The Office returns for another series

He is the scourge of offices and factories up and down the country – the awful boss who cracks terrible jokes, thinks he is god’s gift to women and can still be one of the lads.

Everybody knows him and he was brought to life on screen by BBC Two’s spoof fly-on-the-wall documentary series The Office in the form of the exceptionally seedy David Brent – the head of a paper merchants in Slough.

Brent thinks he is the office joker who shows strong leadership skills and is both loved and respected by his staff. But in reality he is a bungling bully who is loathed and despised by the majority of his staff.

This odious man is the creation of comic Ricky Gervais and the show, which returns to BBC Two on Monday, September 30, turned out to be one of last year’s TV hits.

Nobody is more surprised by this than the creator of both The Office and Brent, 40-year-old Gervais himself.

“I think it was one of those things where people found out about it by word of mouth. People would stumble across the programme and once they realised it was a joke they would tell their mates about it.

“Everybody knows somebody who is like David Brent and people can easily identify with an office environment as well.

“It is surprising it has become a success because there are no stars and there isn’t even a laughter track to tell people it’s a comedy. But I don’t think you should insult people’s intelligence.

“I am amazed we got to make the show in the first place because we were all complete unknowns. They even let us direct it. I remember thinking when we got commissioned, ‘Why are you letting me do this?’.”

Unlike his onscreen character Gervais comes across as an easygoing, thoughtful bloke who possesses a fair amount of charm and has a strong line in self-deprecation.

“I watched the last series just the once. To be honest I’m sick of the sight of me,” he jokes. “I also have to be careful when I’m doing interviews not to slip into David Brent gobbledegook.

“I know I’m probably not the best actor, writer or director. But I like being able to do all three. It’s like building a model toy. What’s the point in buying it and getting somebody else to put it together? Where’s the fun in that?”

Since finding success Gervais has been inundated with offers of work but he has not been tempted by anything to date.

He explains: “When people started to catch on to the last series I started to get loads of offers for other work. I got a fair few film roles and I must have had about 50 adverts offered.

“I said no to them all. The reason was that The Office takes me so long to put together. I act, write and direct it and that’s what appeals to me about the show. But that takes time – I started work on this series last September.

“I would love to do a film but I don’t want to be seen cashing in. I would rather be able to develop another project and be left alone instead of just trying to make a load of money.”

The idea for Brent came from a character called Seedy Boss, developed by Gervais while he was working at London radio station Xfm with Stephen Merchant, who co-writes and co-directs The Office.

But before the loathsome Brent and The Office came along, Gervais had already had a taste of unpopularity. The Reading-born comedian appeared on Channel 4’s The 11 0’Clock Show as an obnoxious TV news reporter. He kept his own name for this role which resulted in a lot of viewers complaints.

He says: “I was surprised when some people really thought I believed the disabled were lazy and famine was funny. It was horrendous and that’s what made it funny.

“If I’d had a wig on and called myself Billy The Bigot from Bermondsey most people wouldn’t have minded. They would have accepted it like Alf Garnett. I thought I’d made it obvious.”

In the 80s Gervais even tried his hand at becoming a pop star. “It was in an electronic boy duo, Tears For Fears type of thing. We got signed on the strength of a demo tape and released a couple of singles which didn’t do anything.

“So the record company said, ‘Thanks lads, keep the money but don’t bother us again’.”

These days he lives in west London with his partner Jane Fallon, who has produced This Life and Teachers. The pair, who have no children, have lived together since 1984.

Occasionally journalists make the mistake of thinking they are parents after Gervais once filled in a newspaper questionnaire saying the three things he would save if his house burnt down were “the cat, the salamander and one of the twins”.

Unlike other comedians whose characters have become synonymous with specific catchphrases and have to put up with it getting repeated to them over and over again Gervais has got off lightly as Brent has no such obvious gimmick.

But he still thinks some people can mimic his most famous creation without too much effort. He says: “I think it is pretty easy for people to do an impression of David Brent. You just have to be fat, have a goatee and be able to talk rubbish and there’s a fair few people around like that.”