That TV Comedy Podcast
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That TV Comedy Podcast
The Office UK
The Legacy of The Office UK with the Episode 'Training'
Prepare to be captivated by the intricacies of the original British version of "The Office"! Ever wondered how a mundane office setting could change the landscape of comedy? Amanda Davies and Jacquie J Sarah unpack the genius of Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, detailing how their mockumentary style turned the Slough Trading Estate into a comedy goldmine. We talk about how this iconic show not only won a Golden Globe but also set the stage for comedic hits like "Parks and Rec" and "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia."
Revisit the legendary "Training" episode with us, where the mundane world of office training sessions becomes a minefield of humour and tension. David Brent's relentless need to steal the spotlight during a simple training session creates a tapestry of awkwardness and hilarity. From Keith's monotonous voicemail to Tim's heartfelt attempts to uplift Dawn, we celebrate the brilliance of this episode that captures the essence of office life.
Explore the multifaceted character dynamics that make "The Office" a timeless comedy. Discover the complexities of David Brent's management style and his desperate need for validation. We dissect the peculiar role of "Assistant to the Regional Manager," shedding light on Gareth's ambiguous responsibilities and the real-life inspirations behind the character. With insights from Gervais and Merchant's own office experiences, we delve into how the show's setting amid a transitioning paper company adds another layer of authenticity and hilarity.
Presented by Amanda Davies and Jacquie J Sarah
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Hello and welcome to that TV Comedy Podcast. I'm Amanda Davies and my co-host is Jackie J Serra. For each episode, we'll be taking a look at a television comedy series, breaking it down with a focus on a specific episode, giving it a bit of a deep dive, geeking out about it and generally discussing it. We'll be taking it in turns to pick a series, so it might not be something that we've seen this week. It's my choice and it's Dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun this week. It's my choice and it's the office, the original and currently, in my opinion, the best, the best. What the best? Office series? The office. You haven't seen all different representations of the office around the world. You can't possibly say that. I did say currently, in my opinion, oh, and I did put a disclaimer on our very first episode saying that the ritish office was my favorite. It was better than the American office. However, I hadn't seen all of the episodes. You've seen 24 episodes of the american Office, I think.
Speaker 2:No 25.
Speaker 1:Wow, you still haven't seen even the majority of them. No, but at this point still, the British original Office is my favourite. Okay, let's just pretend I don't know. Amanda, tell us about the Office. The Office was created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. The show is a mockumentary based in a branch of a large paper company called Wernham Hogg. Where life is stationary? Oh, it's based in the Slough Trading Estate in Berkshire. Jac, what do you know about Slough? It's equidistant between London and Reading. Slough, it's my kind of town. Sorry, those are the lyrics of Slough by David Brandt.
Speaker 1:You weren't expecting that were you I wasn't expecting that and Slough got a bit of a bad reputation, a lot of At home, a lack of appeal from the famous John Betjeman.
Speaker 1:Oh, of course yes, can friendly bombs and fall on Slough. It isn't fit for humans. Now. Unfair, a little bit unfair, and so the Office began on the 9th of July 2001 and ran for two six-episode series and a two-part Christmas special. Imdb describes the Office as the story of an office that faces closure when the company decides to downsize its branches. A documentary film crew follows staff and the manager, david Brent, as they continue their daily lives. The series gets an overall rating of 8.5. Oh man.
Speaker 2:Whilst the.
Speaker 1:American version gets 9. I think I'm not going to say which is better, because I think they're different beasts, but I think from what this series did for comedy, how it changed comedy I mean changed it for the better it deserves a 10. I think it deserves much more than 8.5.
Speaker 1:At least equal to the American version. The Office the original Office in 2004 won the Golden Globe yeah, this is big Best television series, musical or comedy. It was the first British comedy in 25 years to be nominated for a Golden Globe and the first one ever to win. Gervais also received the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a television series, comedy or musical. Worth noting that Steve Carell also won the same award in 2006.
