Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant were one of the most creative comedy teams in TV history, but they haven't worked together since 2013.

Now, Merchant has revealed the reason for their collaborative hiatus in an appearance at the Oxford Union.

The Logan star explained "there's no reason not to" work with Gervais again but admitted that the two have moved in "different directions, creatively".

Everett/Rex Features HBO

He added: "If the right idea was there, it'd be good to do something. But at the moment, there's nothing on the horizon.

"We worked together cheek-by-jowl for over 10 years and I think it's that feeling of being pulled in different directions creatively."

Merchant and Gervais were behind some of the 21st Century's most successful comedy series, like The Office, Extras and An Idiot Abroad.

Merchant went on to explain in greater detail how their styles differ, noting: "[Ricky] wants to perform in stuff he does, and I'm quite happy for neither of us to perform and to let other people perform... it's not quite something that he's interested in.

"A lot of Ricky's humour is about him putting it across, which is why he's so good at stand-up. Also, he likes to get stuff done. He's impatient. Whereas I'll happily spend months, years, grinding it out."

PA Images

However, that doesn't mean the pair have fallen out, and Gervais explained recently that he, Merchant and frequent collaborator Karl Pilkington are still friends.

"I purposely don't answer [the rumours] because it annoys them," the Life on the Road star said.

"But no no no, I haven't [fallen out with them], I've always been doing my own thing, and now they are as well. It's not a divorce thing."

So don't expect to see British comedy's oddest couple working together again soon, but don't rule it out either.

Want up-to-the-minute entertainment news and features? Just hit 'Like' on our Digital Spy Facebook page and 'Follow' on our @digitalspy Instagram and Twitter account.

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io