He has also presented a music show on Xfm Manchester and another on local television station Channel M.

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In 2002 the BBC introduced 1Xtra, a digital urban-music station that bore a suspicious similarity to Xfm, a commercial outfit.

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Gervais started his broadcasting career at XFM, where he has now returned to do a Saturday afternoon show with his writing partner Steven Merchant - who had one cameo as Oggmonster in The Office, for which his costume made him unrecognisable.

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