The Office

Ricky Gervais on the genesis of the show: "I had an idea for this boss who got away with murder and wanted to be loved, a bit pretentious. And also, there were a lot of docusoaps happening in the mid-to-late-Nineties, and I loved the fact that ordinary people – well everyone's ordinary – but people without any training or anything to do with the entertainment world, by any stretch of the imagination, could use this platform on a national scale to become stars overnight....[I] liked the idea that an ordinary person, someone like David Brent, who thinks he's an entertainer anyway and hinks he's loved and deserves more or thinks he deserves more – when they're given a chance on a platform – think: ‘This is my chance. I can show the world how funny, how intelligent, how important I am.' Of course, he opens his mouth and he's an idiot".

The Office has been sold to 80 countries, making it the BBC's most successful export ever.

Ricky Gervais (David Brent): "So, we've all got that problem, but most of us worry about whether we have a blind spot, and Brent doesn't. Brent, by definition, thinks nothing of it. He doesn't think anyone dislikes him; why would he? Everything he does is brilliant, because he can't imagine doing anything wrong, because he loves himself so much."

Mackenzie Crook (Gareth Keenan): "There are probably more resemblances between me and Gareth than I'd like to admit. He's very pedantic. I don't think I'm pedantic in everyday life, but he loves trivia and facts, and that's what I'm into as well. And survival stuff; I'm quite into learning about that. I just have a tendency to get very nerdy about any hobbies I pick up. I'm into fish-keeping at the moment; I will bore people stupid with stuff about fish-keeping. Whereas Gareth obsesses about wars, survival and territorial army, I can be boring and nerdy, too."

Martin Freeman (Tim Canterbury): "Tim is the most empathetic character. He plays it safe and that's what people do, and I really admire the show for that."

Lucy Davis (Dawn Tinsley): "If I had to work in an office, I'd rather enjoy having a boss like David Brent. I'd delight in his madness and his annoying-ness."

Rachel Isaac (Trudy): "It's very funny to film because we've got to try to keep a straight face. We have to pretend to be horrified most of the time but all we wanted to do was giggle. Ricky was the worst at giggling during takes – we're talking 30-60 takes for each scene. He gets half way through a monologue and just bursts out laughing. It was great fun but there was also a lot of hanging around because of people laughing."

Julie Fernandez (Brenda): "David Brent says the most outrageous things to Brenda. Ricky is a really talented writer and has a gift for replicating real life. But some of his gags were a bit too hard for me to take so we would alter them together. I'm sure there will be plenty of disabled viewers who will be very angry at the treatment of my character in The Office. Well, I have to say to them: 'Face up to your disability. You can't deny you come across ignorant and rude people every day'. David Brent might be an extreme example but he's not that far off reality."