Speaker 2:However, he was nominated six times and that was the only time that he won, and he never won an Emmy for his performance.
Speaker 1:On that basis, ricky Gervais winning Golden Globe is a very big deal. Yes, I can't even describe how big the series was at the time and what I'll do, I'll put it in context of British culture at that time as well. Yeah, as we go through, you cannot begin to describe how big this programme was from where it came from, yes, and its future impact. Its future impact on we just wouldn't have the American office, we wouldn't have had Parks and Rec, we wouldn't have had it's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. It just started a whole new way of looking at things, comedy-wise. Yeah, a new genre of comedy. Okay, so we already know you love the series. Oh gosh, yes, 100, I love the series. I've seen this one man, do you?
Speaker 1:you haven't picked something I haven't seen. Here today we're discussing the office, the original and the best in my opinion. Welcome to the show. The episode that I've chosen is from the first series of the Office and it's episode four, and it's called Training. Now, in my opinion, it's always been called Training Day, but apparently it's actually called Training. This episode aired on July 30th 2001. And surprise, surprise was written by Ricky Trevith and Stephen Merchant. Imdb describes the episode as, To fend off the increasing staff disillusionment, a training day has been scheduled. Dawn's engagement to Lee is on the rocks and Tim begins to think that he may at last have a chance with her. Not good enough, which I found surprising. Dinner Party had 9.4. Yeah, but Dinner Party deserves 9.4. It does.
Speaker 1:No, but I'm not trying to. Yeah, I'm not. Let's not pitch them against each other, no, no, no, they're different beats, absolutely. I'm not trying to do that. I'm trying to put it into perspective that they're equally as good. It's been underrated. Yeah, I'm not saying it's better than Dinner Party. No, because it's different. Yes, but it's just to put in perspective. That's a low rating, mm-hmm, as within the realms of our show. That's what we've discussed. Yes, okay.
Speaker 1:I found it really surprising that the Office began airing on the 9th of July. Yes, because it was put on BBC Two. It expected not to do. Well, no fanfare, no warning, no, nothing. We got a new show. People were watching it, thinking it was real. We got to think of the context of Britain at this time. We were bombarded. Entertainment was people going behind the scenes of a hotel. Let's go behind the scenes of an airport, let's go behind the scenes of a cruise ship. Everything was behind the scenes and it was docudrama and it was all set up. Remember maureen on driving school? That was filmed around card. We, we'd seen them day. Just set up, shot after shot, the whole idea of all these so-called behind the scenes. And they were just set up and this was realised in the office and the way David Brent is yes, the awareness of the cameras, constant awareness of the camera. People thought that it was real.
Speaker 1:Yes, some people thought and people just very confused about it and once there was an acknowledgement that it wasn't, that it was written, and then it was repeated. Word of mouth had got around about it and it just became more and more popular. It did something that shows that really do, which was the ratings went up by episode, because what usually happens is people think, oh, I've got to watch that, and they watch an episode, watch two episodes and they're like, oh, that's not for me.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it became a word of mouth hit and they repeated it Within a few months, didn't they? Yeah, three months later they repeated it. They never do that either. Do you mean in the autumn? It was too late by then, because people had already knew about it. Do you remember watching this episode for the first time? This is what I really remember watching an episode of a program the first time. But I remember watching this for the first time. So have you got a memory of it?
Speaker 1:so I remember watching it and loving it, but I cannot remember if this was on july the 30th no or whether it was the repeat a few months later I think I know when you watched it because I think you were there I remember it being repeated really quickly. It was shown at a certain time and then the same episode was shown later in the night.
Speaker 2:Okay, and I think they used to do nine.
Speaker 1:It was because I said 10 o'clock on bbc too, but sometimes they used to repeat stuff like half past 11 at night, 12 o'clock at night, in the early hours, in the early hours, repeat of what had been on earlier. Yeah, so I so I watched this episode, I put it on, I didn't know what it was, I hadn't heard anything about it, but I remember watching it and thinking what is this? I'm laughing so much that when it was repeated in the first or second day, I recorded it on videotape. That's how old I am.
