Stephen Merchant

Merchant: BBC would be too scared to make Office now

The comedian Stephen Merchant has claimed The Office could not be made now due to the liberal Left deciding what we should - and shouldn't - find funny.

Stephen Merchant interview

As Stephen Merchant stars on the West End stage, he tells Chris Harvey why having an opinion is now a dangerous business.

A sixth series for the satire show that picks apart the week's news while making it look like a chat between three particularly witty friends down the pub. It features, as usual, Adam Hills as the genial mastermind and Alex Brooker and Josh Widdicombe as his grinning familiars. Tonight, the men are joined by stretched Muppet Stephen Merchant.

Ricky Gervais does Office film without Stephen Merchant

Ricky Gervais will reportedly make The Office movie without the help of Stephen Merchant.

Radio Times review

Samuel L Jackson is no stranger to Graham's red sofa having been a guest on the show several times. And it's no wonder they ask him back. The most badass actor in Hollywood is terrific value, littering his conversation with expletives, self-deprecating remarks, funny stories and sharp one-liners. Stephen Merchant will doubtless be equally amusing about doing "some proper acting" in the West End, and also on display is American comedian Amy Schumer, whose Bridesmaids-style film Trainwreck is out this summer.

This week, Hollywood star Samuel L Jackson promotes action-adventure movie Big Game, which finds him starring as the US president, a man stranded in the Finnish wilderness after terrorists target Air Force One. Joining him will be actor and writer Stephen Merchant, and US standup Amy Schumer. Power trio Muse provide the music.

Stephen Merchant in car crash in Los Angeles

Stephen Merchant has escaped injury after being involved in a collision in LA. The Office actor, who was travelling with his actress girlfriend Hayley Atwell at the time, was heading down Melrose Avenue when the incident happened, it has been reported.

Stephen Merchant: the 10 records that changed my life

It's hard to imagine that Stephen Merchant might have any artistic shortcomings. But the enterprising cultural phenomenon does admit to lacking one talent in his considerable creative skill set. "I can't play an instrument."

There's a massive spider on the wall in the men's toilet at the nursing home where Derek (Channel 4) works. Is it after the fly perhaps? No, because this is Ricky Gervais wobbly hand-held mockumentary style. Who is this camera operator supposed to be though? A recovering alcoholic? A resident? Maybe with Parkinson's? Certainly with no previous experience of camera operation - it's lurching all over the place, zooming in and out, I'm feeling a bit airsick to be honest. Oh for a bit of fly-on-a-wall steadiness.

And what are these amateur documentaries supposed to be, do you ever ask? I suppose a residential care home is a more likely subject than a Slough-based paper company, but I'm wondering if the whole mockumentary idea is a little tired?

Anyway, the reason for the big spider is of course to demonstrate Derek's nature. He's terrified of it but he certainly doesn't want it killed. "Go and get a cup, catch it," he tells Dougie (Karl Pilkington). "Make sure you catch it, and let it go free." Derek may not be the brightest tool in the box, or the bravest, but he's a good guy, kind and gentle, and he loves animals.

You can tell that Derek's not so bright, a bit backward, because of the way RG plays him. He hunches over a little, tilts his head to one side, darts his eyes around, grimaces idiotically, and he holds his hands in front of him, like some kind of rodent. Plus, he's not so good at declining his verbs. "Animals always tries their best," he says, demonstrating his selflessness and love of animals as well as confusion over the third person. It's the same on Twitter: "I loves animals," tweets @MrDerekNoakes. It's always a dead give away, poor verb declension ...

That's the biggest problem with Derek. Not, as some have said, that it mocks people with learning difficulties (it's too kind for that, and tries to be sympathetic). Just that it's a very crude portrayal. Gervais's previous characters - David Brent and Andy Millman - are not, I suspect, so very different from RG himself, kind of grotesque caricatures. Here he's trying to be someone else completely, and it's awful.

It may not be fashionable, but I'm a fan of Ricky Gervais. I used to like him on the radio with Stephen Merchant. Then The Office pretty much changed comedy on television, invented awkwardness. Extras was bold and bloody hilarious. I also very much enjoyed his Golden Globes hosting - baring a cheeky British arse to humourless Hollywood. But he's no Tom Hanks himself (and Derek's not Forrest Gump). Karl Pilkington also - I enjoy his Idiot Abroad show but he's no great actor.

Derek's father has moved in. He's a ladies' man, and he likes a drink (well, he seems to be Irish, maybe Derek isn't totally lazy-stereotype free). But the old man is a good 'un too. He's got a photo album, pictures of himself on holiday - France, Germany, Morocco, Spain - with a different lady in each place. "That's the point in travelling, boy: nookie." "Newquay?" says Derek, darting his eyes around, shaking his head. "I haven't been to Newquay."

A pun! Nookie, said a bit drunk and a bit Irish (same thing innit?) sounds a bit like Newquay. Especially if you're a half-wit ...

That's the other big problem with Derek. That it's not very smart. Or very funny. Or very good.

Although BBC2 produced many landmark comedy series, The Office was notable for establishing a new genre - the mockumentary. Fictional, but filmed as if it were a fly-on-the-wall reality TV show, it was written by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant and gave us the grotesque (but inst­antly recognisable) character of David Brent, the socially awkward, yet self-important boss from hell presiding over a workplace in Slough which sucks the soul out of its employees. The Office reinvigorated the flagging British sitcom format. A touching blend of egotism, self-delusion and desperation, Brent is an incredible comic creation, but the show's other characters: Tim (Martin Freeman), who is all-too aware of the pointlessness of his work; Gareth (Mackenzie Crook), the self-inflated assistant regi­onal manager and the butt of Tim's jokes; and Dawn - the secretary with the fit but selfish boyfriend - were all beautifully drawn. It was the first British comedy to win a Golden Globe.