Gervais plans to write drama instead

Ricky Gervais plans to quit writing comedy.

He said the second series of Extras, due to air in September, is likely to be the final sitcom he and writing partner Stephen Merchant create.

‘This will probably be the last sitcom we do. It’s comfortable to churn out the same stuff – but we want to move on a little bit.

‘We’d like to do drama, maybe.  We’d like to do something with more weight, like The Sopranos — not necessarily crime but something meaty, a little bit more epic. I’d like to do something with revenge.

‘You’ve go to keep your juices flowing. You’ve got to keep that adrenline rush. You’ve got to think, “This could fail”.

‘If you’re comfortable, if you don’t think “This could go horribly wrong, this could ruin my career”, there’s no fun in it really.’

BBC bosses had hoped for another series of Extras, and had hinted at a possible Christmas special.

But he told Jonathan Ross: ‘They have to ask me and Stephen first. And it’s not going to happen.’

Ricky has previously turned down many straight acting parts, though he made an exception to play a villain in American TV series Alias. But he declined to appear in a big-screen remake of Magnum PI and The Da Vinci Code for fear he would ruin them.

 

Published: 26 Jul 2006