Speaker 2:VHS.
Speaker 1:VHS. I remember recording it and watching it again and going this is amazing. I don't know what this is, but this is everything, if that makes sense. At the time I was I still work in an office, but I was working in an office and these training days were happening all over. We used to have them in work.
Speaker 1:It was offensive because they were doing that. They weren't prepared to put money in to train us. Yes, absolutely so. Instead of training us to do something practical, they thought they could get away with just getting someone in for the day and doing stupid exercises, taking us away from the desk. And we were supposed to love them. We didn't. And watching an episode like this, you're just like. It is stupid and people recognize it's stupid. So like and again, I worked in an office at the time. I was young, really young, but practically everyone in that office was 20 something female, and that's why they hired us, because they didn't have to fork out a lot of money, yeah, and they just didn't want to train us. Yeah, that was a bit serious. But to go back to the episode in context, I wanted you to know why people found this kind of thing funny. Oh, I, yeah, at that time in the context of britain at that time.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so, like I said, I recorded it, I watched it. This is hilarious. Then we used to go to our parents for lunch on a sunday. I took the videotape over and I basically said now this makes me think you were there when I showed it, but I don't know if you were. I put it in the video and I said to our dad if you don't find this funny, you have forgotten what it's like working in an office. And I put it in and I remember there being quiet in the room while it was on and there was a bit of recognition for it because we would have been there as a family. And there was a bit of recognition for it because we would have been there as a family. And I just remember there's a bit where Tim goes to the camera and he says he went home to get it.
Speaker 1:Oh, my God, that's my favourite, and he's talking about the guitar. And the room started to laugh and I thought no, I haven't got this wrong. No, that wasn't the first time I'd seen it. It wasn't, was it? I don't got this wrong? No, that wasn't the first time I'd seen it. It wasn't, was it? I don't think no.
Speaker 2:That was the bit where.
Speaker 1:See, I don't remember if you were there or not. I just remember getting so excited about this programme and this particular episode that I had to tell other people about it. Yeah, and of course, dad loved it.
Speaker 2:Dad was the one, totally his humour. Yeah, dad was the one, he's totally his humour.
Speaker 1:Dad was the one that really probably got us into comedy, because, oh for sure.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, he loves it all, doesn't he?
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I was so pleased when you picked this episode. It's because it's my favourite episode I picked it, but also because it just is a perfect example of the office boredom. Yeah, and then you bring somebody in to do the token training the token training and then.
Speaker 1:But all the boss wants to do is show off, and because they don't want to relinquish any control to anybody else, and it's about showing off in front of a camera. There you've got that third dimension. Then just to show off, to show to the trainer, hang on, I could do this myself, but the company are paying you to be here.
Speaker 1:But just remember that I know all of this, been there, done that. I can wear the t-shirt. So, yeah, don't think that you're better than me in this situation. No, exactly, it appeals to everybody. This episode is is just perfect for that. And yeah, and this david brent is, it's full david brent in the name. This is david brent at his best. Yeah, full david brent. And the line that you mentioned, he went home to get it.
Speaker 1:It's such a simple line perfect, the way martin fruit just leans, yeah, and then looks at the camera. He went home to get it. It's perfect, yeah, it's perfect. So in this episode it starts leon dawn are engaged, but it opens dawn's crying and then that's another thing.
Speaker 1:you don't see that in offices nowadays. Gareth's given a commentary about why they've had to call off the wedding and how marriages die. The thing about long-term marriage is inevitably the sex suffers. He's an expert, gareth. He's the expert on everything. Yeah, so Dawn's upset. She's setting up the room for the training that's going to take place. The trainer, rowan, is there, chats to David Now. Vincent Franklin, as Rowan is there, chats to David Now. Vincent Franklin, as Rowan, is fantastic. Yeah, he's such a good actor and he was in a Russell T Davies drama called Cucumber. Oh, he will break your heart in that. He's so good, such a good actor.
