Ricky Gervais impersonator was asked to make adult videos as David Brent
Meet the man who has travelled the world as a Ricky Gervais lookalike - and has even been asked to PORN as David Brent.
Tim Oliver, 59, has been as far away as Australia to do gigs.
He mostly plays Brent, the hapless middle-manager from the Office, but has also morphed into other Gervais characters.
Tim, from East Grinstead, West Sussex, gets all manner of bookings, including weddings and wakes.
But he says his weirdest request was to star in an adult film as Brent - which he instantly turned down.
Tim Oliver, 59, has been as far away as Australia to do gigs.
He mostly plays Brent, the hapless middle-manager from the Office, but has also morphed into other Gervais characters.
Tim, from East Grinstead, West Sussex, gets all manner of bookings, including weddings and wakes.
But he says his weirdest request was to star in an adult film as Brent - which he instantly turned down.
Transcript
00:00 People look at me, yeah, and they see the suit,
00:04 and they go, "He's not fooling anyone."
00:06 Yeah, they know I'm rock and roll through and through.
00:09 Okay, but have you heard that old saying,
00:11 "Live fast, die young."
00:13 Not my way, live fast, sure,
00:14 live too bloody fast sometimes.
00:16 Die young, die old.
00:18 My name's Tim Oliver.
00:19 This is weird talking as me.
00:21 I've been a David Brent and Ricky Gervais impersonator
00:26 for 20 years.
00:28 Yeah, I'm the only one in the world.
00:30 I travel the world on a global scale.
00:34 I'm being David Brent, but I can't help it.
00:37 I've turned into David Brent.
00:39 When people say to me,
00:40 "Would you rather be thought of as a funny man,
00:43 "yeah, or a great boss?"
00:45 My answer's always the same, yeah.
00:47 To me, they're not mutually exclusive, okay?
00:52 If you were to ask me to name three geniuses,
00:55 I wouldn't go Einstein, Newton.
00:58 I'd go Milligan, Cleese, Everett, Sessions, yeah?
01:05 Used to run an events company,
01:10 and at the time, I had a PA who said to me,
01:15 "Have you seen that TV show, 'The Office'?"
01:18 And she said, "Well, you sound exactly like the fella
01:21 "that's on it, the manager, the cringe-worthy manager."
01:24 And I was like, "Oh, okay."
01:26 So I watched it that night and went in the next day
01:28 and said, "Get out, you're fired."
01:30 She wasn't.
01:31 And I started doing it from then.
01:33 Had loads of photographs taken,
01:35 sent them off to look-alike agencies
01:37 who aren't around anymore, unfortunately.
01:39 But yeah, my first ever gig was at Vodafone Call Center
01:44 up in Newcastle.
01:47 I really enjoyed that, and I was driving back thinking,
01:48 "Yeah, this is me, this is what I wanna do."
01:51 - What are people's reactions to you
01:52 when they see you out in public?
01:54 - Oh, too many questions.
01:55 No, people, that's from "The Office," by the way.
02:00 People don't tend to approach me.
02:02 You can see them whispering and nudging each other.
02:05 Ones that have had a few lagers, they do.
02:10 They shout, "Hi, Brent," or "Ricky," whatever.
02:14 I just carry on walking.
02:15 People have always asked me, "Oh, it must get on your nerves."
02:18 It doesn't because it's my job.
02:21 People say, "You're better looking than Ricky."
02:24 Even he said that.
02:25 So it's a fact.
02:28 - Have you ever actually met Ricky?
02:34 - Yeah, I was summoned to meet him
02:37 by a journalist from an old magazine.
02:40 I said, "Yeah, how much?"
02:42 First question, bunts, bunts and burner,
02:45 nice little burner.
02:46 And they told me, and I said, "Yeah, fine,
02:48 but have you told him that you're doing this?"
02:51 And they said, "Well, he's asked us to ask you."
02:54 So he wanted to meet me.
02:56 - As an impersonator, what sort of gigs do you get to do for?
02:59 - All sorts, weddings, parties, 40th parties,
03:04 spoof "Office" videos, exhibitions, adverts.
03:09 So I was just body doubling the Muppets, yeah.
03:12 Pinewood Studios, that was hard work, but a lot of fun.
03:17 One day, yeah, you could be in the hot seat.
03:21 Like me.
03:23 So keep your head down.
03:24 Here at Buckingham Palace,
03:28 just picking up my award from the Queen, yeah,
03:30 for the best lookalike in the world,
03:33 bringing joy and happiness to the nation.
03:35 So I'm the only one, which is brilliant.
03:38 Looking forward to it.
03:39 Follow me in, yeah?
03:41 - All right, mate, what are you doing here?
03:42 - Huh?
03:43 - Fancy seeing you here.
03:44 - What are you doing here?
03:45 - Me? I'm just going in to see the Queen,
03:48 best lookalike in the world.
03:49 See you later, buddy.
03:51 Oh, for f...