Gervais to reprise David Brent

Ricky Gervais will bring back David Brent.

‘The Office’ star confirmed he would be playing the character in the US version of the TV show, and hopes his bumbling middle-management boss meets his counterpart from the stateside series, Michael Scott, played by Steve Carrell.

He said: “I think it would be funny for David Brent to walk into the US ‘Office’ and hear them go: ‘Oh my God, there’s two of them!’.

“We don’t need to know about Brent’s back story – the English ‘Office’ exists in a cocoon and in the DVD.

“Michael Scott could just bump into Brent, who is a bloke from England. I don’t think we’ll take any of the other UK characters over, we’ll probably leave it with just me, because otherwise it’s just too complicated.”

Ricky, 48, also said he is making it his personal mission for critics to dislike him.

He revealed to The Sun newspaper: “Every time I read a negative review now I think it’s great because being hated as much as you are loved is what makes careers.

“I want to antagonise as many people as love me for it. And I want the people who hate me to hate the fact that so many people love me. It’s my mission.”