Speaker 2:So he's there chatting.
Speaker 1:Of course David wants to take over. Yes, david does want to take over because he wants to help all the staff he does. It's a battle of worlds, basically between him and Rowan, isn't it? It's a power struggle and he wants to help the staff to be better so they can clean the floors together, but not literally.
Speaker 1:Not literally, no, because he wouldn't literally clean the floors Keith, the fantastic Keith, oh, even McIntosh, who's sadly no longer with us. He leaves his robotic message for his voicemail. But he was one of those actors who was only taken on for kind of a bit part and then his part grew because they realised how good he was. Tim tries to comfort Dawn by making her laugh, but of course Gareth has to interrupt to inform her that Monkey Allen in the warehouse fancies her even if no one else does, which is guaranteed to make her feel better. Obviously, what you want as a woman you're upset and you're having a fight about a man is to know another man might be interested.
Speaker 2:It's obvious, yeah that's all you need, it's all you need.
Speaker 1:The gaff is very confused, and so you can't say anything you can't say anything to women Him, yeah, tells him off and sends him away yeah.
Speaker 1:And then you get to the actual training. We're all sat there. Rowan introduces himself, but he has to tell them because David is there that they're probably all familiar with it anyway. Yeah. When David's there, nodding yeah, because he's already taught them all. And Gareth, the A-star student that he is, gets his notebook out ready to write notes. He does. Then who cares? Who cares wins the brilliant Peter Purvis in a wig For our international listeners. Jack, can you explain who Peter Purvis is? Peter Purvis was a Blue Peter presenter. Now Blue Peter, I believe, is still going, but it's been going since the 60s and it's a children's magazine program and he was very famous in the 70s. And the reason why he's wearing a wig? Because they're saying this is old so in 2000s.
Speaker 1:this is an old video which, again, was one of the things they used to do. They used to take people who were kind of well-known. Companies used to pay them to do short training films. Now, this again, this was a fact, this used to happen.
Speaker 2:I'm sure I saw this is standard practice.
Speaker 1:It was actually, and I remember seeing videos from oh and we've got this actor, we've got this presenter and yeah, low budget. You can see that the money has gone to the presenter who has been famous. Yes, but the rest of it is awful.
Speaker 2:They didn't put it to the script or they didn't do it to the staging or directing or anything like that. The low budget, the money, has all it to the script, or they didn't do it to the all the staging or directing or anything like that.
Speaker 1:The low budget, the money has all gone to the talent. But do you know, the single most important thing to your company staff, that's right, the customer. That was such perfect timing. David's going yeah, staff, and then that's right staff, and then that's right, the customer. And then Different angle Coming from a different angle. That's the thing David Brent cannot be wrong ever.
Speaker 2:He can't be wrong.
Speaker 1:no, and then we have the whole setting fire to money by Peter. He burns the notes, but it's not real, no, and David has to tell everybody why it can't be real money, because it's illegal to destroy anything that portrays the Queen's face or realm. And Rowan bless me tries to and says can we just watch the video? But it's lost. They've lost it because Gareth wants to know about a stamp. Now, yeah, and then it's legal tender. Yeah, report the driver on the bus if he doesn't accept it. And then Tim says, yeah, I'll report him while I'm walking. And then Gara, get a taxi if you've got enough stamps, oh, and then you've got the video of somebody's walking on the phone being rude to a customer and nodding away.
Speaker 1:And then they've got that random optician scene at the end. Yeah, but Tim and Dawn are amused by it, so the video ends stay with claps or the cheesy line, though I will go on, sorry, thank you, mr Noakes Now you know why?
Speaker 2:that's funny, don't you?
Speaker 1:Yes, because Peter Purvis used to present Blue Peter with John Noakes. Yes, hilarious, but they just get a few giggles and faces pulled. Yes, and then we get into the role play. The role play yeah, rowan wants to be a bad hotel manager, but, david's, if you want to be a bad hotel manager, I'll be the Basil Fawlty type person. Yeah, because he can do that. Yeah, he's going to bring the comedy. Got to bring the comedy, but when he's told off, no, he takes it on the chin and says, no, I'll probably bring something to the role. Yeah, now, this line I don't like and at the same time I appreciate changes, everything about comedy, because you've got somebody who will say anything to make a point, to be in charge, to be the center of attention.
