Forget Ricky Gervais, It's The Karl Pilkington Show

When Britcom power couple Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant first introduced us to XFM radio producer, Karl Pilkington, we suspected foul play. Surely his allegiance to tabloid conspiracy theories and philosophy for the hard-of-thinking was put on. But Karl's elite two-man fan club insisted he was for real. Moreover, Gervais and Merchant believed they had discovered a rare comedic creature: the unwitting, unshakeable and unflinching fool. They've spent years championing their find, hoping one day to make the monotoned Mancunian an international superstar.

Their latest manoeuvre, The Ricky Gervais Show, is giving the trio's previously available audio podcasts a '60s style animation makeover. Karl's theories on life, the universe and monkeys are underlined with a volley of witty, whimsical visual sequences that though cute, are usually superfluous. Sometimes, they even detract from Karl's uniquely dim weirdness.

So why decide to fiddle with these previously perfect podcasts? We suspect that converting them into cartoons was an attempt to PR Karl rather than improve the original format. And calling it The Ricky Gervais Show, when really it's The Karl Pilkington Show, is just a cynical sales tactic.

Minuscule grumbles aside, something magical happens when the three men get in a room, so funnelling their chemistry into the mainstream can only be a good thing. Gervais and Merchant start by coaxing an idiotic nugget from Karl -- usually a theory on how the world might improve if ponies were in charge. Nugget voiced, Gervais and Merchant attack. They break down and crucify every molecule of his argument, stopping only for Gervais to do his hyena laugh or squeeze Karl's perfectly round head.

This set up only works because the target is bullet proof. Either Karl's more self-aware then it's fun to believe (because he knows his place and if he registers offence then the game is up). Or, more fascinatingly, he's cocooned by low emotional intelligence and simply doesn't pick up on their at times brutal ribbing. It's not knowing what goes on in the mind of Karl Pilkington that amplifies his appeal. Quite possibly, Gervais and Merchant are just as baffled as their audience. Again, we'll never know for sure.

What we do know is that Karl's rich, famous pals want him to share their spoils, and this show might make that happen. But Karl being Karl, he'd probably have preferred a more idiosyncratic gift: a day pass to Ripley's Believe It Or Not! Museum or an albino monkey.

The Ricky Gervais Show, which has already aired in America, starts on Channel 4 on Friday, April 23, at 10.30pm.