‘The Office’: Ricky Gervais on whether winner of England v USA gets to delete other version of the show

Ricky Gervais has responded to The Office fans joking that the winner of the England v USA World Cup match gets to delete the other version of the sitcom.

The two teams played each other in Qatar last night (November 25) in the group stage of the tournament, with the game ending in a 0-0 draw.

Ahead of the game, one Twitter user wrote: “The winner of England vs USA gets to erase the other version of The Office.”

In response, Gervais – who starred as David Brent in the original UK version of the hit show – tweeted: “Aghhh! Will they erase the best one or the one that makes me the most money?”

With the draw in the match, it seems that both versions of the iconic show will be able to survive.

Gervais and Stephen Merchant’s mockumentary-style BBC show ran for two series and a two-part special before ending in 2003. It followed the day-to-day life of the Wernham Hogg Paper Company’s Slough Office, ran by David Brent (played by Gervais).

A US adaptation of the show, starring Steve Carell and John Krasinski, then ran for nine seasons before ending in 2013. The hugely successful US Office was the most streamed show of 2020.

Back in 2020, Gervais said that it is unlikely that he will ever bring the UK version of The Office back to our screens.

“I don’t think I’ll ever bring back the old favourites,” he told The Sun’s TV Mag. “People think they want more, but they don’t. They just want the feeling they had when they saw it for the first time. David Brent at 60 is too sad.”