Speaker 1:Yes, it's so horrible, but if he'd said anything other than that, I don't think it'd be that gobsmacking moment, unfortunately. No, I'm sure I could think of it out now, but this is one of the reasons. Point in time on tv, yes, I think this is like one of the reasons when they say it couldn't be remade today. Of course it could, but you'd have to say something else. But yeah. So when david makes up that complaint, everyone is so aghast, yeah, and even gareth there. You can see he's awkwardly writing there and David just completely misunderstands. He's just triumphant. See, I got their attention, get their attention, yeah. And then Rowan bless him, tries to smooth it all over.
Speaker 1:But again, david wants to act, because sometimes the complaints will be false. But then it lightens up a bit, though, doesn't it? Oh, their name and their dream, yeah. David then has to go, it's his turn. He's got to overcomplicate things, that kind of things that could or could not happen. Everlasting life what's it like to live forever? Yeah, and then Tim trips in.
Speaker 1:I think I'm starting to know what this is like. And then you've got the Dawn and Lee chatting. And then the Dawn just that's another thing that you couldn't do now. I think Not. You couldn't do in and around with a TV, but in real life, somebody just popping into a meeting and saying can I talk to you? I don't think that would happen now, no, and it's the trailer going oh, yeah, dawn, yeah, dawn, go Off, you go. They're outside chatting, yeah. And then we get the talk with Ed saying how he proposed to the Valentine's message paid by the word Dawn marriage. Lee loves Dawn marriage, question mark. It's both romantic and thrifty, of course. And then this is the really funny part Gareth walks in with a flip chart. Yes, of course Gareth doesn't understand what the conversation's been about. He thinks it's about dreams, doesn't?
Speaker 2:it Ultimate fantasies. They say Ultimate fantasies, yeah.
Speaker 1:And then he looks around very shiftily, feeling uncomfortable, but then launches in because he thinks that everybody has shared. Yeah, but then launches in because he thinks everybody has shared yeah, tim's face I never thought I'd say this. Can I hear more from Gareth? And the looks they give each other is so funny. Now, mckenzie Crook is so funny. It's the little bits he does, isn't it? It's not necessarily the things he says, it's just those little things he brings to the role when he's writing notes when he shouldn't be, or his body language and the looks. He's so good.
Speaker 1:So we go on to the motivation exercise yes, now. Then this leads to the best comedy of the yeah the episode. So keith's asked about his motivation work in there, and then, of course, david can't let him speak. No, he has to interrupt. Well, it's being part of a team. Poor rowan has to step in again. And then keith says the jump's a stop gap, easy and brainless, yeah, to which david has to interject your level, maybe. And then keith says he wants to play.
Speaker 1:I argue this is the obvious time as well, because he wouldn't have got to be manager stage now. And we've got to know that david brent is a good salesman. Yeah, he should not be a manager. No, he doesn't know how to talk to people. He doesn't know how to lead people. He's just kind of likable in a way, but also you can have a bit of a laugh with him, but he shouldn't be a manager. And a lot of of it used to be as you went up the career ladder. It used to be that it was age. You used to age into a role. You used to age into a role if you were a man, of course.
Speaker 2:If you're a woman, you're getting older. You're just a dinosaur in a nest.
Speaker 1:Dinosaur yeah, but that's gone now. I think Not the man Charge, that's not gone. I just meant that people don't age into roles now. No, they have to prove that they can do the job. Yeah, For the most part let's just say yeah, yeah, because David really just wants to be liked. Yeah, so that's why he's a good salesman and that's how he's aged into that role, but Not that he's old.
Speaker 2:He's only about 40.
Speaker 1:He wants, but not these old, he's only about 40.
