Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant are to broadcast a new free radio series on the internet.

The Office and Extras pair will reunite with Karl Pilkington, who produced for them on commercial station Xfm, to make a weekly talk show.

"I want to do a radio show where I can say what I want," explained Gervais. "When I want and that's free for anybody who can be bothered to listen."

"I suppose we are trying to create an exclusive club," he added. "We'd prefer this to be a few people's favourite show than a huge same-y, ineffectual broadcast."

The series will be broadcast from the Guardian Unlimited<.em> website, whose editor-in-chief, Emily Bell, said it was "perfect for our audience, both here and in the US."