Gervais planning Extras one-off

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Comedian Ricky Gervais has admitted he is planning a one-hour special of his hit TV comedy Extras.

Appearing on ITV1's This Morning, the 47-year-old revealed he had drafted a "rough storyline" where lead character Andy Millman would head to Hollywood.

Gervais said he "has a lot to beat" because David Bowie and Robert De Niro guest starred in the last series.

He added there were a few famous names he wanted to approach for the new show, including Hollywood actor Al Pacino.

"I've got my sights set on a few people. Al Pacino, I've got a good idea for," he said.

"I bumped into Danny DeVito and Michael Douglas at the [Joe] Calzaghe fight in New York.

We thought it would be good for Andy to try to make it in Hollywood, because then he's starting again Ricky Gervais

"I said, 'so do you want to do Extras? And he [DeVito] went 'yeah' and I said, 'that's legally binding.'"

Presenter Phillip Schofield asked Gervais why he had started work on a new script after previously saying he would never return to the show.

"We said we probably wouldn't, we never said never, like The Office," Gervais replied.

"I miss Extras more than The Office and also, I think it's got more legs than The Office.

"We can go anywhere with it. We never ended it like The Office, it was quite open-ended."

"We thought it would be good for Andy to try to make it in Hollywood, because then he's starting again - and if you think entertainment's cruel over here, it's just a completely different kettle of fish there."

The star, whose recent film, Ghost Town, marked his ascent to leading man status in Hollywood, attributed his success to the broad appeal of his earlier series.

"Most of the things in America have come from creating The Office," he said.