Speaker 2:He wants to be one of the gang. Yeah, and, of course, if you're the manager.
Speaker 1:You can't be one of the gang, you have to step out of that role. And he can't successfully do that. So he's always being inappropriate, yeah, with what he says to them, but then he's also trying to show that he's their friend at the same time. When Keith's talking about his own dream, david's just there, going good luck with that and being there done that, while the teacher is bored because he's not talking about him. And, of course, when he's asked about his band, that's it. He's back on yes and Rowan tries to say it's not the right time, but David, I've got to field the question. He's buoyed up by this. He wants to talk about himself all the time and the staff are actually interested this time, genuinely Singer songwriter lyrics. Music came easily. Yeah.
Speaker 2:A little.
Speaker 1:Scottish band used to support him A little.
Speaker 1:Scottish band outfit, little Scottish outfit, supported us, called Texas. So you would be interested in that, wouldn't you? Yeah, so yes, but Texas couldn't run a paper merchant. No, exactly, he's stuck in slough, while Texas are off making money. And that's apparently what people are always telling David yeah, great singer-songwriter, you're stuck in slough, while Texas are off making money. They're rubbish compared to you, but David don're a great singer-songwriter, you're stuck in style, while Texas are off making money. They're rubbish compared to you. But David, don't slag them off. They're both good in their own fields. Good in their own fields. And, as you say, texas couldn't manage to pay for merchants and he actually could do it as good as them. Yeah, and they knew it back then, and that's what spurs them on. And then we cut to this funniest bit Rowan's miserable face, because David's playing the guitar and Tim tells the camera he went home to get it. And then he sings a song about colour blindness.
Speaker 1:And then we launch into she's the Serpent who guards the gates of hell, that's the gates of hell, yeah, free love, free way, and guards things along, yep, and thinking that she's dead, she's dead, she's gone, but she's not dead. No, and even Tim joins in. Yeah, he's winding David up by this stage, and Gareth and poor Rowan has just had enough, yeah, and says, right, that's lunch. And you say, my goodness, this has only been the morning. And then David calls Dawn in to chat about her personal problem. Yeah, to offer his support. And then, of course, he's there with the guitar singing a song about Princess Diana Paris Nights. And then, when she asks where he's there with the guitar singing a song about Princess Diana Paris Nights, and then when she asks where he's singing it, he starts on about love being a car crash. And then she even agrees she's just, she wants to get out of there. Yeah, you'd just say yes to anything to get out of there, wouldn't you?
Speaker 2:And then he starts singing every break the Stalker song. Yeah.
Speaker 1:And poor Rowan's just sat there reading a paper eating his crisps yeah. So Dawn announces she's thinking of leaving and Gareth reminds her that she's got a job there for life. Yeah, and she could even end up answering phones in her head office. Oh, that's all she wants. And then we think that David and Rowan might be getting on. Then they talk about this painting. Imagine him in a band. And then he starts calling him bald. Yeah, in the painting. And of course Rowan's bald, and that's it. Yeah. So everyone's back. Yeah, team building. And it's the fox chicken and the bag of seeds problem that has been used in training. I've done. It's awful Because you know the answer and I just can't be bothered to even get engaged in that.
Speaker 1:But don't you think it's a good chance for a five-minute chat, because everybody knows the answer? Everyone knows the answer to that. No, no, but not talk about that. Talk about other things.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah yeah, because everybody already knows the answer. Yeah, they might put a slightly different spin on it, but yeah. And then Gareth, when they start talking about it, they give the answer. And then Gareth puts his hand up some questions. They start flipping the pages. So in the meantime Dawn and Lee have made up. Oh, we've got the whole two dogs pulling in different directions. Yeah, and David then launches into the table with the dog, looking at the reflection With the bone, and then this is where Rowan's finally losing it.
Speaker 1:What does that mean, oh don't you know. Says him Ooh, pressure, tim checks in how bored he is. We're all Tim at this stage, aren't?
Speaker 2:we, we're all Tim.
