Gervais tops download chart

Ricky Gervais has become the most popular podcast on both sides of the Atlantic, in only its second week.

The first of the 12 weekly shows was downloaded more than 180,000 times, knocking Chris Moyles off the top of the UK iTunes Top Ten and topping the Us chart, too.

Gervais, his Office co-creator Stephen Merchant and sidekick Karl Pilkington release a new half-hour episode via the Guardian Unlimited every Monday.

Gervais said: ‘When I heard that we were the number one podcast, my first thought was that it wasn't a fair fight as The Office is shown in more than  80 countries around the world.  Steve's first thought was, “Why aren't we charging for it?” and Karl's first thought was, “Is a chimp allowed to win the lottery?"’

Emily Bell, Editor-in-Chief, Guardian Unlimited, says: ‘We are delighted to have the Christmas number one on both sides of the Atlantic – the spread of

Ricky, Stephen and particularly Karl’s popularity throughout the English speaking world is as pleasing as it is inevitable.’

Get the latest episode from www.guardian.co.uk/rickygervais

Published: 13 Dec 2005