The Office Special

The only non-US sitcom ever to win a Golden Globe returns for a final feature-length special!

Much has happened since our last visit to Wernham Hogg. David Brent released a pop single, Gareth was promoted and Tim said goodbye to Dawn.

Now we follow chilled-out entertainer David as he hits the road in search of fame, fortune and romance. He is promising to show off his new girlfriend at the office Christmas party. The only problem is he doesn't have one yet. Meanwhile Tim is battling with a new colleague... and some old feelings. Dawn has started a new life abroad but she's coming back for one night only. Will the flame still be burning?

British critics have called The Office Special " wince-makingly hilarious, deliciously touching and perfectly emotionally pitched" (The Observer). It is the perfect conclusion to a modern classic.

Programme One
It’s been three years since the BBC documentary crew first turned up at the office. Back for one last visit, they find Gareth Keenan now in charge and as the staff of Wernham Hogg know all too well, he runs the office with military precision. Since we last saw David Brent he has become a sales rep for a cleaning products company, released his own pop single and has acquired a showbiz agent to look after his celebrity appearances. He visits his old place of work regularly, despite him successfully suing Wernham Hogg for unfair dismissal. The big news as far as Tim is concerned is the imminent arrival of Dawn. The documentary crew has kindly offered to fly Dawn and boyfriend Lee from Florida back to Slough for the office Christmas party - an event that may well have a wet T-shirt competition if Keith has anything to do with it.

Programme Two
Tim’s world is rocked when Dawn turns up at the office to say hello. Despite a stern warning from Gareth and wise words from Keith in Accounts, Tim can’t help but get his hopes up again. Meanwhile, David Brent secured the services of a dating agency and, in between making celebrity appearances in nightclubs for £500 a go, he met up for drinks with a rather disappointing selection of single women. The office Christmas party kicked off like any other but there were a few surprises in store. The first was the arrival of David Brent’s date, who turned out to be a very attractive and intelligent woman (almost as intelligent as David). The second involved Dawn, who had left early with boyfriend Lee, but who later returned alone, marching straight into the arms of Tim.

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

Written and Directed by Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant
Produced by Ash Atalla
Executive Produced by 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

“Pretty much the funniest show ever.” – Newsweek

“The greatest comedy on the planet.” – Stuff

“It’s so hard to speak in superlatives about television, because people always suspect - with good reason - that praise for television is relative to the medium itself ... But every so often, a television show comes along that goes beyond our expectations from that box in the living room. I can’t think of the last time it happened - Roots, maybe? - but I experienced an unexpected and powerful rush of excitement and satisfaction in watching The Office Special ... It does more than cap the hysterically funny BBC series ... it adds to it a layer of insight and emotion that I could never have predicted. The Office Special is what American comedy ought to be, and so rarely is - funny, touching, and brutally honest about our bollixed-up world.”- New York Sun

“There are viewers who do not just love The Office, they want to marry it and have its children ... Tonight’s twohour special episode of The Office on BBC AMERICA is as wickedly, painfully funny as the first two seasons and, in tiny, fleeting doses, as delicately tender ... The Office is far more cruel than kind, but when Tim sees Dawn after her return from Florida, his shy, yearning look is as moving as Charlie Chaplin’s smile at the end of City Lights.” -New York Times

“Nobody who has seen The Office has anything bad to say about it, and there’s a reason for that: it’s perfect. It’s a comedy that doesn’t make you laugh, and at times it is close to unbearable: some people like it so much that they can’t watch it. That’s how good it is.”- The New Yorker

“...this two-hour finale offers a satisfying, touching and excruciatingly funny severance package ... minutely observed, uncomfortable humor.”- Time Magazine

“...the acting, both comedic and dramatic, is wonderful, and there are surprises and developments that make this reunion not just a fitting end but a perfect one. No late-inning twists will be revealed here, but expect some tender moments, signs of character growth, and the usual deadpan humor.” -New York Daily News

“David Brent is back, and oh, how we’ve missed the delusional wanker ... still played by the inimitably deadpan Ricky Gervais ... In spite of having grown a very little, they’re still as painfully, uncomfortably hilarious as ever. And, as ever, it’s all in the details; David dressed as Austin Powers on a D-list version of The Dating Game; David explaining to ‘the office black guy’ about the import of Dr Dre; David just staring into the camera. Bloody brilliant. A+” -Entertainment Weekly

“My staff and people I know throughout this country are crazed for this series.” -Charlie Rose, The Charlie Rose Show, PBS

“The Office Special is everything fans have come to admire about the series. It’s as cringe-worthy as any episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm, yet retains The Office’s trademark humor and humanity ... The brilliant finale is a splendid farewell to the best British series to hit American airwaves in years. Every series should aspire to end this well.” -Knoxville News Sentinel

“...quite possibly the finest closing chapter ever for a TV series.” -San Francisco Chronicle

“It’s still the funniest show in the world.”- Brainerd MN Dispatch

“The Office Special is easily one of the funniest shows of the year... Best of all, though, the show brings us up to date with Brent, played with hilarious smugness by Ricky Gervais.”- Houston Chronicle

“While the two seasons were nothing short of brilliant, the Special ... ties up the loose ends of the plot and in a satisfying way. Much attention is given to David’s forays into personal ads and dating, and to Tim’s lingering and forlorn attraction to Dawn, who has moved to Florida with her boorish boyfriend.”- San Francisco Chronicle

“All these characters and more return to tie up loose ends in hilarious and surprisingly touching style.” -Boston Sunday Herald

Ricky Gervais learned the finer points of poor management when he had a job smoothing metal table legs. His boss told him he was working too fast.