Speaker 1:And then Rowan agrees that he's bored too, and then Tim, he quits, he's bored, he quits, spurred on by Dawn talking of leaving and having ambition too. Yeah, of course, gareth's a rude word and tells him to shut up, which is again. We're all Tim at this stage and walks out, and so does Rowan, and then I'm not Tim at all.
Speaker 2:Tim loses me completely by this stage.
Speaker 1:Why does he come back? Comes back and asks Dawn out for a drink. Oh, tim, tim Canterbury, what is wrong with you? Not in front of everybody? Even if they'd split up, they'd split up that day. They'd been together for three years. But were they on a break? Oh, it doesn't have. They were on a break.
Speaker 1:It was bad timing, all right, but dawn and lee been together three years yeah, and her mate just yeah you don't know, her best friend in work is just, while you split up, come out for a drink with me. It's almost as bad as monkey allen fancies you. You, I would argue it's worse because she's not friends with Gareth. No, she doesn't really care about his opinion. Yeah, I didn't like Tim when he did this. No, it wasn't. Yeah, we were all Tim for a moment, and then none of us were Tim then for a while. Well, majority of us weren't Tim then. But he did try to cover it up and say oh yeah, yeah, as a friend.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it was too late. It was too late because he said now you and me have split up, yep, yep.
Speaker 1:And then what does David decide to do? Get the guitar. I'll probably write a song about this one day, and the end title is him playing the guitar and singing the theme. Yeah, that is pretty perfect television. And it appears. Obviously. Ricky Gervais was a singer. Yes, he was a frustrated pop star. Yes, he did have some success. He obviously drew on his own experiences for this. And that's the Office, jack. And welcome to the quiz. What room does Rowan say he's staying at during the hotel? Roleplay which David then says doesn't exist? 30-something, isn't it? 32?, ooh, 362. Trust you to pick that one? Look, because I've got a really hard one. What is the title of the song about Princess Diana? Free Love, freeway? No, oh, jack, okay, I can't remember what it's called. Paris Nights, paris Nights, yes, okay. What words did Lee use to propose to Dawn? It was something like Lee loves Dawn marriage. What is the name of the band? David was in foregone conclusion? Who bought a porsche at 42 from paper? Um, what's that guy called? I don't remember his name jeff lamp?
Speaker 1:oh, no, I'm thinking something totally different which scottish band, or, as David described, is a little-known Scottish outfit supported for golf inclusion Texas. What's the single most important thing to your business In reality or in David Brent's world? You can have Brent, or so Brent, it's staff, and then in the video it's the customer. It's the customer. Okay, who does Gareth want to be on a desert island with, rather than Tim, I don't remember. Go on, daley Thompson, of course. Of course he'd rather be with it.
Speaker 1:And my final question to you is Manda, what on earth is an assistant to the regional manager? It's an assistant to the regional manager, but what was their role? I've been thinking about this a lot with watching the office. What is gareth's role really? He's, he's david fenn's assistant, but he's not his pa or anything like that, because he takes on a pa in the next episode. Does he a new girl? So what does an assistant to the manager do if he's not assistant regional manager? He's assistant to the regional manager. What is that role? Is that role? It appears in this series that his role is to laugh and to back david up. I would argue that if there is cats coming, that would be the first job to go, because people would say what do they? What?
Speaker 2:does he actually do?
Speaker 1:but doesn't he actually sell paper as well? We see him on the phone, so I'm just assuming he's trying to sell paper as well. Well, of course he is, because there's other episodes and he's talking about he talks about paper, but is he selling it himself?
