Ricky Gervais's controversial comedy Derek has been given a full series commission by Channel 4.
Based around the character of Derek Noakes (Gervais), the sitcom follows a "group of outsiders" who work at a retirement home. It stars Gervais's friend and Idiot Abroad star Karl Pilkington as the home's caretaker Dougie.
Noakes is a middle-aged "tender, innocent man", who has a passion for YouTube, Deal or No Deal and animals. The pilot episode focussed on Noake's relationship with care home worker Hannah (Kerry Godliman) and the death of one of the home's residents.
Derek will air a full series in 2013.
The series was considered controversial by some viewers, who claimed that despite Gervais's insistence otherwise, the Noakes character was mocking the disabled.
Ricky Gervais said: "David Brent was an egotistical, failed musician and the most annoying man in the world. Derek is a 50-year-old man with bad hair and clothes, whose best friend is a whinging bald Manc twonk. Where do I get my ideas from?"
Channel 4's head of comedy Shane Allen commented: "Ricky is a leading voice in British comedy and through Derek he captures and reflects something of the spirit of modern society. A kind-hearted character in a world which TV normally shies away from, it feels like a perfect new direction for Ricky.
"The pilot triggered an amazing response and Derek's story had only just begun, so it's brilliant that we can explore this world and its beautifully-drawn characters across a series."
The sitcom's pilot pulled in an impressive consolidated audience of 3.2m earlier this year.
