- Format:
- DVD Widescreen
- Region:
- 1 - More Details
- Run time:
- About 6 hours
- Originally Aired On:
- BBC America
- Number of Discs:
- 3
- Special Features:
- Exclusive Documentary ?How I Made The Office?
?Slough Slang? ? glossary of the local lingo
Character Bios
Outtakes from Series 2
Deleted Scenes
Ricky Gervais? and Stephen Merchant?s Video Diary of Series 2
David Brent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ricky Gervais
Tim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Martin Freeman
Gareth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Mackenzie Crook
Dawn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Lucy Davis
Neil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Patrick Baladi
Rachel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Stacey Roca
Trudy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Rachel Isaac
Lee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Joel Beckett
Keith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ewen Macintosh
Oliver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Howard Sadler
Brenda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Julie Fernandez
Glynn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .David Schaal
Chris Finch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ralph Ineson
Jennifer Taylor-Clarke . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Stirling Gallache
Production Credits
Written and directed by............................... Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant
Producer..................................................... Ash Atalla
Executive Producers.................................... Anil Gupta , Jon Plowman
BAFTA? Awards
2004 ? Best Comedy Performance - Ricky Gervais
2004 ? Situation Comedy Award ? Ash Atalla, Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant
2003 ? Best Comedy Performance - Ricky Gervais
2003 ? Situation Comedy Award ? Ash Atalla, Anil Gupta, Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant
2002 ? Best Comedy Performance - Ricky Gervais
2002 ? Situation Comedy Award ? Ash Atalla, Anil Gupta, Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant
British Comedy Awards?
2002 ? Best Comedy Actor ? Ricky Gervais
2002 ? Best TV Comedy
2001 ? Best New TV Comedy
Golden Globes?
2004 ? Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series ? Musical or Comedy ? Ricky Gervais
2004 ? Best Television Series - Musical or Comedy
?...one of Britain's all-time top five comedies... a show of such towering comic genius it could single-handedly eradicate
the curse of goatee beards, reverse baseball caps, management-speak, Ali G impressions,Tina Turner's Simply the Best,
and Chuck Norris.? -News Of The World
?You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll watch through the cracks in your fingers.... Welcome back to the all-too-real world of David
Brent ... Everything a British comedy should be: edgy, laugh-track-free with a dark pathos underpinning it all.? -Observer
?...continual brilliance ... Like a motorway crash, it is so excruciating that you want to look away but so transfixing
that you can't. And what you really want is to see more.? -The Times
?The Office is a work of genius and the thought of it not being here to dull the pain of Monday nights is already making
me feel quite weepy.? The Times
?...what a great comedy god Ricky Gervais is. The Office gets better and better.? -Express
?The Office is great, and the second series gets so excruciatingly cringe-making in places that the Gestapo could have
used it to crack captured SOE agents.? -The Times
?British sitcoms are enjoying something of a renaissance right now ... but The Office is the best of the lot.? Observer
?...still the funniest show on TV.? -People
?One of the funniest sitcoms in recent years ... and the good news is that the second series continues exactly where
the last one left off.? -Daily Star
?...beautifully observed ... the freshest and most consistently clever comedy in years.? -Independent On Sunday
?...the best comedy on television at the moment.? -Daily Mail
?...ranks alongside Fawlty and Mainwaring as one of the greatest sitcom characters.? -Daily Star
?The Office's David Brent is vying with Ozzy Osbourne as our new national hero.? -Sunday Times
?...good and original ... combining the rock-solid characterisations and sucker-punch storylines we've secretly
become hooked on. Like Waiting for Godot, but with paperclips, The Office is an existential triumph.? -Express
?The funniest thing you?re likely to see all year ... Now, if you think that statement is a bit outlandish, given that it?s
still January, try this: It?s also funnier than anything you saw last year.? -San Francisco Chronicle
?How many times do you have to be told to watch the funniest show on television?? -Salt Lake City Weekly
?The funniest show on television.? -Detroit Free Press
?Great television ... The Office is one of those programs that shouldn?t be missed.?- Knoxnews
?The funniest British sitcom to pass our shores since Fawlty Towers.? -Wilmington Sunday News Journal
?The Office is the funniest British export since Monty Python and maybe the most telling sitcom ever about office
politics. Stop reading Dilbert and check this out instead.? -Star Tribune
?The British series puts all the network sitcoms to shame with its biting wit and understanding of office culture and
politics." -Mercury News
?...hysterically funny, an apt reflection of the nightmares that befall any workplace.?
