Ricky Gervais has confirmed filming for the third series of his hit Netflix show After Life will begin on Monday.

The comedian and actor, creator of shows including The Office and Extras, announced the dark comedy would get a third outing last year when he signed an overall deal with the streaming giant.

He shared a selfie on Twitter in which he is holding up a script for the first day of filming, dated Monday April 19, and wrote on Twitter: “I’d better learn my lines.”

Series two of After Life, which stars Gervais as a widower plunged into almost unbearable grief following the death of his wife, launched in April 2020.

Gervais confirmed it would come back for a third batch of episodes a month later, when he wrote: “Because so many of you watched #AfterLife2 so quickly and made it Number 1 again, the nice people at @Netflix have suggested that I get off my fat arse and do another season. This is all your fault.”

The Hollywood Reporter first reported Gervais’s Netflix deal and said it was a “multiple-year” contract which will see him making new scripted shows as well as stand-up comedy specials.