Speaker 1:to be fair, we don't see tim selling paper. No, I think it's fairly irrelevant, isn't it? They've all got their, their roles within the office for the comedy. I won that one. Why? I just did. I'm just a winner, right. Next, mand, it's time to do the jingle. Which one you know what for? But there isn't one. Oh, good point, mand, it's time to do a jingle. Is that it? That's it. I quite. I kind of like that, but I wish you'd taken it further. Brilliant, I like that one. Okay, give us a fact. R Gervais says he was inspired by Laurel and Hardy. He was. He's saying the office is basically a room full of Laurels and one Hardy, which is Tim. Tim, he added. Tim's character is common in comedy that person who thinks they're better than everyone else but doesn't get them anywhere. Lisa Simpson, woody Allen, bob Hope they're all Tims according to Ricky Gervais. I can see it. Yes, okay, so my trivia now Over to you Over to me.
Speaker 1:Gershons and Gervais worked in offices prior to doing this series. Gervais used to say the drama is real life, with the boring bits taken out. He was obsessed with the boring bit and the minutiae of the moments after a social faux pas, fascination with embarrassment. Merchant worked for a mail order company and part of that was going to the factory downstairs. He became fascinated with the difference between the white collar and blue collar worlds. Merchant worked for a mail order company and part of that was going to the factory downstairs. He became fascinated with the difference between the white collar and blue collar worlds. They talked about the offices they worked and the different personalities that worked there and that's how they worked on the office. Merchant always said that Tim and Dawn were the heart of the office. So he was influenced by Ross and Rachel and he always said if they'd gotten together it was the end of the office. So he was influenced by Ross and Rachel and he always said if they'd gotten together it was the end of the road, which, funnily enough, wasn't true in the American office. In an interview with NPR, gervais explained that the environment at Wernham Hogg was one that was very familiar to him. He worked at an office for eight years and that's where it all came from. He was a middle manager. He went to managing training seminars where the speakers taught rubbish for two days. Thank you, ricky, just said what I'd been saying. Episode four and season one, where the guy came in to train people. He said I remember the first training session I went to and I remember they did role playing and I remember at the time thinking I went to and I remember they did role-playing and I remember at the time thinking this is ridiculous. And he was right.
Speaker 1:Though the series became a massive hit around the world, the early reviews were not great. Over the years, gervais has regularly reminded people that one critic called it a summer stinker. The ratings were so poor that the Office was nearly cancelled in the first season. Eventually, that wrong-righted itself Again. That's what happened to the American office.
Speaker 1:Yeah, do you know how many countries around the world showed the original office? Now the original? Let's pick a number 52. 80 countries. Wow, how many did it remake? Now, I'll tell you. I will tell you because you'll tell me it was remade in Germany, france, canada, which had a French manager called David Gervais. I think that one only lasted.
Speaker 1:The pilot, oh the pilot. Oh, chile, israel, sweden, the Czech Republic, finland, india, poland, saudi Arabia and the USA the USA, the USA being the most successful. Well, the USA was the most successful, but it had the most amount of episodes, but a lot of them went to 30 episodes. Looking at them online, I suppose they had to really remake it because it's not going to sell. You've got to make it particular to the office within the country. And the other thing was it was really clever to do it about paper, because we were, at that time, going into a digital world. Yeah, so paper sales were already falling by this time. I don't know what they're like now. Paper prices are so volatile at the moment it's really expensive. It's set a time where things are about to change. Yeah, and how clever gervais and merchantchant was.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they could see what was coming and thought yeah this is a good place because it's under the threat of clothes, exactly, and that was explored more in the American office. And the other fact is Amanda loves this programme more than anything else, I think. Is this your favourite comedy programme? No, what's your favourite comedy programme? I don't have one. I've got so many that I love equally. This is one of them. Yeah, oh, definitely, this is one of them. Thank you for joining us and remember we got a lot of this stuff from the internet, and did you know the internet can lie. Contact us at insta TV Comedy Pod through our website, thattvcomedypodcastcom, and email us on thattvcomedypodcast at outlookcom. Bye, bye.
Speaker 2:That TV Comedy Podcast was presented by Amanda Davies and Jackie J Sarah. It is a deliciously bright podcast, davis and Jackie J Sarah. It is a deliciously bright podcast produced by Jackie J Sarah. For extended episodes and exclusive content, become a subscriber at patreoncom forward slash that tv comedy podcast.
