The real genius of The Office is that many people believed it was a documentary when they first saw it, such is the level of skill in the writing and directing. The show came at a time when reality TV was making huge stars of the people who appeared on it, such as Jane McDonald from The Cruise and Jeremy Spake from Airport.
And so Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant created David Brent (played by Gervais), the boss of the Slough branch of paper merchant Wernham Hogg, and an inept, egotistical, hypocritical, lying, two-faced, gauche individual.
Brent wanted to be funny, popular, and famous. And it was through his awkward, embarrassing, and painful attempts to achieve these things that most of the humour came.
Senior to David Brent was Jennifer Taylor-Clark (Stirling Gallacher), a head office executive who dropped in from time to time, usually with bad news.
The characters that surrounded Brent were each fantastically observed in their own right: there was gangly Gareth (Mackenzie Crook), the stupid and pedantic junior office manager and Territorial Army soldier; Tim, a witty, down-to-earth rep who was probably the only sane member of the team (a wonderful debut performance from Martin Freeman); and quietly-spoken receptionist Dawn (Lucy Davis, daughter of comedian Jasper Carrott).
Staff faced the constant threat of redundancy and/or a merger with the company’s Swindon branch, and at the end of the first series, this became a reality.
Despite his obvious inadequacies, Brent was kept on, though many of his staff were not so fortunate.
He broke the news to them in a typically crass fashion: “I’ve got some good news and some bad news. The bad news is that a lot of you have been made redundant, the good news is that I’ve been promoted.”
His happiness was short-lived, and the second series found Brent at loggerheads with Neil Godwin, sent from Swindon and ‘technically’ Brent’s boss. Godwin also seemed to possess all the attributes (wit, likeability, efficiency) that Brent himself lacked, even if he thought otherwise.
Beautifully written and performed, Tim and Dawn’s Romeo and Juliet romance started as a subplot, but by the final episode, it was the main reason many viewers tuned in.
Two Christmas specials picked up the story three years on, with Brent no longer at the firm but still continually turning up at the office.
He confided that he felt he had been ‘stitched up’ by the documentary team, claiming they used unfair editing to portray him in a bad light. He was, however, cashing in on his C-list celebrity status, opening supermarkets and making spurious public appearances.
The story built toward the office Christmas party, where many of the show’s loose ends were effectively tied up, giving Tim one more chance to woo Dawn away from the awful Lee.
The comedy shockwaves of Gervais and Merchant’s exceptionally well-observed workplace mockumentary still reverberate strongly today.
From The Thick Of It to Modern Family to Parks & Recreation, the blend of extreme social discomfort and excruciating calamity, captured through an unfiltered lens, has proved a formula worth repeating.
Thoughtless but certainly not careless, pathetic yet sympathetic, delusional fool David Brent’s hilariously awkward exchanges made him a true comic icon.
Plus, Tim and Dawn – aw!
Screened in the USA on BBC America, The Office became a cult hit there and, following its outstanding success at the 2003 Golden Globe Awards, a US adaptation of the show was announced – The Office – An American Workplace.
International versions were subsequently produced in France, Germany, Chile, Canada, the Czech Republic, Australia, Sweden, Finland, Saudi Arabia and Israel.
David Brent
Ricky Gervais Tim Canterbury
Martin Freeman Gareth Keenan
Mackenzie Crook Dawn Tinsley
Lucy Davis Keith
Ewen MacIntosh Ben
Ben Bradshaw Jamie
Jamie Deeks Sheila
Jane Lucas Emma
Emma Manton Ralph
Alexander Perkins Philip
Philip Pickard Lee
Joel Beckett Neil Godwin
Patrick Baladi Trudy
Rachel Isaac Brenda
Julie Fernandez Oliver
Howard Saddler Jennifer Taylor-Clark
Stirling Gallacher Chris ‘Finchy’ Finch
Ralph Ineson
Episodes
Downsize | Work Experience | The Quiz | Training | New Girl | Judgement || Merger | Appraisals | Party | Motivation | Charity | Interview || Christmas Special: Part 1 | Christmas Special: Part 2
And so Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant created David Brent (played by Gervais), the boss of the Slough branch of paper merchant Wernham Hogg, and an inept, egotistical, hypocritical, lying, two-faced, gauche individual.
Staff faced the constant threat of redundancy and/or a merger with the company’s Swindon branch, and at the end of the first series, this became a reality.
Beautifully written and performed, Tim and Dawn’s Romeo and Juliet romance started as a subplot, but by the final episode, it was the main reason many viewers tuned in.
