Line #37 Series/TheOfficeUK


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6	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/office1pic.png]]
7	->''"The people you work with are just people you were thrown together with."''
8	-->-- '''Tim Canterbury'''
9
10	British {{Mockumentary}} WorkCom (2001-2003) in the style of a fly on the wall, created by Creator/RickyGervais and Creator/StephenMerchant.
11
12	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 (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.
13
14	The series is a {{mockumentary}}: the characters are very aware of the [[InUniverseCamera cameras being on them]], all the time. Brent in particular is given to preening and showing off for the camera, and Gareth explicitly notes that he's only behaving a certain way because "they're filming".
15
16	Inspired the highly successful, far longer-running, and [[AdaptationDisplacement more well-known]] [[Series/TheOfficeUS American adaptation]] of the series. Also highly successful is the [[ForeignRemake German remake]] ''Series/{{Stromberg}}'', wherein the main protagonist Bernd [[CharacterTitle Stromberg]] (the German version of David Brent) works for an insurance company. It has also inspired French (''Le Bureau''), French-Canadian (''La Job''), Chilean (''La Ofis''), Israeli (''[=HaMisrad=]''), Swedish (''Kontoret'') and Polish (''[[ForeignLanguageTitle The Office]] PL'') remakes, as well as still in-development Chinese and Finnish versions.
17
18	Has a follow-up film that specifically follows Gervais' character, ''Film/DavidBrentLifeOnTheRoad''.
19
20	Came twenty-fifth in ''Series/BritainsBestSitcom''.
21	----
22	!!This show provides examples of:
23	* AbhorrentAdmirer:
24	** Sheila clearly fancies Oliver, which he regards with equal parts bewilderment and horror.
25	** David to his new secretary.
26	* AccidentalHero: Brent becomes a hero when he saves a number of redundancies at the Slough branch by not taking a promotion. But it was only because he was never actually offered the job as he failed the medical. He takes the credit anyway.
27	* AgreeToDisagree: David's attempt at this in "Motivation" is quickly shot down by Neil:
28	--> '''David:''' Let's agree to disagree.
29	--> '''Neil:''' No. Let's agree that you agree with me.
30	* AintTooProudToBeg: David begs Neil and Jennifer not to make him redundant.
31	* AllThereInTheManual: The U.S. DVD release of the first series had a glossary explaining British slang and cultural references.
32	* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: Neil to David. Although the latter would never admit it, Neil enjoys the social and professional success that Brent craves.
33	* AmusingInjuries: David Brent headbutting his new receptionist.
34	* AnythingYouCanDoICanDoBetter: David plays this game with Ricky when they talk about [[Creator/FyodorDostoevsky Dostoevsky]]. He keeps returning with more facts that he's obviously just looked up, only for Ricky to keep out-doing him with even more information. David just gives up in the end.
35	--> '''David:''' Were we talking earlier about Dostoevsky's ''House of the Dead''?
36	--> '''Ricky:''' Yeah I think we mentioned it.
37	--> '''David:''' Which he wrote in 1862. I was just going to say that it wasn't his first major work.
38	--> '''Ricky:''' Wasn't it?
39	--> '''David:''' No. His first major work was ''Notes from the Underground,'' which he wrote in St Petersburg in 1859.
40	--> '''Ricky:''' Really?
41	--> '''David:''' Yup. Definitely.
42	--> '''Ricky:''' Well, of course, my favourite is ''The Raw Youth''. It's basically where Dostoevsky goes on to explain how science can't really find answers for the deeper human need.
43	--> '''David:''' Yeah... he does. ''[Glances at his watch and leaves]''
44	* ArmorPiercingQuestion: Simon delivers a great one to Tim:
45	-->'''Tim:''' Yeah, if you were gonna send an undercover spy, why wouldn't you send the most famous Asian film star in the world? ''(Rachel laughs)''
46	-->'''Simon:''' Gone off Dawn, have you?
47	* AscendedExtra: Keith. Gervais and Merchant liked the deadpan persona that Ewan [=MacIntosh=] created, so they gave him more lines and used him as MrExposition.
48	* AsideGlance: Tim and David both do it constantly.
49	* AssholeVictim: No one can say Gareth doesn't deserve to be on the wrong end of Tim's pranks.
