British Comedy Guide
The Office. David Brent (Ricky Gervais)
The Office

The Office (2001)

  • TV sitcom
  • BBC Two
  • 2001 - 2003
  • 14 episodes (2 series)

A BBC documentary team film the office of David Brent, manager from hell: he's tactless and talentless, yet somehow thinks everyone loves him. Stars Ricky Gervais, Martin Freeman, Mackenzie Crook, Lucy Davis, Joel Beckett and more.

  • JustWatch Streaming rank this week: 64

F
X
R
W
E

Press clippings Page 10

Keith from The Office returns in music video

The character makes his first appearance in over ten years in a new music video for Babyshambles bassist Drew McConnell's band Helsinki.

Daisy Wyatt, The Independent, 2nd March 2015

The Office voted best TV show of the past 20 years

The Broadcast Awards 2015 winners have been announced, with The Office named the best series of the past 20 years. Other comedy winners include BBC Three's Uncle.

British Comedy Guide, 4th February 2015

Radio Times names The Office finale the best Xmas TV

'Tis the season when our favourite programmes receive a festive makeover and we grow nostalgic for the classics of yesteryear. To celebrate, Radio Times' team of critics have compiled their top ten Christmas TV moments and voted The Office's finale their all-time favourite.

Radio Times, 20th December 2014

Martin Freeman: I'm glad we didn't ruin The Office

Martin Freeman says he's glad he's not doing The Office anymore, because he thinks more series would have ruined it for fans.

Emma Daly, Radio Times, 17th April 2014

Ricky Gervais has said both the BBC and video-on-demand service Netflix are interested in the return of his most famous character, David Brent. The Office creator is still wrestling with whether he should play Glastonbury or not as he tours with the character's fictional band, Foregone Conclusion. "It could happen," Gervais told the new issue of Radio Times. "It would be amazing for Ricky Gervais, but I don't know if I can justify it. He can't play venues outside the story." Ah, the dilemma of staying true to the narrative. Gervais told the magazine he got "hooked again" on Brent when he brought him back for last year's Comic Relief. "I love David Brent but I can't just do it as a vanity project because the BBC and Netflix are up for it. I don't know whether to do an on-the-road special or make that the whole series." It is 11 years since Gervais signed off from The Office with a pair of Christmas specials on BBC One. "It's a bid odd - he sells out venues faster than the Rolling Stones at the moment," he added. "I love the instant tragedy of a 50-year-old wannabe pop star in a shiny suit."

Monkey, The Guardian, 15th April 2014

Although BBC2 produced many landmark comedy series, The Office was notable for establishing a new genre - the mockumentary. Fictional, but filmed as if it were a fly-on-the-wall reality TV show, it was written by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant and gave us the grotesque (but inst­antly recognisable) character of David Brent, the socially awkward, yet self-important boss from hell presiding over a workplace in Slough which sucks the soul out of its employees. The Office reinvigorated the flagging British sitcom format. A touching blend of egotism, self-delusion and desperation, Brent is an incredible comic creation, but the show's other characters: Tim (Martin Freeman), who is all-too aware of the pointlessness of his work; Gareth (Mackenzie Crook), the self-inflated assistant regi­onal manager and the butt of Tim's jokes; and Dawn - the secretary with the fit but selfish boyfriend - were all beautifully drawn. It was the first British comedy to win a Golden Globe.

Dani Garavelli, The Scotsman, 13th April 2014

My favourite TV show: The Office

For those of us who were teenagers when Ricky Gervais' sitcom arrived, The Office was more than just a great comedy - David Brent and his colleagues formed the basis for the way we relate to each other.

Edward Tew, The Guardian, 1st April 2014

Ricky Gervais has idea to bring David Brent back to TV

Ricky Gervais has revealed he is working on an idea to bring his character David Brent back to television in a spoof music tour documentary.

British Comedy Guide, 23rd March 2014

Opinion: In praise of The Office

I remember exactly where I was when I first saw The Office. In the office. Twelve years ago this spring, an advance VHS - remember those? - arrived. I'd like to boast that I immediately spotted a classic. What I actually spotted was a quite funny workplace-based sitcom starring the politically incorrect bloke from Channel 4's The 11 O'Clock Show.

Bruce Dessau, Beyond The Joke, 28th February 2014

The Office to be re-made in Czech Republic

Broadcasting rights have been sold to a Czech company to produce its own version of The Office.

The Guardian, 20th December 2013

Share this page