BBC 6 Music is set to gain a new music show in the new year, presented by Emmy and three-times Bafta award-winning writer, director and actor, Stephen Merchant. The show will go out on Sundays from 3 to 5pm starting on Sunday 14 January 2007.
Merchant is best known for creating The Office and Extras with Ricky Gervais.
Stephen Merchant says: "When I was a teenager I used to run a mobile disco for weddings and birthdays, so DJ'ing is in my blood. The 6 Music show will be all about the music — I love making people listen to the tunes that excite me – but obviously if things are not working, I'll just stick on C'mon Eileen."
Lesley Douglas, Controller, Radio 2 and 6 Music, says: "Stephen Merchant is a great talent — his wit, warmth and love of music makes him a perfect presenter for 6 Music. "I am delighted that he has agreed to join us, I have long admired his work on radio… and, like everyone else, I do, of course, love him in The Office and more recently Extras."
As co-creator, co-writer and co-director of The Office, Stephen has won numerous awards including three Baftas, three British Comedy Awards, a Golden Globe and an Emmy for the US show.
In the most recent Merchant-Gervais sitcom, the critically acclaimed Extras, shown earlier this year on BBC Two, Merchant starred as Darren Lamb, the incompetent agent of Andy Millman (Gervais). Merchant's first passion was music radio, having hosted shows on university radio before doing time as a breakfast DJ in his hometown of Bristol.
He later co-presented a popular radio show for Xfm in London with Ricky Gervais and Karl Pilkington.