Ricky Gervais has been reviving his classic Office character David Brent several times over the past year – from the web short “The Return of Brent†to two hit UK gigs as Brent’s rock band Foregone Conclusion – and as Chortle reports, Gervais has called the band performances a “Trojan Horse†to get Brent back on television.
Speaking to the Sunday Times, Gervais confirmed that his newest TV idea involves Brent’s most recent deluded belief that he’s the next Jack Kerouac. “It’s just an idea,†he said. “I want to do a tour, a little tour – and people think they’re seeing a tour. I film it, but actually it’s Brent who thinks he’s making a Scorsese-type thing of On the Road. Of course, behind the scenes, it is so much sadder and more poignant. It’s Spinal Tap meets sad Scorsese meets [Canadian heavy metal band] Anvil. It’s more of the breakdown of this man who thought he was going to be something else.â€
While the David Brent-on-tour idea has yet to find a venue, Gervais said he has Netflix, HBO, or the BBC in mind, but he insisted that Brent’s return to television “can’t be an unwanted encore. It can’t even be a wanted encore, because people don’t know what they want.â€