ITV

Tag: Wernham-Hogg

  • BBC’s sitcom ‘The Office’ to get a French flavour

    BBC’s sitcom ‘The Office’ to get a French flavour

    MUMBAI: The BBC’s sitcom The Office, is about to cross the Channel to wow French audiences with their version of the show.

    Le Bureau has been licenced from BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the BBC, and has just finished filming with French cast and the original script adapted into French. It is due to hit French TV screens on Canal+ in the Spring, and will be the first time the Golden Globe-winning comedy has been produced in a foreign language.

    Writer and star of The Office, Ricky Gervais, says, “I am still genuinely shocked at The Office’s appeal in other countries. We didn’t write it with a world market in mind. In fact, we never thought it would be a huge hit in Britain. We wrote it for ourselves and like-minded people. There are a lot more of those people that we could have imagined. But I won’t be happy till I see an Inuit doing the dance.”

    BBC Worldwide director of formats Colin Jarvis says, “This is an exciting move for The Office. We’ll be watching closely to see how the humour and interaction between the beleaguered staff and the overzealous boss play out in a completely different language and culture. But the move paves the way for a whole set of David Brents to appear across the world.”

    Wernham-Hogg, the Slough-based paper mill, where nothing ever seemed to get done becomes Cogirep, a down-at-heel office based in the featureless Villepinte, a well-known business park to the north of Paris. The cast, as in the original version, is made up of mainly unknown actors, with the exception of office manager Gilles Triquet, Francois Berléand, (pictured), who fills the role of Ricky Gervais’ David Brent.

    A slightly older version of his UK counterpart, Triquet will be just as beleaguered, and it is hoped that his bizarre philosophies on life, which came to be known affectionately in the UK as ‘Brent-isms’, will be heard all over the country.

    The Office was first broadcast in the UK five eyars ago and ran for two series with two Christmas specials. The series finale, broadcast in 2003 reached 6.14 million viewers.

    Although Le Bureau will be the first foreign language version of the sitcom, the original stories have been sold in 80 countries worldwide making it the most successful BBC comedy export of all time. The format was sold to the US two years ago, following the sitcom’s Golden Globe win, where it aired its initial 16 episodes over two seasons on NBC. It has recently been recommissioned for a third series, comprising 28 episodes.

  • Star World to launch sitcom ‘The office’

    Star World to launch sitcom ‘The office’

    MUMBAI: Star World is all set to launch a new comedy seriesThe Office. The show will premiere on 4 September at 10:30 pm.

    The sitcom emphasis on office politics, management jargon, sycophants, malicious gossip, practical jokes, jealousies, frustration; and, of course, the occasional knife in the back.

    The Office is all about working life and the underpaid dead-end job, irritating colleagues and a smug, sexist boss, a place where trivial things take on a ridiculous importance. The office is set in a branch of Wernham Hoggs, a stationary company outside of London, informs an official release.

    The actor Ricky Gervais gives a masterful performance as regional manager David Brent, at the branch in Wernham Hogg. He fancies himself as a great team leader using humour to win the loyalty of his staff. But, though he believes he behaves like one of the lads, he leaves no one in doubt who’s in charge.

    He is petty and pompous, a liar and hypocrite, sexist and insensitive, and he winds up his staff almost to the point of hysteria. Women are the butt of crude jokes; he talks entirely in clichés and attempts at humour are appalling, although everyone feels obliged to laugh at them. Worst of all, he reassures his staff that no one will lose their jobs, even though he knows there’s a good chance that the branch will be forced to close, adds the release.

    The Office is a wonderfully observed comedy filmed documentary style and features a cast of brilliant new talent. It has won many prestigious awards including two Golden Globe Awards, four British Academy of Films and Television Arts (BAFTAs) and 17 international television awards.