The Office
Year: 2001-2003
Created by: Ricky Gervais & Stephen Merchant
Starring: Mackenzie Crook, Lucy Davis, Ricky Gervais & Martin Freeman
Episodes: 14 (3 Series)
BBFC: 15
Published: 19/08/21
Created by: Ricky Gervais & Stephen Merchant
Starring: Mackenzie Crook, Lucy Davis, Ricky Gervais & Martin Freeman
Episodes: 14 (3 Series)
BBFC: 15
Published: 19/08/21
BBC’s The Office has left a legacy much larger than the sum of its parts. Running for just fourteen episodes, the BBC Two mockumentary followed the lives of employees at a Slough paper company and their daily office doings. Despite never being considered particularly successful whilst it was airing, The Office went on to spawn multiple copycats in different countries, most notably in the U.S. where the show ran for over two hundred episodes. So, twenty years later and having been kept relevant by a dedicated cult fanbase, is the UK Office actually any good, and is the themes it tackles problematic through modern eyes?
The Slough branch of paper company Wernham Hogg has been selected to be the subject of a fly on the wall style documentary. Led by their incompetent manager David Brent (Ricky Gervais), the employees of Wernham Hogg struggle to complete the most basic of tasks, maintain any kind of respect for one another, and get through an entire day totally sober. Whether it be the antics of Dawn (Lucy Davis), Tim (Martin Freeman), and Gareth (Mackenzie Crook), or the constant sexism and racism perpetuated by Brent; life at Wernham Hogg is anything but just another day at the office.
The Office is incredibly dry in its humour, and the way the show is presented in the mockumentary format often makes the jokes even drier because of how it’s all framed and edited together. So, it’s certainly not going to be to everyone’s tastes, regardless of your opinion on the content of the jokes themselves. But I tip my hat to creators Stephen Merchant and Ricky Gervais for creating such a convincing documentary setup. There’s no narration to take audiences out of the situation either, and it honestly does feel like you’re just part of the furniture at Wernham Hogg throughout the fourteen episodes.
The Slough branch of paper company Wernham Hogg has been selected to be the subject of a fly on the wall style documentary. Led by their incompetent manager David Brent (Ricky Gervais), the employees of Wernham Hogg struggle to complete the most basic of tasks, maintain any kind of respect for one another, and get through an entire day totally sober. Whether it be the antics of Dawn (Lucy Davis), Tim (Martin Freeman), and Gareth (Mackenzie Crook), or the constant sexism and racism perpetuated by Brent; life at Wernham Hogg is anything but just another day at the office.
The Office is incredibly dry in its humour, and the way the show is presented in the mockumentary format often makes the jokes even drier because of how it’s all framed and edited together. So, it’s certainly not going to be to everyone’s tastes, regardless of your opinion on the content of the jokes themselves. But I tip my hat to creators Stephen Merchant and Ricky Gervais for creating such a convincing documentary setup. There’s no narration to take audiences out of the situation either, and it honestly does feel like you’re just part of the furniture at Wernham Hogg throughout the fourteen episodes.
Unfortunately, the odds were stacked against me liking the show from the very beginning. Personally, I can’t stand Ricky Gervais, and the character of David Brent is very much just how Gervais conducts himself in day to day life. He’s arrogant, always interrupting people, inserting himself where he isn’t wanted, and saying offensive things before using the guise of ‘comedy’ to defend what he’s said.
One of Brent’s catchphrases in this series is “I’m not being racist/sexist, but…” and that’s basically anything that comes out of Gervais’ mouth on a daily basis anyway. Brent is a completely insufferable human being, and personally I can’t think of anyone better to play him than Gervais. Take that as a positive or negative is down to you, but seeing as Brent is the main character of the whole show, any scene that involved him was always a drag and filled with extremely tiresome unfunny ‘jokes’ and politically incorrect remarks.
The supporting cast on the other hand of Davis, Freeman, and Crook, were fantastic. Whilst Crook’s character in particular, Gareth, does also spout similar kinds of jokes to Brent, the character is often put in his place by those who are smarter than he. He’s often the butt of every joke, and though he certainly does and says things that aren’t ok, he is completely endearing with just how hopeless he is.
Davis and Freeman are the real stars of the show though with their characters Dawn & Tim. Both genuinely nice people, who don’t really want to be in the situation they’re in, they take every opportunity possible to make David and Gareth’s lives difficult. The two also have excellent chemistry together, and the will they/wont they office romance that bubbles throughout the entire show is really the only thing that kept me watching.
Despite being fiction, The Office does present a reasonably realistic portrayal of work life, particularly in an environment where not many women are present. I speak from personal experience when I say that when toxic white masculinity is allowed to run rampant and unchecked in a workplace it can get very nasty. But I don’t feel like The Office would be able to be made today with the same kind of approach to subjects like sexism and race, instead requiring a more intelligent and subtle approach to get those all important laughs but also remain clear on the stance that such behaviour isn’t acceptable. I feel that message does get lost at times in Merchant and Gervais’ direction, which strips the show of much of its comedic appeal.
I personally wouldn’t recommend The Office. As I have stated previously, it’s because I think Gervais is a terrible human being and painfully unfunny. Whilst Davis and Freeman both provide excellent performances and give the show some real heart, I honestly don’t feel like you’re missing much, particularly in the modern world, if you simply let this one slide off your radar.
One of Brent’s catchphrases in this series is “I’m not being racist/sexist, but…” and that’s basically anything that comes out of Gervais’ mouth on a daily basis anyway. Brent is a completely insufferable human being, and personally I can’t think of anyone better to play him than Gervais. Take that as a positive or negative is down to you, but seeing as Brent is the main character of the whole show, any scene that involved him was always a drag and filled with extremely tiresome unfunny ‘jokes’ and politically incorrect remarks.
The supporting cast on the other hand of Davis, Freeman, and Crook, were fantastic. Whilst Crook’s character in particular, Gareth, does also spout similar kinds of jokes to Brent, the character is often put in his place by those who are smarter than he. He’s often the butt of every joke, and though he certainly does and says things that aren’t ok, he is completely endearing with just how hopeless he is.
Davis and Freeman are the real stars of the show though with their characters Dawn & Tim. Both genuinely nice people, who don’t really want to be in the situation they’re in, they take every opportunity possible to make David and Gareth’s lives difficult. The two also have excellent chemistry together, and the will they/wont they office romance that bubbles throughout the entire show is really the only thing that kept me watching.
Despite being fiction, The Office does present a reasonably realistic portrayal of work life, particularly in an environment where not many women are present. I speak from personal experience when I say that when toxic white masculinity is allowed to run rampant and unchecked in a workplace it can get very nasty. But I don’t feel like The Office would be able to be made today with the same kind of approach to subjects like sexism and race, instead requiring a more intelligent and subtle approach to get those all important laughs but also remain clear on the stance that such behaviour isn’t acceptable. I feel that message does get lost at times in Merchant and Gervais’ direction, which strips the show of much of its comedic appeal.
I personally wouldn’t recommend The Office. As I have stated previously, it’s because I think Gervais is a terrible human being and painfully unfunny. Whilst Davis and Freeman both provide excellent performances and give the show some real heart, I honestly don’t feel like you’re missing much, particularly in the modern world, if you simply let this one slide off your radar.