A female-led reboot of beloved sitcom The Office is in the works, this time taking the workplace comedy to an entirely different continent.
The Office first started life as a British mockumentary sitcom starring the likes of Ricky Gervais, Martin Freeman, Mackenzie Crook and Lucy Davis, following the employees of the Slough branch of a fictional paper company.
The first episode aired in 2001, before the show bowed out on a high in 2003 after just two series.
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But that wasn’t the end, as two years later a US version of the series launched on NBC – this time starring Steve Carell as the cringe-worthy Michael Scott, the regional manager of the Dunder Mifflin Scranton Branch.
Also featuring Rainn Wilson, John Krasinski, Jenna Fischer, B.J. Novak, Mindy Kaling, Phyllis Smith, Oscar Nunez, Ed Helms, Brian Baumgartner, Leslie David Baker and others, the show would go on to launch the careers of many Stateside stars.
Now there’s another reboot in the works – now the 13th iteration of the show, which has since gone global – set to be set in Australia.
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Ricky Gervais, who served as co-creator, co-writer and star of the original show in the UK, said he felt ‘excited’ for his hugely popular concept to be heading Down Under.
He said in a statement: “I’m very excited about Australia remaking my little show from the turn of the century.
“Office politics have changed a bit in 20 years, so can’t wait to see how they navigate a modern-day David Brent.”
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According to Variety, the comedy franchise will see ‘middle management led by a woman for the first time’, with the show due to be released worldwide on Amazon Prime Video as an Amazon Original.
Australian comedian and actor Felicity Ward (Wakefield, The Inbetweeners 2) will lead as Hannah Howard, the Managing Director of a packaging company called Flinley Craddick.
“In a post-COVID plot twist, Howard gets news from head office that her branch will be shutting down and that staff will have to work from home,” Variety reports.
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“She goes into survival mode, making promises she can’t keep and launches outlandish plots in order to keep her ‘work family’ together.”
The outlet added that filming for the eight-part series will kick off in Sydney in June.
We. Cannot. Wait.
Topics: Film and TV, The Office, Ricky Gervais, Australia
Jess Hardiman