Timeline

A timeline of the history and development of the shows, and the careers of the three main performers.

1961

• June 25th: Ricky Gervais is born in Reading

1972

• September 23rd: Karl Pilkington is born in Manchester

1974

• November 24th: Stephen Merchant is born in Bristol

1998

• January: Ricky and Steve begin their first show (Series 0) on Xfm.
• August: Ricky and Steve take voluntary redundancy from Xfm
• September 8th: Ricky and Steve's sitcom pilot, Golden Years, is broadcast on Channel 4 as part of the Comedy Lab strand.

1999

• October 26th: The third series of the 11 O'Clock Show begins, now featuring Ricky Gervais.

2000

• Meet Ricky Gervais is broadcast on Channel 4.

2001

• July 9: The Office is first broadcast on BBC2.
• September: Ricky and Steve return to Xfm with a new show, with Karl Pilkington as their producer. Series 1, and the show as we know it, begins.

2002

• May 4th: Ricky and Steve take a break to film the second series of The Office, marking the end of series 1.
• August 24th: Ricky and Steve return, and Series 2 begins.
• August 31st: An early version of Rockbusters is played for the first time
• September 30th: The Office Series 2 is broadcast.
• November 21st: The Last Chancers, another Comedy Lab pilot is broadcast, directed by Stephen Merchant.

2003

• January 25th: Monkey News makes its debut.
• August 16th: Series 2 ends after 51 weeks, as Ricky and Steve go off to film The Office Christmas specials. The show's future hangs on whether Karl decides to return.
• November 1st: The show does return, as Karl now has Mondays off, and Series 3 begins
• 26th-27th December: The Office Christmas Specials are broadcast on BBC1

2004

• January 17th: Series 3 draws to a close.

2005

• May 28th: The show returns with the six-week Series 4.
• July 2nd: The last show of the series, and of any Xfm series ends early as Ricky will be introducing REM at Live 8.
• July 20th: Extras begins on BBC2.
• December 5th: The first series of 12 weekly Podcasts begin, free on Guardian Unlimited
• December 24th and 31st: Ricky, Steve and Karl stand in for Jonathan Ross on BBC Radio 2 over the Christmas period.
• December 27th-29th: Karl co-presents three 6Music Shows with Russell Brand

2006

• January 23rd: The first excerpts of Karl's Diary are read in Podcast episode 8.
• February 20th: Podcast Series 1 draws to a close.
• February 27th: Podcast Series 2 begins, 6 weeks in length and no longer free, available on iTunes or Audible.
• March 24th: The first Video Podcast is released, the beginning of a free, irregular, continuing series.
• April: Karl appears on a few more episodes of Russell Brand's 6 Music show, but contractual obligations force him to pull out.
• April 4th: Podcast Series 2 ends.
• August 14th-17th: Karl makes a series of four consecutive 3 Minute Wonders for Channel 4.
• August 22nd: After a break in order to film Extras Series 2, the Podcasts return with Series 3, the same deal as Series 2.
• September 14th: Extras series 2 begins.
• September 18th: The World of Karl Pilkington is released in the UK
• September 26th: Series 3 ends, with the suggestion that there will be a break before the next series.
• October 31st: The first of three free podcasts will be available through Guardian Unlimited.

2007

• 07 November Stephen Merchant appears on Danny Baker's BBC London radio show. He talks about not being able to direct The Office (US Series) because of the WGA strike.
• 09 November Newsnight Review (BBC 2) broadcasts an brief interview of Ricky Gervais on the set of Ghost Town
• 10 November the Indepedent publishes a long interview with Ricky Gervais. It can be read here