Line #38 Series/TheSmokingRoom


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/smoking_room_group.jpg]]
2
3	''The Smoking Room'' is a British television sitcom written by Brian Dooley, who won a BAFTA for the series in 2005. It centres around a group of people working in an office somewhere in London, taking their breaks in the titular smoking room. The first series, consisting of eight episodes, was originally transmitted on [[Creator/TheBBC BBC Three]] between 29 June and 17 August 2004. The Christmas Special was first transmitted on the same channel on 20 December 2004. A second series of eight episodes began airing on 26 July 2005.
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5	!!This show contains examples of:
6	* TheAlcoholic: Gordon, who was in recovery until his wife left him. Bad day to hold a birthday party in the smoking room, sparkling wine included...
7	* BitingTheHandHumor: Sort-of - "You couldn't get on TV with that act. Not even ''digital''..."
8	%%* BottleEpisode: ''Every'' episode.
9	* BreakTheMotivationalSpeaker: One episode has a smoking cessation workshop, "[=CigZowt=]", in the smoking room. The hapless speaker struggles to control the staff, and their short attention spans and snarkiness eventually cause him to lose his temper.
10	%%* ConspiracyTheorist: Clint.
11	%%* ContemplatingYourHands: Len, after he accidentally gets high on glue.
12	* CrosswordPuzzle: Barry is always doing one, even though he's awful at them; Robin tends to get the clues as soon as he reads them out.
13	%%* DeadpanSnarker: Robin, pretty much perpetually.
14	%%* TheDitz: Clint.
15	* DomesticAbuse: Heidi's comments about Keith heavily imply she's in an abusive relationship.
16	* EmbarrassingNickname: Janet and her nephew Dominic have a rather curious greeting for one another, one that might have been cute when he was five, but which hasn't aged well now he's in college:
17	-->'''Janet:''' Minicky-Monicky!
18	-->'''Dominic:''' Auntie Jantie!
19	-->'''Janet:''' Hellopellopa!
20	-->'''Dominic:''' Hellopillipee!
21	* EverybodySmokes: Obviously, given the setting.
22	%%* FakeStatic: Sally, to her mother.
23	* ForcedOutOfTheCloset: Janet finally snaps and outs Robin after he pours scorn on her engagement to a man in her church's congregation.
24	-->'''Janet:''' But at least it's a real relationship. I am not, like certain people I could mention, dreaming my best years away - or the tail-end of them at any rate - on some '''''pointless, soul-sapping crush!'''''
25	-->''[Long awkward pause]''
26	-->'''Len:''' [[PrecisionFStrike Fuckin' 'ell...]]
27	%%* HeWhoMustNotBeSeen: Most of the company other than the main cast.
28	* IntoxicationEnsues: Len absentmindedly sniffs at some glue Clint was using to fix a floor tile, and before long he's away with the fairies.
29	-->'''Len:''' [[ContemplatingYourHands Aren't hands strange?]] They're like feet, only on your arms...
30	* LookingForLoveInAllTheWrongPlaces: Annie, Lillian.
31	* MyLocal: A pub called the Nag's Head is often mentioned. This may be a clue as to the location of the office, since there is a Nag's Head near Covent Garden. Or it could be in [[Series/OnlyFoolsAndHorses Peckham]].
32	* ObliquelyObfuscatedOccupation: It's never made clear what industry the company is involved in, or even the ''name'' of the company. Understandable, given the "no shop-talk" rule in the smoking room.
33	* PointyHairedBoss: Sharon.
34	* PopCulturalOsmosisFailure: Sharon particularly, who says she doesn't even own a television, but also Janet to a lesser extent. In one episode, Janet thinks Clint's [[Franchise/StarWars Yoda impersonation]] is him [[MistakenForRacist mocking a Japanese visitor's accent]].
35	* PrecisionFStrike: The normally strait-laced Janet, when particularly stressed out because the staff Christmas variety show isn't going well, unleashes one on Clint that makes him jump out of his chair.
36	* ProneToTears: Annie, who frequently bursts into tears at the slightest provocation.
37	* ReasonYouSuckSpeech: Janet's nephew Dominic, who is shadowing Robin for his psychology class, gives a gloriously passive-aggressive one to Robin under the guise of an analysis.
38	-->'''Dominic:''' You know, I would say that your relentless sarcasm is an obvious attempt to put people at a distance, due to an almost crippling sense of inadequacy. I would say that your barbed, defensive humour is prompted by a fear of intimacy because there's something you're trying to hide, an aspect of yourself you're desperate to suppress because you hate it so. You hate yourself. I ''would'' say all that, if I weren't simply a passive observer.
39	* SeinfeldianConversation: Often.
40	* SirSwearsALot: Len. His grandson Ethan has taken to calling him "Grandad Fuck-Off".
41	* ThoseTwoGirls: Annie and Sally
42	* TransparentCloset: Robin.
43	* UltimateJobSecurity: Everyone, apparently, but especially Clint.
44	* TheUnseen: Any of the characters mentioned by the cast but who never come into the smoking room. Recurring example include Ben from the post room, and Len's junior Ranjit.
45	* WaxingLyrical: Cleverly done when Annie returns to the smoking room after she stormed out in tears:
46	-->'''Sally:''' Annie, are you okay?
47	-->'''Lillian:''' Are you okay?
48	-->'''Robin:''' Are you okay, Annie?
49	-->'''Lillian:''' Annie, are you okay?
50	-->'''Sally:''' You okay?
51	-->'''Len:''' You okay, Annie?
52	* WorkCom: Set in a workplace smoking room, allowing for interaction between people from different departments (the only thing uniting them is that they all, well, smoke).
53	* YesMan: Janet.
54	* YouPutTheXInXY: The [=CigZowt=] smoking cessation speaker has a particularly ill-thought-out version of this, which the smokers quickly dissect.
55	-->'''Derek:''' I'm here to put the "F-U-N" into "quitting"!
56	-->'''Robin:''' How would you pronounce that? "Quiffunting"?
57	-->'''Barry:''' "Quitfunning"?
58	-->'''Len:''' 'Ere, you could split it up - have "fuckwitting".

Context Series / TheSmokingRoom