History Series / TheOfficeUK

* TheThingThatWouldNotLeave: ''Three years'' after being fired, David still regularly shows up at Wernham Hogg. Gareth politely hints that he shouldn't really keep turning up unannounced, but David is oblivious.

--> '''Chris Finch:''' So there I am, back of the cab, both of them got their laughing gear round the old single barrel pump action yogurt rifle.

* PrankGoneTooFar: In the pilot episode, David makes a prank out of pretending to fire Dawn the secretary and gets defensive when she bursts into tears. The scene cements him as a thoughtless PointyHairedBoss with a hugely inflated opinion of his own sense of humour.

* {{Corpsing}}: The actress who plays Rachel loses it and starts laughing while Brent is doing ''that'' dance.

** Lee reveals to Gareth that Dawn and Tim are making fun of him by reviving their gah of tricking him into saying double entendres that make him sound like he's talking about gay sex. Gareth turns the tables by calmly calling them pathetic and walking off, leaving them looking very sheepish.

* BirthdayEpisode: Tim in series one. Trudy in series two.

* ChristmasEpisode: which was also the GrandFinale.

* ForbiddenFruit: David warns the men in the office to keep away from Donna, as she's the daughter of his best friends. It doesn't deter Ricky though.

* ManChild: Brent. He ''has'' to be the centre of attention, has an immature sense of humour, and never takes responsibility for anything. He reacts to being reprimanded by Neil the way a petulant schoolboy would.

** In series one David hires a pretty young secretary apparently in hopes of having one of these, but it doesn't go to plan. Accidentally headbutting her probably didn't help.

* PointyHairedBoss: David

* PrecisionFStrike: Possibly only done ''twice'' across the entire series, with the post-watershed airing of the series meaning they didn't need to be bleeped out. Both come from David, upon being told he's redundant, and telling longtime friend [[JerkAss Chris Finch]] where to go:

%%* SmallNameBigEgo: David.

* ThrowTheDogABone: Tim passes over the chance to take David's job and suggests that Neil give it to Gareth instead. Gareth [[WhatYouAreInTheDark never learns of this]] and the tone of their relationship never changes, but this moment of kindness says a lot about Tim's character.
** Lee reveals to Gareth that Dawn and Tim are making fun of him by reviving their gah of tricking him into saying double entendres that make him sound like he’s talking about gay sex. Gareth turns the tables by calmly calling them pathetic and walking off, leaving them looking very sheepish.

* GirlOnGirlIsHot: Gareth certainly thinks so:

* MeaningfulName: Slough has two definitions, depending on the reading. Both of them quite aptly describe the Wernham Hogg office: First, as pronounced in the show ("slaw"), it means a bog, a morass, or a place of despair, referring to how David runs the place. Second, read with an "f" at the end, it means to cast off or shed, or something that has been shed like a snake's skin, referring to the threat of redundancy hanging over the office [[spoiler: and David's final fate]].

* StockLateralThinkingPuzzle: "Training" features the FoxChickenGrainPuzzle as a team-building exercise. Most of the employees arrive at the correct solution [[note]]Chicken across, empty boat back; fox or grain across, chicken back; grain or fox across, empty boat back; chicken across[[/note]], but Gareth first frustrates Tim by suggesting solutions in no way within the parameters of the puzzle [[note]]Like "the farmer should just drown the fox" or "get his wife to hold the chicken"[[/note]], and then interrupts the explanation of the solution to read a laundry list of the problems he has with the premise.

** Lee reveals to Gareth that Dawn and Tim are making fun of him by tricking him into saying double entendres that make sound like he’s talking about gay sex. Gareth turns the tables by calmly calling them pathetic and walking off, leaving them looking very sheepish.

* {{Postmodernism}}: David Brent fancies himself as the kind of easy-going 'cool' boss people watch on the telly, and he self-consciously references other people's jokes and attempts to set 'a vibe' to get both his staff and the viewers to like him. But, since real life doesn't have a screenwriter creating a tone and vision, RealityEnsues when he painfully learns that that kind of stuff won't fly in 'real' life.

* DontExplainTheJoke: David Brent is constantly doing this, as part of his chronically misfiring sense of humour. He explains other peoples' jokes too, apparently just to prove that he gets it. In one instance, where he explains a misunderstanding involving Peter Purves (best known as the presenter for ''Series/BluePeter'' between 1967 and 1978 and the actor for ''Series/DoctorWho'' companion Steven Taylor) in an instructional video, it's actually helpful for US viewers. On the other hand, David gets mad at Gareth for explaining his jokes (mostly for making explicit David's innuendos which weren't true).

