Review of Office, The Series One

Introduction

British comedy is pretty successful on the whole: we have some gems such as Fawlty Towers, Dad`s Army and Only Fools And Horses, as well as having our more than fair share of very talented performers (Hancock, Palin, Cleese and many more).

So now it is very refreshing to be able to add a new show to the list, and that show is, as you will have guessed, The Office.

But what is it all about? Well, to put it simply, it is a tongue-firmly-in-cheek look at one of the West`s most common occupations: office life. Revolving around a Slough paper merchant`s, it charts the life of loathed boss David Brent (newcomer Ricky Gervais - who also writes and directs) and his diverse staff, from self-elected `team leader` and general outcast Gareth (Mackenzie Crook) to torn receptionist Dawn (who is interestingly played by Lucy Davis...the daughter of Jasper Carrott).

This DVD contains all six episodes from the first series, which were shown on BBC recently, after the 2000 pilot was commissioned. Thank God it was...

Video

All the episodes are presented in 1.78:1 Anamorphic Widescreen, and the visuals are deep and well defined with no artefacts visible. The prints are all crisp and clear, with no dust nor grain present. It`s good to see that this, being made for television, is in widescreen: most other shows are in dismal fullscreen.

One of the actual plot devices in the series is that a film crew are in the office, filming the work, so this is shot as a documentary - in fact it is damn realistic, meaning viewers who stumble across the programme could think it is real. So, keeping with the `documentary vibe` - the characters are interviewed one-on-one (think Big Brother diary room) about certain situations. The biggest highlight is when Brent gets in the chair: hilarious!

Audio

A DD 2.0 is on offer, and as this is dialogue-driven, it suffices. The audio stream is crisp and clear, and the ambience levels are good considering there is no surround action. Probably as good as a stereo track gets.

The scripts are all original yet all are very cynical and observant of office life, no doubt due to past experiences of Ricky Gervais and co-writer/director Stephen Merchant. There are some truly great moments, as well as some sub-plots that add to the intrigue and interest level of the series.

Features

The first disc comprises of the six episodes, whilst the fortunately included second disc comprises of the following:

We kick off with a documentary, entitled "How I Made The Office" (make that "How We Made The Office"), which is a interview with the main players: namely Gervais and Merchant, about the evolution of the show, and what they all think about it. One comment I have to make though is whilst watching The Office, I was impressed with Gervais` acting (and the others...more on that later), but in reality it seems that Gervais is really David Brent - arrogant, annoying, and very loud...but hey, during the show he does apply these quirks well, and does inject the most humour. The documentary is interesting, although the last few minutes veer off track slightly.

There is also a collection of deleted scenes, complete with static text introduction to why they were cut. The scenes are good, with my favourite probably being an extension of the third episode, in which Gareth carries on with his `official quiz business`. Great stuff.

Incidentally, there is an easter egg on the second disc, which, when enabled, allows the viewer to see the full training video, the partially-cut version of which was shown in the fourth episode. To get the egg? When you hear a sound in the background after the menu has loaded, hit the `Enter` button on your remote.

The menus are animated well with music in the background and images from the show. They are well designed, but sometimes can be a bit difficult to navigate: mainly due to the faint cursor.

Conclusion

Put it this way: The Office is the most refreshing and original comedy from 2002 at least, and as debuts go, this is one of the most refreshing comedies for years. Ricky Gervais leads the show with confidence and charisma, and although he has no formal training, this type of acting is perfectly suited to him.

The supporting actors add depth to the proceedings, such as Martin Freeman (aka `Ricky C`...Ali G`s best mate) and Mackenzie Crook. The directing does what it should in something like this - it focuses on what is funny and nothing else.

Although some scenes may run out of steam compared to some others, there is no denying that this will be remembered for a very long time, and not just remembered either: rewatched and rewatched.

The DVD itself is strong, and although commentaries on the episodes would have been great (cast and crew - not just the Gervais/Merchant tag team), what we get is satisfactory.

I am counting down to the second series, and it seems the rest of the country is too...