Ricky Gervais Voices a Fat, Lazy Feral Cat in Netflix Animated Sitcom Alley Cats — Six 15-Minute Episodes in 2026
Ricky Gervais is returning to TV in a new direction: he will direct and star in Alley Cats, an adult animated sitcom about feral British cats that is set to arrive on Netflix in 2026. The show is short and tight — just six 15-minute episodes — and will be animated in 2D by UK-based Blink Industries.
What Alley Cats is about
Alley Cats follows a group of slacker felines from all walks of life as they hang out and share their thoughts. The series is billed as offering Ricky Gervais’ signature mix of *absurdist comedy, social comedy, and heart*.
Cast and crew
Ricky Gervais will both direct and voice a lead role. He described his character: “I play a fat, lazy, rude, opinionated creature with fangs, who’s not as smart or brave as he thinks he is,” Gervais said in a statement. “So quite a stretch.”
Other cast members include Gervais’ regular collaborator David Earl (Derek, After Life), along with Tom Basden (The Ballad of Wallis Island) and Andrew Brooke (PhoneShop).
Format and animation
The show is concise: six episodes, each approximately 15 minutes long. Therefore, it is designed to be easily bingeable.
Animation for Alley Cats will be handled by UK-based Blink Industries, the studio behind Dead End: Paranormal Park and Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared. The series will use 2D animation.
Release timing and Netflix context
Alley Cats is scheduled to launch on Netflix in 2026. Meanwhile, Netflix continues to invest in adult animation.
For example, the streamer premiered Raphael Bob-Waksberg’s Long Story Short in August and will launch Matt Roller’s horror comedy Haunted Hotel on Sept. 19. In addition, Netflix released Fixed, an R-rated film from Genndy Tartakovsky about dogs, and is producing Mating Season, a show about forest animals from the team behind Big Mouth.
Related note
Separately, the American version of The Office had a spinoff, The Paper, which debuted on Peacock in September.