Syndicated Article: -Akron Beacon Journal,Winston-Salem Journal
?...truly entertaining new series.? -Cable Guide
?This workplace comedy manages the incredible feat of eliciting from its audience both hearty laughter and painful
winces of recognition. Brilliantly conceived and underplayed with subtle perfection by its cast.? -TV Zone
?Fantastic TV ... the casual hypocrisies are so outrageous, and familiar, you don?t know whether to laugh or hide your
eyes.? -Oregonian
?Like the best moments of This Is Spinal Tap or Waiting for Guffman,The Office offers up breathtaking slices of deadpan
humor and amazing comic timing." -Salon.com
?Capable of inspiring both uproarious laughter and painful winces of recognition, usually at the same moment.?
-Los Angeles Daily News
?This U.K. comedy is more real than any reality show ? and still makes viewers squirm.? -US Weekly
?It?s bleak baby. And that?s the wincing perfection of this award-winning hit series from Great Britain.? -Seattle Times
Series 1
Episode 1 - Head office is threatening to close its Slough branch and the threat of imminent redundancy hangs heavy over
the entire staff. Far from making cuts, however, David Brent is showing a new temp, Ricky, around the office and
assuring everyone that their jobs are safe. A practical joke to raise morale only succeeds in annoying everyone.
Meanwhile, Gareth and Tim are locked in battle over who should have the stapler.
Episode 2- Donna arrives at the office on work experience. After the obligatory innuendo of the introductions, her first day
is dominated by a dirty picture of her boss that?s been emailed around the office.David Brent is disgusted; it degrades
women. But who did it? Gareth commandeers the meeting room as his own office and ? after extensive investigations
? the wrong man is eventually accused.
Episode 3- It?s Tim?s birthday ? but plans to celebrate are quickly scaled down when manager David Brent points out that it?s
also the annual quiz night. Will Brent and his mate Finchy (from the University of Life) be able to beat the educated
young pretenders,Tim and Ricky? Things quickly become over-competitive, and it all comes down to a tie-break which
Tim and Ricky eventually win. But Brent and Finchy don?t give up that easily and Tim learns a valuable lesson about
letting the boss win.
Episode 4- Rowan, a management consultant, has come to Wernham Hogg to give the staff a special training day. As usual,
Brent thinks having a laugh is more important than work and soon starts to undermine him, even fetching his guitar
and regaling the staff with an excruciating song and tales of how he had once been in a band, who were supported
by "a little-known Scottish outfit called Texas". Meanwhile, Dawn is weeping silently after splitting up with her fianc?,
Lee, and Tim is questioning his whole life and decides that he is wasting his time in a bad job.
Episode 5 - Even though some staff may be made redundant, Brent decides to take on a new secretary. Naturally, he chooses
the pretty young woman.Tim is suffering, having asked out Dawn without realising she was back with her boyfriend.
David is trying to find out whether Donna, the work-experience girl in his care, has slept with someone in the office.
But all is forgotten as they go on a drunken night out to Slough?s premier night-club, Chasers, where David fails to
impress his prospective new secretary Karen.
Episode 6- It?s judgement day on whether the office is to be downsized. Jennifer, from head office, tells Brent it?s bad news ?
the Slough branch is to close. But though there will be job losses, his position is safe. Moreover, he is to get a
promotion, running the new and bigger combined branch. Will Brent sell his team down the river? At the party that
night, he makes the big announcement...
Series 2
Episode One - The Slough branch of Wernham Hoggs is hosting a small party to welcome the new intake from Swindon following
the merger.David Brent introduces his new boss, Neil, who used to be his equivalent at Swindon. Jennifer, his old boss
is also there for the handover. Brent is confident his welcome speech will be a huge hit ? it contains some reliable
jokes and some of his finest impressions. If that fails, there?s the one about the royal family and a black penis...
Meanwhile,Tim is behaving officiously with Dawn, and Gareth has acquired a talking cookie jar.
Episode Two - Gareth is determined to pull the new girl, Rachel, but she is more interested in Tim. After a practice fire drill during
which he leaves Brenda and her wheelchair halfway down the stairwell, David Brent completes the annual staff
appraisals and tries to boost his popularity with the straight-talking ?Swindon lot? with a lunchtime trip to the pub. It?s
far from the jolly affair he hoped it would be, especially as none of the original Slough staff attend except Keith. And
he?s simply no match for new boss, Neil. Frustrated and fed up, he sulks in his office, where Dawn finds him just as
she?s about to go home...
