Ricky Gervais' David Brent goes on the road with band in new film

David Brent is out of the office and on the road seeking musical stardom in the first trailer of his new film.

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Ricky Gervais as David Brent in the official trailer for David Brent: Life On The Road. Picture: PARicky Gervais as David Brent in the official trailer for David Brent: Life On The Road. Picture: PA
Ricky Gervais as David Brent in the official trailer for David Brent: Life On The Road. Picture: PA

Twelve years after he left Wernham Hogg, Ricky Gervais’ deluded comedy creation has embarked on a disastrous self-financed UK tour with his band, Foregone Conclusion, in David Brent: Life On The Road.

Cashing in his pension and ditching the travelling salesman job, a tragic Brent can be seen playing to listless crowds in shabby working men’s club stages - although with an all-star band.

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Razorlight’s Andy Burrows, who composed the music for the film, stars as Brent’s session musician, while rapper Doc Brown reprises his role as Dom Johnson, still peddling his track Equality Street that the duo released for Comic Relief in 2013.

Ricky Gervais as David Brent in the official trailer for David Brent: Life On The Road. Picture: PARicky Gervais as David Brent in the official trailer for David Brent: Life On The Road. Picture: PA
Ricky Gervais as David Brent in the official trailer for David Brent: Life On The Road. Picture: PA

Comedian Roisin Conaty makes a cameo as a groupie.

Brent explains: “When I left Wernham Hogg I found myself again and I started to do what I do best, entertain.

“I’m putting a tour together. On the road is where I really come alive.”

Against the backdrop of what looks like a student union, Johnson raps: “Black people aren’t crazy, fat people aren’t lazy, and dwarves aren’t babies. You can’t just pick ‘em up, they got rights.”

Ricky Gervais as David Brent in the official trailer for David Brent: Life On The Road. Picture: PARicky Gervais as David Brent in the official trailer for David Brent: Life On The Road. Picture: PA
Ricky Gervais as David Brent in the official trailer for David Brent: Life On The Road. Picture: PA

“You think it’s painful to watch, I have to stand next to him,” he says of his stage-mate Brent, now working up a hip-thrusting new dance routine to rival his one from BBC Two mockumentary The Office.

Mishaps come thick and fast in the trailer including a cringe-inducing shout-out to handicapped fans and a misjudged t-shirt launcher.

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“Just when you think it can’t get any worse, you shoot a fat girl in the face with a T-shirt gun,” his bandmate laments.

Brent replies: “I let her keep the t-shirt so...worth it.”

Reminding fans what made his best-loved creation so popular in the first place, he concludes: “I like making people feel. I get inside your head, maybe get inside your heart.”

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Gervais has written, directed and stars in Brent’s big screen debut.

David Brent: Life On The Road is out on August 19.

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