Credit: Netflix

So Ricky Gervais is a cat now. No, we’re not joking. Seriously. That’s the show.

Netflix has put out the first trailer for Alley Cats, and if you are thinking he’s going to play a lovely cat everyone adores, then hold your horses. Not a chance. He’s playing Gus, a moany cat who has got an opinion on everything and everyone. Which, if we are being fair, sounds dead on brand for Ricky Gervais.

The new adult animated comedy lands on August 7th, and from the trailer, Gus spends most of his time wandering around looking like he’s had enough of everyone’s nonsense before they have even opened their mouths. The cat’s got thoughts, people. Loads of them.

But Alley Cats isn’t all cats chasing bits of string and falling off fences. The trailer gets into bigger stuff as well. Love, death, relationships and why people do the things they do. You will laugh at a daft conversation between cats, but you will also contemplate after listening to their conversation about existence. A bit heavy for a bunch of felines, that.

And that’s probably why it works. Gervais has built a whole career on looking at everyday life and pointing out the daft bits, and Alley Cats looks packed with that typical Gervais humour. The sarcasm is there, and so are the observations. Oh! And you’ll love his little digs at human behaviour.

And Ricky Gervais is not alone here. He has brought plenty of familiar faces along with him as well. Tom Basden, Andrew Brooke, David Earl, Kerry Godliman, Jo Hartley, Diane Morgan, Natalie Cassidy and Tony Way all feature in the voice cast.

It’s also Ricky’s first return to adult animation in more than ten years. The last time he was in that world was The Ricky Gervais Show, which turned stories from his podcast with Stephen Merchant and Karl Pilkington into animated episodes.

But for now, all eyes of Alley Cats.