The Office: Series 2

Cast
David Brent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ricky Gervais
Tim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Martin Freeman
Gareth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Mackenzie Crook
Dawn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Lucy Davis
Neil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Patrick Baladi
Rachel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Stacey Roca
Trudy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Rachel Isaac
Lee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Joel Beckett
Keith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ewen Macintosh
Oliver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Howard Sadler
Brenda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Julie Fernandez
Glynn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .David Schaal
Chris Finch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ralph Ineson
Jennifer Taylor-Clarke . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Stirling Gallache
Production Credits
Written and directed by............................... Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant
Producer..................................................... Ash Atalla
Executive Producers.................................... Anil Gupta , Jon Plowman

BAFTA? Awards
2004 ? Best Comedy Performance - Ricky Gervais
2004 ? Situation Comedy Award ? Ash Atalla, Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant
2003 ? Best Comedy Performance - Ricky Gervais
2003 ? Situation Comedy Award ? Ash Atalla, Anil Gupta, Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant
2002 ? Best Comedy Performance - Ricky Gervais
2002 ? Situation Comedy Award ? Ash Atalla, Anil Gupta, Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant

British Comedy Awards?
2002 ? Best Comedy Actor ? Ricky Gervais
2002 ? Best TV Comedy
2001 ? Best New TV Comedy

Golden Globes?
2004 ? Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series ? Musical or Comedy ? Ricky Gervais
2004 ? Best Television Series - Musical or Comedy

?...one of Britain's all-time top five comedies... a show of such towering comic genius it could single-handedly eradicate the curse of goatee beards, reverse baseball caps, management-speak, Ali G impressions,Tina Turner's Simply the Best, and Chuck Norris.? -News Of The World
?You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll watch through the cracks in your fingers.... Welcome back to the all-too-real world of David Brent ... Everything a British comedy should be: edgy, laugh-track-free with a dark pathos underpinning it all.? -Observer
?...continual brilliance ... Like a motorway crash, it is so excruciating that you want to look away but so transfixing that you can't. And what you really want is to see more.? -The Times
?The Office is a work of genius and the thought of it not being here to dull the pain of Monday nights is already making me feel quite weepy.? The Times
?...what a great comedy god Ricky Gervais is. The Office gets better and better.? -Express
?The Office is great, and the second series gets so excruciatingly cringe-making in places that the Gestapo could have used it to crack captured SOE agents.? -The Times
?British sitcoms are enjoying something of a renaissance right now ... but The Office is the best of the lot.? Observer
?...still the funniest show on TV.? -People
?One of the funniest sitcoms in recent years ... and the good news is that the second series continues exactly where the last one left off.? -Daily Star
?...beautifully observed ... the freshest and most consistently clever comedy in years.? -Independent On Sunday
?...the best comedy on television at the moment.? -Daily Mail
?...ranks alongside Fawlty and Mainwaring as one of the greatest sitcom characters.? -Daily Star
?The Office's David Brent is vying with Ozzy Osbourne as our new national hero.? -Sunday Times
?...good and original ... combining the rock-solid characterisations and sucker-punch storylines we've secretly become hooked on. Like Waiting for Godot, but with paperclips, The Office is an existential triumph.? -Express
?The funniest thing you?re likely to see all year ... Now, if you think that statement is a bit outlandish, given that it?s still January, try this: It?s also funnier than anything you saw last year.? -San Francisco Chronicle
?How many times do you have to be told to watch the funniest show on television?? -Salt Lake City Weekly
?The funniest show on television.? -Detroit Free Press
?Great television ... The Office is one of those programs that shouldn?t be missed.?- Knoxnews
?The funniest British sitcom to pass our shores since Fawlty Towers.? -Wilmington Sunday News Journal

pisode One - The Slough branch of Wernham Hoggs is hosting a small party to welcome the new intake from Swindon following the merger.David Brent introduces his new boss, Neil, who used to be his equivalent at Swindon. Jennifer, his old boss is also there for the handover. Brent is confident his welcome speech will be a huge hit ? it contains some reliable jokes and some of his finest impressions. If that fails, there?s the one about the royal family and a black penis... Meanwhile,Tim is behaving officiously with Dawn, and Gareth has acquired a talking cookie jar.

Episode Two - Gareth is determined to pull the new girl, Rachel, but she is more interested in Tim. After a practice fire drill during which he leaves Brenda and her wheelchair halfway down the stairwell, David Brent completes the annual staff appraisals and tries to boost his popularity with the straight-talking ?Swindon lot? with a lunchtime trip to the pub. It?s far from the jolly affair he hoped it would be, especially as none of the original Slough staff attend except Keith. And he?s simply no match for new boss, Neil. Frustrated and fed up, he sulks in his office, where Dawn finds him just as she?s about to go home...

Episode Three - David Brent is visited by Ray and Jude (Tom Goodman-Hill and Jennifer Hennessy), who represent a company who organise business seminars.They want to hire him as an expert speaker. It?s well-paid, but better than that, there?s the kudos of being recommended. He can?t resist bragging about it at Trudy?s birthday party. Neil has baked a cake, Finchy turns up and things seem to be hotting up between Tim and Rachel,much to the despair of Gareth and Dawn. As for the birthday girl, she is doling out kisses to all the males in the office ? all the males, that is, except David.

