Shock Globe awards

Ricky Gervais scored an unlikely triumph

The BBC sitcom, The Office, has won a Golden Globe for Best Comedy series. Its star, Ricky Gervais, also took an award for Best Comedy Actor. The awards are seen as a dress rehearsal for the Oscars - which take place next month.

From an industrial estate in Slough to the red carpet of Hollywood - it's a leap even David Brent could never have imagined!

But for writer and star of BBC cult comedy The Office, Ricky Gervais, it was a dream come true overnight, when the show won two prestigious Golden Globe awards.

David Willis: "Ricky Gervais said he was here just for the beer."

The BBC's David Willis was there. He caught up with the cast from The Office as they went down the red carpet:

The cast told me they were here just for the free beer and the fun...This show has surprised everyone, many said it would not translate well for the american market...But it has, it is being recast, and will be show on BBC America and on terrestrial channels.

Clips featured in David Willis' interview are courtesy of Hollywood Foreign Press Association and Dick Clark Productions, Inc.

Zellweger started the ball rolling for Cold Mountain

The Globes are awarded by the 90-strong members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and are seen as an irreverent and more informal awards than the Oscars.

The awards often predict future Oscar success and the results will be studied closely with the Academy Award nominations announced on Tuesday.

Lord of the Rings' director Peter Jackson claimed the best director prize, ahead of Clint Eastwood (Mystic River), Sofia Coppola (Lost in Translation), Anthony Minghella (Cold Mountain) and Peter Weir (Master and Commander).

Many critics have predicted Jackson and the film will also triumph at the Oscars.

GLOBE WINNERS SO FAR Cold Mountain - 1 Mystic River - 2 Lost in Translation - 3 Lord of the Rings - 4

Lost in Translation writer/director Sofia Coppola won awards for best original screenplay and also collected the trophy for best musical or comedy film.

Bill Murray's performance in the film as a faded actor finding advertising work in Japan won him a best comedy actor prize.

Gervais made history by becoming the first British actor to win a TV comedy acting award at the Globes and The Office became the first UK sitcom to win the best comedy prize.

"I'm not from these parts... I'm from a little place called England. We used to run the world before you," joked Gervais, who will be a virtual unknown to most of the United States.