%%* FailureKnight: Gareth.
%%* ForTheFunnyz: David.

* JerkAss:

* ManipulativeEditing: David accuses the BBC of doing this to the show itself throughout 2003 Christmas specials, claiming that there was a great deal of footage featuring him being a BenevolentBoss and genuinely likable person, only to be cut in favor of the material that made him look comically incompetent. This being [[{{Narcissist}} David]] [[UnreliableNarrator Brent]], it's clear he's lying through his teeth.

-->'''David:''' Chris -- Why don't you ''fuck off''.

* TheResenter: David clearly resents Neil's easy charm and popularity, not to mention his promotion over David (especially stinging as it was actually ''David'' who was first choice for said promotion... only he [[EpicFail failed the medical]]) and of course, Neil's eventual firing of him. He's outright asked if he resents Neil in the Christmas special, and [[BlatantLies denies it]]. By the end of the series, Neil seems to resent David as well – the understated, not-entirely-unjustified contempt for a man whose antics he's clearly worn thin of.

--->'''David:''' Assistant TO THE manager.

* StockLateralThinkingPuzzle:
** "Training" features the FoxChickenGrainPuzzle as a team-building exercise. Most of the employees arrive at the correct solution,[[note]]Chicken across, empty boat back; fox or grain across, chicken back; grain or fox across, empty boat back; chicken across.[[/note]] but Gareth first frustrates Tim by suggesting solutions in no way within the parameters of the puzzle,[[note]]Like "the farmer should just drown the fox" or "get his wife to hold the chicken"[[/note]] then interrupts the explanation of the solution to read a laundry list of problems with the premise that only he would ever think of.

* TheThingThatWouldNotLeave: ''Three years'' after being fired David still regularly shows up at Wernham Hogg. Gareth politely hints that he shouldn't really keep turning up unannounced, but David is oblivious.

* UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist: David Brent walks a fine line, as he is so pathetic that it's increasingly difficult not to sympathize him. By the Christmas Special, he borders woobie territory.

--> Why don't you fuck off?

* ThemeTuneCameo: The "Training" episode ends with David singing and playing "Handbags and Gladrags".

British {{Mockumentary}} WorkCom (2001-2003) in the style of a fly on the wall, created by Creator/RickyGervais and Creator/StephenMerchant, starring Gervais, Creator/MartinFreeman, Creator/MackenzieCrook, and Creator/LucyDavis.

The main setting is the administrative office for the Slough branch of [[IncompetenceInc paper supplies company Wernham Hogg]], presided over by UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist David Brent (Gervais). His NumberTwo, Gareth Keenan (Crook), is an unpleasant, pathetic loser with a military obsession. The most sympathetic character is Tim Canterbury (Freeman), the witty clerk whose friendship with receptionist Dawn Tinsley (Davis) borders on the romantic. The series was met with great critical acclaim and won several awards, hailed for its original style and subtle, insightful humour.

->''"The people that you work with are just the people you were thrown together with."''

British {{Mockumentary}} WorkCom (2001-2003) in the style of a fly on the wall, created by Creator/RickyGervais and Creator/StephenMerchant.

The main setting is the administrative office for the Slough branch of [[IncompetenceInc paper supplies company Wernham Hogg]], presided over by UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist David Brent (Ricky Gervais). His NumberTwo, Gareth Keenan (Creator/MackenzieCrook), is an unpleasant, pathetic loser with a military obsession. The most sympathetic character is Tim Canterbury (Creator/MartinFreeman), the witty clerk whose friendship with receptionist Dawn Tinsley (Creator/LucyDavis) borders on the romantic. The series was met with great critical acclaim and won several awards, hailed for its original style and subtle, insightful humour.

* KarmaHoudini: Chris Finch's prank - photoshopping Brent's face onto some porn - goes unpunished. Which diminishes Brent's (slender) authority in the office, as he was adamant that, when found, the culprit ''would'' be punished.
* KavorkaMan: Chris Finch is an obnoxious, arrogant and sexist bully, and not particularly attractive, yet he is reasonably successful with women.

* LimitedAdvancementOpportunities: Tim, Gareth, Neil and Jennifer all get a promotion over the course of the series. Brent is offered promotion too, but fails the medical.