

Ricky Gervais has denied 'dissing' the US version of The Office, just hours after appearing to do just that.

Twitter sex therapist exposed as comedian David Earl

Earnest yet explicit Twitter character Dr Peter Thraft, who prompted speculation he could be Steve Coogan, has been revealed as Ricky Gervais' friend David Earl, aka Brian Gittins.

Karl Pilkington to appear in The Simpsons

Ricky Gervais's TV sidekick Karl Pilkington is to appear on The Simpsons.

Ricky Gervais signs on for 'Spy Kids 4'

Ricky Gervais has signed on to voice a character in Robert Rodriguez's new Spy Kids film.