Fans of Ricky Gervais's Netflix comedy After Life have suggested that a character introduced in season two is based on James Corden.

The series follows Tony (Gervais), a man struggling to come to terms with the death of his wife from cancer and the impact it has on his relationships with those around him.

In season two - released on Netflix on Friday - a character called 'James' is introduced as the de facto son of one of Tony's work colleagues.

James is portrayed as an overweight wannabe actor, singer and dancer whose talent fails to meet his ambition - and in one scene, James soils himself while singing 'Send in the Clowns'.

Fans were quick to take to Twitter to note the similarities between James and Gavin & Stacey star Corden, who has now bagged his own talk show in the US.

One wrote: "The work experience kid in After Life 2 is definitely a piss take of James Corden."

Others believed that Corden had actually played the character, with one fan tweeting: "Just finished binge watching S2 of After Life. Another total gem of a show #bafta. How did Ricky Gervais get James Corden to play the odd lad who does the dance to 'send in the clowns' and shits himself on stage. I didn't think Ricky liked Corden, I'm with him on that one."

Another said: "Finished After Life, absolutely brilliant. Raw, funny and sad in equal measure. James Corden was hysterical in it."

Gervais has previous form making fun of Corden, stating in his Golden Globes speech earlier this year: "The world got to see James Corden as a fat pussy. He was also in the movie Cats."