Stephen Merchant - Definition and Overview

Stephen Merchant is the co-writer and co-director of the popular UK television series The Office. Like his writing partner Ricky Gervais, Merchant worked in radio before work on the BBC Two series made them both famous.

In Series 2 of The Office, Merchant appears as a minor character, "Oggy" (also known as "The Oggmonster", though his real name is Nathan), a friend of Gareth Keenan. His father, Ron Merchant, also appears, as a character named "Gordon", who becomes transfixed by the pseudo-documentary cameras whenever he walks into shot.

In 2002 Merchant directed a one-off comedy called The Last Chancers for Channel 4's "Comedy Lab" strand.

Merchant is currently (2004) working as an executive producer for the American version of The Office, in which Steve Carell which will be starring; it is entitled The Office: An American Workplace.