Episode Four - Tim and Rachel are openly canoodling in the office. Gareth can?t believe that she prefers ?Fisher Price man? to him. Simon (Matthew Holness), the IT engineer, has control of Tim?s computer.While Tim flounders under the strain of trying to communicate with a terminal nerd, Gareth finds common ground in the minutiae of Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris films. Meanwhile,David Brent is preparing for his first ?gig? on motivational techniques. He is paying Dawn ?100 to act as his assistant, which brings him into conflict with an increasingly dissatisfied Neil. At the business seminar, David (dressed in T-shirt and baseball cap) bids his audience chill out to Tina Turner?s Simply The Best.

Episode Five - It?s Comic Relief day and Wernham Hogg is doing its bit for charity. Dawn is selling kisses, Gareth is on a sponsored hop, and Keith looks great in his Ali G outfit. Neil and Rachel are the hit of the day with their Saturday Night Fever routine, prompting David to boast of his superior dancing skills ?I've sort of fused Flashdance with MC Hammer.? Urged to perform, the reality is wonderful to behold. But just as the day is about to reach its highlight for David, Neil and Jennifer have some bad news for him ? he is to be made redundant.

Episode Six - David Brent is trying to convince himself that redundancy doesn?t matter. A reporter is writing a feature on him for the trade magazine, Inside Paper, and he still has his well-paid motivational lectures to fall back on ? until Ray and Jude arrive to give him more bad news. Meanwhile, Tim turns down Neil?s offer to make him temporary manager, and suggests Gareth would be a better option! He is preoccupied with Dawn, who has handed in her notice to accompany her fianc? Lee to America for six months. He has finished with Rachel and finally plucks up enough courage to talk to Dawn ? but what will be her answer?

David Brent returns to work in the office that took Britain by storm and grabbed middle-managers by their balls. His 'unique' management style in this multi-award winning spoof fly-on-the-wall documentary had office workers squirming on their sofas. We find out who has kept their jobs (just how Brent managed to keep his remains a mystery). The Slough and Swindon branches have now merged, and David has a suave, sophisticated and obviously popular new boss, not his type at all. Neither are the Swindon staff, a serious, professional group. One is black and another disabled, giving Brent a perfect opportunity to display the most appalling, unthinking prejudice. And, with Tim still pursuing receptionist Dawn, a water cooler romance might be on the agenda.

The second season follows the merging of the Slough and Swindon branches of Wernham Hogg and David's acceptance of this new boss, Neil Godwin who was formerly his equivalent at Swindon before consolidation. Good-looking, sophisticated and obviously popular; he's not David's type at all.

Neither are 'the Swindon lot', a serious, professional group who listen in appalled silence to David's welcome speech consisting of bad jokes and worse impressions. One of the new staff, Oliver, is black and another, Brenda, is disabled - problematic for a man with a terminally indelicate sense of humor. In no time at all, David finds himself hauled up before his boss, Jennifer Taylor-Clarke, for exploring the outer reaches of bad taste. David soon gets the feeling that he is not terribly popular with the new employees. This prompts not only an existential examination of comedic prowess and some impressive dance moves, but also the deeply upsetting realization that everyone likes Neil more.

Still employed at Wernham Hogg is long-suffering Dawn, the very bored and sweet receptionist who is the tolerant butt of many sexist jibes. Newly promoted and still nurturing a soft-spot for her is Tim, who finds his fortune changing with the arrival of new girl from Swindon, Rachel. The annoying habits of Team Leader and office brown-noser, Gareth, become even more irritating.

Episode One: Welcome back to Wernham Hogg paper merchants, Slough branch. It's been a few weeks since David gallantly passed on a promotion, saving his branch from the chop. A welcome party for the new staff from the shut-down Swindon branch is on today's agenda.

Episode Two: It's staff appraisal day, and David shows his true management skills. He advises Tim to keep his head down, urges Dawn not to let go of her pipe dreams, and warms up to the new staff by challenging their opinion of Neil.

Episode Three: Today is Trudy's birthday, and some of her office mates give her a couple off-color gifts. A man and a woman from Cooper and Webb Consultants show up to see David who receives them coolly -- first he needs to check his mail, his voice mail, and his email. When he finds out they want to invite him to speak at a management training - at ?300 per quarter hour -- he's all ears.

Episode Four: Dawn stumbles upon Tim and Rachel sneaking a snog in the corridor first thing in the morning. But that won't be her only shock of the day. David stolls in a little later with a bleeding ear. David has re-pierced his ear for his debut as a motivational speaker, and he lets Dawn know that she's involved. He needs her to carry his bag, and he'll pay her ?100 to do it. Make it ?80.

Episode Five: It's Red Nose Day and David is giddy with anticipation. Wackiness is bound to ensue: Keith has donned an Ali G outfit, Gareth is hopping instead of walking, and Dawn is selling kisses for a quid. At the end of the day, Neil and Jennifer offer David a redundancy (lay off) package. Well, they aren't actually offering it to him. They're telling him he's got to take it.

Episode Six: David may have been made redundant (aka laid off aka fired), but it isn't all over for the Brentmeister General. David has an interview scheduled with "Inside Paper." As the interviewer presses ahead with questions about his management style, David insists on writing her article for her: "Put: 'David Brent is refreshingly laid-back for a man with such responsibility.'"