The Office is a situation comedy set mainly in the fictional Wernham Hogg Paper Merchant's Office of Slough. Although the program may look like a typical day in a typical office, the sort of things that happen there could not be more surreal or unusual!
The series is done in an unusual style: a fictional documentary crew are filming the so-called typical day-to-day workings of the office to give the inside story of the Paper Merchant trade, and the camcorder-style recordings are what we see.
The main characters that this sitcom is centred around are:
David Brent (Ricky Gervais)- Brent is the manager of the Wernham Hogg Paper Merchant's in Slough. He attempts to be a good manager by cracking bad jokes and generally trying to be funny around the workplace, whilst motivating the staff as best as he can. It never works properly, as he is mainly putting on a show for the documentary crew!
Gareth (Mackenzie Crook)- Gareth is an ex-Territorial Army member and he fully respects Brent's authority and believes him to be one of the funniest and most talented people in the world.
Tim (Martin Freeman)- Tim is one of the few 'normal' people in the office who are just trying to get on with their job. However, he has doubts about where his career is heading and continually considers leaving. He is also locked in 'combat' with Gareth from time to time as they play practical jokes on each other.
Dawn (Lucy Davis)- Dawn is another one of the normal employees at Wernham Hogg. She is the receptionist of the branch and, like Tim, is also looking for a way out of 'The Office'. Tim likes Dawn, but she already has a boyfriend who works in the warehouse.
One of the best aspects of the series is that, although there is no main story arc, there are sub-plots that have continuity throughout the whole series, for example, will the Slough branch get downsized because of its low productivity? Will Tim ever resign? Will Dawn ever choose the right man?
This DVD has a 15 certificate and an approximate running time of 174 minutes. It contains all six episodes of the first series of The Office. However, the only disadvantage of the DVD is that the only special features are a documentary and some deleted scenes, which is not much when compared to other DVD titles. Also, The Office has been described as being a 'cringe comedy', and the humour it utilises is an obscure type, so not everyone will enjoy it.
However, that said, it is worth looking at because you will either love it or hate it. If you like it, it is worth keeping as it is one of the most original sitcoms that has ever been produced!
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Great op davius. I love the office, and i cant wait for series 2 to come on DVD! well done
ricci 06.03.2003 23:31
I love the office, it can be so life like! Great op.
cacalala1971 06.03.2003 23:23
I know I'll be berated for this but I will confess I have never seen even one episode of this, and could kick myself for it as it has had rave reviews, I think I may indulge myself and buy the dvd to see what ive been missing. Excellent op btw. wendy xx
It feels both inaccurate and inadequate to describeThe Officeas a comedy. On a superficial ... more
level, it disdains all the conventions of television sitcoms: there are no punch lines, no jokes, no laugh tracks and no cute happy endings. More profoundly, it'...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
It feels both inaccurate and inadequate to describeThe Officeas a comedy. On a superficial ... more
level, it disdains all the conventions of television sitcoms: there are no punch lines, no jokes, no laugh tracks and no cute happy endings. More profoundly, it'...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
BAFTA winning comedy about the Slough paper-merchant where life is stationary...David ... more
Brent (Ricky Gervais) is a petty, pompous boss who thinks he's the funniest, most popular man in the world. Pedantic jobs worth Gareth (Mackenzie Crook) agrees with h...
Winner of Best Sit-com & Best Comedy drama at the 2002 Royal TV Society this six-part ... more
comedy series is set in a Slough paper merchants. Episode 1: David Brent learns that his branch of the paper merchants might be closed down. But he promises his...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
Advantages: extra footage, deleted scenes, interviews, seeing the man who wrote most of The Office in the flesh, and having all six episodes of the first series within easy reach! Disadvantages: You might spasm too much with laughing
![The Office - The Complete First Series [2001] [DVD]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78542312.jpg "The Office - The Complete First Series [2001] [DVD]")
Mar 6th, 2003
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