It was only a few weeks ago that Netflix confirmed dark comedy After Life would be returning for a third and final season, and the show's international fanbase will no doubt be sad to see it go.
However, they can take comfort from the knowledge that Ricky Gervais already has an idea for another show with the streaming giants.
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Speaking to LADbible, the seven-time BAFTA winner said: "I've got an idea for my next thing, which Netflix have already said they want, and I haven't written it yet. I've told them the idea."
Gervais confirmed this 'idea' was for another series, adding that he had also been making progress with writing the final series of After Life in lockdown - which Netflix signed as part of a deal which will see Gervais 'produce both scripted series and stand up comedy' for the platform.
The 58-year-old - who rocketed to fame off the back of The Office in 2001 - said: "I always intended that I could do a third, and I just waited to see what happened. And within a week, Netflix called and said, 'We really think you should do a third', and I went, 'Okay, well, secretly I've already started'.
"So I've done about, I reckon, 30 pages, and I really do do a couple of minutes a day now."
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He added: "I've always got a few ideas left over but that doesn't stop you putting everything into everything beforehand, to the point where you burn bridges and make it harder for yourself. But you should.
"I mean, even the first series I made it that it could be just six [episodes], in case I got knocked over by a bus - and I've always done that. You put everything into it, and then - when and if there's a demand for it and you do a second season - you've got to try even harder."
Unlike many, Gervais has always had a knack of quitting while he's ahead - "You've got to stop early," he said. It was for this reason that he decided to host the Golden Globes for the final time earlier this year, ending with arguably his greatest performance yet. That's not to say there haven't been some bumps along the way, though.
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Reflecting on his first couple of years as 'controversial' compere, Gervais told LADbible: "The first time I did it, it was OK. I remember the first joke I wrote, I think it was more topical than later years, and it was, 'I like a drink as much as the next man. Unless the next man is Mel Gibson'. And that was the first thing I thought of, and I thought, 'definitely do that'.
"Then the first [time as host] was quite light, and cheery and I ribbed them a little bit, and it was no big deal. Then I thought, 'Oh, I wish I could do that again, I'd do it better,' and they asked me to do it again, straightaway.
"So right. Then the second time was the big controversy. That was the one where I have never seen anything like it. There were people waiting at the airport when I got home, like I was a serial killer. It was mental, right?
"I was shocked at the reaction because I thought I didn't do anything that bad. And I didn't, you know, I didn't. I didn't break the laws of broadcasting - it was on at 5pm in LA on network television. But it was like they hadn't seen that roast that we do all the time. It was nothing. And it was nothing compared to my stand-up, oh my god. They just hadn't seen it before. They just hadn't seen this fat little Brit insult their most-loved famous people."
However, while people may not have been prepared for Gervais' style of hosting in the early years, they knew exactly what to expect prior to his last outing behind the mic. As such, it comes as no surprise that his final monologue had to be run by a legion of lawyers - and by the sound of it, this process was as entertaining as the final performance itself.
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Gervais said: "This year I saw the lawyer, and there was a buzz about it. There was about 15 people in the room. There were lawyers, some executives and some people who just worked there who just wanted to see it.
"So I go in, I do the monologue for them - tough crowd, I mean, the execs, the lawyers. So I do that, all goes great right, and the lawyer said, 'Just got one thing', he said, 'When you say the world saw James Corden as a fat pussy', I go 'Yeah,' he went, 'Pussy, you mean 'cat' there, don't you?' And I go, 'Yeah'. He went, 'OK, that's fine', and I thought, 'This is easy'.
"The next bit was, 'Dame Judi Dench defended the movie [Cats], saying it was the role she was born to play because she likes nothing better than plonking herself down on the carpet, lifting her leg and licking her own minge'. And he [lawyer] went, 'Minge? What's that?' I said, 'Oh, it's a quaint euphemism. It's not a swear word in English. I mean, Americans won't even know what it means'.
"Then someone on their phone went on Google and went, 'Oh, it says vulgar term for vagina', I went, 'Well, yeah, it is. But what's not a vulgar term for vagina?' And the lawyer went, 'You could say vagina?' And I went, 'That's worse! I'm not gonna say vagina. Suddenly I'm clinically talking about Dame Judi Dench's vagina? I'm not gonna say vagina'."
Becoming increasingly animated, Gervais continued: "Then these executives were suggesting things, like one person said, 'What about box?' I said, 'What? I'm not gonna say box!'
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"So, I'm fighting for minge, because it's not laddish, it's not horrible. It's sort of a sweet word, it's funny. All I'm fighting for is the right to say it un-bleeped. That's the point. Because it's funnier if you say minge. And so I said, 'What about flange?' - a sort of silly word that doesn't mean anything. They looked it up and said, 'That's a part of a sink. That will confuse people'.
"So eventually they say, 'OK, minge is fine,' I was like, 'Honestly, you won't get a complaint in America, you won't get a complaint'. They go, 'Fine. You can say minge'. I go, 'Un-bleeped, yeah?' and they go, 'Un-bleeped'.
"And they bleeped it. Right. And I knew they would. So I pointed [to his crotch area]. So, I won.
"Then after I was telling Jane about it, and she said, 'You should of said clunge. I thought, 'Oh, of course, clunge! They wouldn't have bleeped clunge, clunge is great!"
I think I speak for all of us when I say I wish that meeting had been broadcast across the globe too.
Featured Image Credit: PA
Topics: TV and Film, Celebrity, Netflix, Ricky Gervais