An Idiot Abroad 2: The Bucket List sees Karl travelling around the world to fulfil a list of ‘Things To Do Before You Die,’ broadcasting on Sky1 HD in September 2011. Series 1 of An Idiot Abroad was a smash hit success and saw Karl embark on a journey to discover the Seven Wonders of the World. The series was the channel’s most successful factual series and two episodes also feature in the top 10 rated shows ever on Sky1. The accompanying DVD (distributed by 2Entertain) has sold over 500,000 copies and book (published by Canongate) has sold over 250,000 copies to date.

Executive produced by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, An Idiot Abroad has been sold to the Discovery-owned Science Channel in the US (series 1 pulled in 4.3 million viewers which is three times the usual audience figures), Discovery Channel Canada and more than 15 other broadcasters around the world including Network Ten Australia (series 1, episode 1 was the highest rating entertainment show on ONE ever) TV3 New Zealand, SVT in Sweden, TV3 in Denmark, YLE in Finland, NRK in Norway, Grupa in Poland, ITC Skjarinn in Iceland, Canal+ in Spain, Belgium, Netherlands, France and Brazil. 

The Ricky Gervais Show series 2 premiered on HBO in the US in Jan 2011, returning to E4 in the UK from March 2011. US-based producer Media Rights Company (MRC) along with Wildbrain, the animation studio behind Yo Gabba Gabba, makes the show. Series 3 is currently in development.

The Ricky Gervais show started out life as a radio programme on London station XFM, which began in 2001 and aired weekly for months at a time during 2002, 2003 and 2004. Karl was an off-air producer for Ricky and Stephen but he didn’t stay off-air for long and his antics and opinions along with his fascination for odd stuff, distrust of animals and dislike of crowds meant that he became a much more vocal part of the show and became the cult hero of the XFM broadcasts.

A series of record-breaking podcasts with Ricky and Stephen followed, making Karl a household name around the world. The podcasts went to number 1 in 14 countries including America and became the most downloaded in history, according to Guinness World Records, having gained an average of 261,670 downloads per episode during its first month. The podcasts have remained at the top of the charts for over five years outselling, albums, TV and film.

Karl’s classic quote “I could eat a knob at night” has spawned dance records, merchandise and a thousand online discussions – one such discussion leading to the conclusion that Karl isn’t real but is in fact a comedy character invented by Ricky and Stephen. The real thing was first seen in all his glory in a twenty-minute interview, which appeared on Ricky Gervais' live stand-up comedy DVD, Politics.

Karl is also the author of three cult humour books; Ricky Gervais presents The World of Karl Pilkington (Fourth Estate), Happyslapped by a Jellyfish (Dorling Kindersley) and Karlology (Dorling Kindersley).

For more information please contact Tiffany Brown at tiffany@johnnoel.com or 0207 428 8400.