Gervais and writing partner Stephen followed up the award-winning 'The Office' with 'Extras', which sees them play a bit-part actor and his agent. Gervais' character encounters various star actors, such as Kate Winslet and Ben Stiller, who agreed to send up their public personas.
People were able to download tomorrow night's episode, featuring 'Pulp Fiction' star Jackson, from a Swedish website but it was quickly taken down according to the BBC.
A spokeswoman said the BBC took any infringement of copyright seriously and was now investigating.
It is possible that someone obtained a review copy on DVD and copied the episode to a computer.
The corporation took action when the first episode in the new series of 'Doctor Who' was posted on an internet site three weeks ahead of its first broadcast on BBC One.
It said a man was tracked down by its partner in the show, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and sacked from his job.
The problem of copyrighted material appearing on video download sites is not just limited to television shows. Film studios are also worried about the impact on new releases as movies begin to appear on the web before their theatrical release.
This year's blockbuster movie 'Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith' was available on the internet on the day of its release in May. A US consulting firm estimated that this could cost the studio around £342m.
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