"The Office" (2001) TV series 2001-2003

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3

Release Date:

23 January 2003 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Plot:

The story of an office that faces closure when the company decides to downsize its branches. A documentary film crew follow staff and the manager Brent as they continue their daily lives.

Plot Keywords:

Office | Mockumentary | Boss | Workplace | Cult TV

Awards:

Won 2 Golden Globes. Another 21 wins & 11 nominations

Cast

Ricky Gervais	...	David Brent (14 episodes, 2001-2003)
Martin Freeman	...	Tim Canterbury (14 episodes, 2001-2003)
Mackenzie Crook	...	Gareth Keenan (14 episodes, 2001-2003)
Lucy Davis	...	Dawn Tinsley (14 episodes, 2001-2003)
Ewen MacIntosh	...	Keith (14 episodes, 2001-2003)
Ben Bradshaw	...	Ben (14 episodes, 2001-2003)
Jamie Deeks	...	Jamie (14 episodes, 2001-2003)
Jane Lucas	...	Sheila (14 episodes, 2001-2003)
Emma Louise Manton	...	Emma (14 episodes, 2001-2003)
Alexander Perkins	...	Ralph (14 episodes, 2001-2003)
Philip Pickard	...	Phillip / ... (14 episodes, 2001-2003)
Joel Beckett	...	Lee (13 episodes, 2001-2003)
Patrick Baladi	...	Neil Godwin (8 episodes, 2002-2003)
Julie Fernandez	...	Brenda (8 episodes, 2002-2003)
Rachel Isaac	...	Trudy (8 episodes, 2002-2003)
Howard Saddler	...	Oliver (8 episodes, 2002-2003)
Stirling Gallacher	...	Jennifer Taylor-Clark (7 episodes, 2001-2003)
Ralph Ineson	...	Chris 'Finchy' Finch / ... (7 episodes, 2001-2003)
Oliver Chris	...	Ricky Howard / ... (6 episodes, 2001)
Stacey Roca	...	Rachel (6 episodes, 2002)
Robin Hooper	...	Malcolm (6 episodes, 2001)
Angela Clerkin	...	Jackie (6 episodes, 2001)
Patrick Driver	...	Patrick (6 episodes, 2002)
Tony MacMurray	...	Tony (6 episodes, 2002)

Runtime:

29 min (12 episodes) | 40 min (1 episode) | 50 min (1 episode)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Iceland:16 (uncut) | Finland:K-15 | Argentina:13 | Australia:MA (some episodes) | Germany:16 | USA:TV-MA | Australia:M | Singapore:NC-16 | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Slough Trading Estate, Slough, Berkshire, England, UK

Company:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Trivia:

Holds the record for highest non-feature DVD sales in the UK.

Quotes:

David Brent: They're malleable, and you know that's what I like really, you know. I don't like people who come here: 'Ooh, we did it this way, we did it that way'. I just wanna go do it this way. If you like. If you don't... Team playing-I call it team individuality, it's a new, it's like a management style. Again guilty, unorthodox, sue me.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Doom³ (2004) (VG)

Soundtrack:

Handbags and Gladrags

absolutely hysterical

Gervais and Merchant have crafted a hysterical, ridiculous, and absolutely poignant world in their show The Office. The show follows the embarrassingly pathetic David Brent, the regional manager of a paper company. The office itself is the picture of tediousness. The employees slave away mechanically, it is so painfully tedious that the office itself becomes a hysterical character within each episode. Brent is the pinnacle of horrid bosses; completely inappropriate, lacking in tact and backbone, who yearns to be the fun loving popular boss, and fails with a train-wreck like horridness. I'll give it to Ricky Gervais, the guy is a genius. His subtlety has hints of Peter Sellers. It seems that only the brits can pull off this kind of comedy. The cast that supports Gervais is fantastic, each subplot works so well and the characters are all so subtly developed that you're rivited by the mundane life these characters lead from 9 to 5. I'm not surprised that once The Office won awards, the Americans decided to jump on the bandwagon and started to make a US version. Happily it tanked completely. You must rent the DVD's of both seasons. For any fan of that wry Brit humor, The Office is a must have in your DVD collection.