Ricky Gervais, the co-creator of The Office and Extras, is to team up with American writer and producer Clyde Phillips to create a new sitcom for American TV.

According to Entertainment Weekly, the duo are writing a pilot episode of Afterlife together at the moment, with plans to film the trial episode early next year. The sitcom will be about an atheist who finds himself in heaven. Gervais will not take on the lead role, but is expected to make a cameo appearance in the pilot.

Last Christmas Gervais wrote about being an atheist in the Wall Street Journal, an article which prompted a heated debate in America. He has also previously starred in Hollywood film The Invention Of Lying, which many consider to have an underlying pro-atheist message.

Clyde Phillips as been Executive Producer on a number of American dramas, most recently the hit serial killer show Dexter.

Writing on his blog, Gervais explained: "Dexter has consistently been my favourite show of the last 5 years. When I first saw Clyde's name all over it I knew I had to work with him one day. I found out he was also a fan of my work and we became friends on email and through short conversations on various red carpets. We finally started working on an idea this year and we really hit it off. I am so exited about this project."

Gervais, in collaboration with long-term writing partner Stephen Merchant, is currently filming Life's Too Short, a sitcom focusing on the (fictional) day-to-day life of Warwick Davis, Britain's pre-eminent dwarf actor. Talking about the filming, Gervais said: "Warwick is a revelation. And such a sport. If he isn't the comedy sensation of the year I'll be very surprised."

Gervais and Merchant are also overseeing filming on the second series of An Idiot Abroad, the TV show in which the duo send their reluctant friend and sidekick Karl Pilkington on global adventures. The series will be on Sky later this year.

The Office star is also nominated for an Emmy award for hosting The Golden Globes. He says on his website: "I still can't believe I'm nominated for an Emmy for The Golden Globes. I love that. Not that it validates what I did any more than me knowing I'd done nothing wrong at the time, but you know. It's fucking hilarious. I'd like to win just for the speech I could do. Ha ha. Won't happen but it's nice to be nominated."

Here is a humourous behind-the-scenes clip from the set of Life's Too Short...

Story Update (21/07/2011). Gervais has blogged: "I play God. But he's a slightly different God to the one you may have seen in 'Bruce Almighty' and other Hollywood films. He's an arrogant, wisecracking son of a bitch, who thinks he's the best thing since sliced bread. (So another stretch for me as an actor then.) Actually he thinks he's the best thing ever because... well, he is. (He invented sliced bread by the way.) He also loves welcoming atheists to heaven with a smug grin on his face. He likes atheists deep down though. Or rather he likes good atheists. He admires the fact that they were moral people even though they didn't believe they would ever be rewarded with everlasting life."