Ricky Gervais may “owe Karl Pilkington an apology” following the findings of a recent study.

And no, that’s not an excuse for putting him in absolutely crazy situations. An idiot abroad.

It will make you feel old though – it’s been almost 12 years since the last episode of the iconic documentary comedy show broadcast on TV.

Gervais and Pilkington have also worked together on various other projects, with “the Idiot” having previously produced the comedian’s radio show with Stephen Merchant. He created a range of features for shows, such as “Monkey News”, and made guest appearances on the show.

And now fans are bringing up an old clip from a conversation.

I wonder if Ricky will apologize. (Neil Mockford/FilmMagic)

In the video, Gervais says: “It’s said that an infinite amount of chimpanzees with an infinite amount of typewriters will type the complete works of Shakespeare, and you wouldn’t be able to understand that. »

And Pilkington said with his classic poker face: “That wouldn’t happen. It wouldn’t happen – and I think you know it wouldn’t happen, but you say it would, to annoy me.

But people are now saying it has been “vindicated” as a new study supports it.

Two Australian mathematicians are questioning the infinite monkey theorem which states that, given a certain amount of time, a monkey pressing keys on a typewriter would eventually write the complete works of William Shakespeare.

Instead, the study found that the time it would take would be longer than the lifespan of our universe. So, even if it is mathematically true, it is “misleading”.

“It is not plausible that, even with improved typing speed or increased chimpanzee populations, monkey work would ever be a viable tool for developing non-trivial written works,” the study says.

Pilkington, the real “genius”. (Found images/Corbis via Getty Images)

And users reacted to the findings on social media, writing: “Justice for Karl Pilkington! »

Some even asked if he was behind the study, as some called it “a big day for Karl Pilkington.”

“Karl Pilkington – vindicated!” others wrote as one said: “Hey @rickygervais I think you owe Karl Pilkington an apology!

Fans even said the guy was “years ahead of his time”, saying: “I think of Karl Pilkington that day.”

“Holy shit, Karl Pilkington was right,” one said as someone even called him a “genius” when he was “right all along”.

And one very astutely pointed out: “Technically this is monkey news. »