Gervais to write the Simpsons

Ricky Gervais is to write an episode of The Simpsons.

The Office star had already signed up for a guest appearance on his favourite show – but last night it was revealed that he would be scripting it, too.

Creator Matt Groening let the cat out of the bag backstage at the British Comedy Awards, which he attended to receive an outstanding contribution award from Professor Stephen Hawking.

Gervais said: "This is the most intimidating project of my career. The Simpsons is the greatest TV show of all time. I can only make it slightly worse.

“When I first got into comedy my greatest ambition was to get one joke on The Simpsons. I may as well retire now”

The subject of the episode remains a secret, but Gervais has already started work on it.

Groening recently said : “Everybody on The Simpsons is a fan of The Office - it's one of the best shows on TV in the last decade.”

Published: 23 Dec 2004