Episode Three - David Brent is visited by Ray and Jude (Tom Goodman-Hill and Jennifer Hennessy), who represent a company
who organise business seminars.They want to hire him as an expert speaker. It?s well-paid, but better than that, there?s
the kudos of being recommended. He can?t resist bragging about it at Trudy?s birthday party. Neil has baked a cake,
Finchy turns up and things seem to be hotting up between Tim and Rachel,much to the despair of Gareth and Dawn.
As for the birthday girl, she is doling out kisses to all the males in the office ? all the males, that is, except David.
Episode Four - Tim and Rachel are openly canoodling in the office. Gareth can?t believe that she prefers ?Fisher Price man? to him.
Simon (Matthew Holness), the IT engineer, has control of Tim?s computer.While Tim flounders under the strain of
trying to communicate with a terminal nerd, Gareth finds common ground in the minutiae of Bruce Lee and Chuck
Norris films. Meanwhile,David Brent is preparing for his first ?gig? on motivational techniques. He is paying Dawn ?100
to act as his assistant, which brings him into conflict with an increasingly dissatisfied Neil. At the business seminar, David
(dressed in T-shirt and baseball cap) bids his audience chill out to Tina Turner?s Simply The Best.
Episode Five - It?s Comic Relief day and Wernham Hogg is doing its bit for charity. Dawn is selling kisses, Gareth is on a sponsored
hop, and Keith looks great in his Ali G outfit. Neil and Rachel are the hit of the day with their Saturday Night Fever
routine, prompting David to boast of his superior dancing skills ?I've sort of fused Flashdance with MC Hammer.?
Urged to perform, the reality is wonderful to behold. But just as the day is about to reach its highlight for David, Neil
and Jennifer have some bad news for him ? he is to be made redundant.
Episode Six - David Brent is trying to convince himself that redundancy doesn?t matter. A reporter is writing a feature on him for
the trade magazine, Inside Paper, and he still has his well-paid motivational lectures to fall back on ? until Ray and Jude
arrive to give him more bad news. Meanwhile, Tim turns down Neil?s offer to make him temporary manager, and
suggests Gareth would be a better option! He is preoccupied with Dawn, who has handed in her notice to accompany
her fianc? Lee to America for six months. He has finished with Rachel and finally plucks up enough courage to talk to
Dawn ? but what will be her answer?
Series 1
A brilliant and cringe-makingly funny ?mocusoap' set in a paper merchants in the heart of middle England. David Brent is a lower-middle-ranking manager in charge of a lower-middle-ranking office. His workplace is the antithesis of TV's glossy law firms full of bright professionals. Instead of mutual respect and intelligent dialogue, David's office is a place of backfiring practical jokes, failed flirting and bad showing off.
Series 2
David Brent returns to work in the office that took Britain by storm and grabbed middle-managers by their balls. His 'unique' management style in this multi-award winning spoof fly-on-the-wall documentary had office workers squirming on their sofas. We find out who has kept their jobs (just how Brent managed to keep his remains a mystery). The Slough and Swindon branches have now merged, and David has a suave, sophisticated and obviously popular new boss, not his type at all. Neither are the Swindon staff, a serious, professional group. One is black and another disabled, giving Brent a perfect opportunity to display the most appalling, unthinking prejudice. And, with Tim still pursuing receptionist Dawn, a water cooler romance might be on the agenda.
Welcome to Wernham Hogg, a paper company trapped in the suburbs of England where "life is stationery." Critics and fans alike have lauded this hilarious, biting look at everyday office life, played out in the deadpan mockumentary style of cult comedy classics such as This is Spinal Tap and The Larry Sanders Show.
Unlike television's usual glamorous offices full of polished professionals and fulfilled ambitions, the soul-suckingly droll environment of Wernham Hogg teems with a bitter fog of office politics revolving around an oblivious manager and his mediocre cast of employees. David Brent, (a classic character widely compared to Basil Fawlty) the wince-worthy general manager who instigates petty office rivalries and considers himself "a friend first and a boss second...probably an entertainer third" is far worse than your boss. Brent's yes-man, Gareth, is far more irritating than the jackass in the cube next to you. Tim, the apathetic sales rep, wears his boredom on his sleeve and is far wittier than the pony-tailed IT guy at your water cooler, and lovely Dawn, the engaged-to-be-married object of Tim's unrealized affection, is far more endearing than your back-sassing receptionist. Work is hell...but one man's misery is another man's hilarity. Welcome to The Office.
Includes every episode from series 1 and 2.