50	* AudienceSurrogate: Tim's role is partly this. He's not quite the OnlySaneMan, but he is the one we're supposed to identify with.
51	* BadNewsIrrelevantNews: TropeNamer. The bad news is the Slough branch is being closed. The good news is that David's been promoted. The staff don't see it this way, describing it as "bad news and irrelevant news".
52	* BaitAndSwitch: When we first see Dawn and Lee in Florida, she's holding a baby, which would presumably end any chance of romance with Tim. But she then mentions that it's Lee's sister's baby, who she looks after.
53	* BelatedHappyEnding: [[spoiler:Tim and Dawn]] in the ChristmasSpecial.
54	* BenevolentBoss:
55	** David thinks he is, but he's really TheAllegedBoss. He goes into BadBoss territory when he accepts a promotion knowing it will mean most of the staff losing their jobs.
56	** Jennifer, who shows incredible patience when dealing with David, even when he openly lies to her about sacking someone and she gets insulted by the guys in the warehouse.
57	** Neil, by contrast, is much sterner and quickly grows weary of David's antics. Although he is arguably an example due to being cross with David for not paying his staff.
58	* BirthdayEpisode: The quiz night in series one happens to take place on Tim's birthday. In series two, the whole office has a party to celebrate Trudy's birthday.
59	* ABirthdayNotABreak: Tim's birthday sees him repeatedly insulted by Chris Finch, cheated of the victory his quiz team earned, stripped of one of his shoes which is thrown over the office building, and left walking home alone shoeless after everyone else has gone.
60	* BlatantLies: Jennifer asks David if he has made any redundancies. David lies about sacking the non-existent employee "Julie Anderton".
61	* {{Bookends}}: In the first episode of series one, David hires a new forklift driver. In the final episode of series one, David fires the same man.
62	* BritishBrevity: Fourteen episodes (two six-episode seasons and a concluding two-part Christmas Special). Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant felt that as it is supposed to be a 'fly on the wall' documentary (rather than a work-com) [[WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief it would stretch belief]] that the crew are still there months or years later. This is the biggest difference between it and the American version.
63	* ButtMonkey: Brenda, the wheelchair-bound Swindon employee, who during the fire drill is carried half-way down the stairs, only to be abandoned in a stairwell by David and Gareth, whose rationale for doing so is that it's just a drill and not a real fire.
64	* TheCameo: When David takes part in a "celebrity" blind date at a night club, he's joined by RealLife minor celebs Howard Brown [[note]] known as the "extra man" after appearing in a few (at the time) well-known adverts for the Halifax building society [[/note]] and Paul "Bubble" Ferguson [[note]] a former ''Series/BigBrother'' contestant [[/note]].
65	* CaptainObvious: To make up for manhandling him the previous day, Lee gives Tim a wrapped bottle-shaped gift.
66	--> '''Gareth:''' Probably a bottle of something.
67	--> '''Tim:''' [[SarcasmMode You reckon?]]
68	--> '''Gareth:''' Look at the shape.
69	* CasanovaWannabe:
70	** Gareth is a particularly repulsive hence spot-on example. Contrast this with his American counterpart Dwight, who is apparently quite the KavorkaMan. Although Gareth did score with a married woman in Chasers.
71	** David Brent also, particularly with his new secretary in Series 1 and when he's too drunk to pull Lindsay.
72	* CelebrityParadox: [[Series/DaAliGShow Ali G]] is mentioned more than one, with Keith even dressing up as him in the Comic Relief episode. Creator/MartinFreeman (who plays Tim) played one of Ali's friends in [[Film/AliGIndahouse the Ali G movie]].
73	* ChristmasEpisode: The two-part Christmas Special, which was also the GrandFinale.
74	* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Rachel does not reappear in the Christmas specials.
75	* ComicallyMissingThePoint: Given the nature of the series, it happens with alarming regularity.
76	** David reads John Betjeman's "Slough" at the end of "New Girl".
77	** In "Training", Gareth somehow misses the point of every single exercise the instructor puts the staff through.
78	* ComicRolePlay: The training episode! "See, I fazed you."
79	* CrapsackWorld: One of the themes of the series was the soul-destroying nature of working in an office for a paycheck and largely watching your dreams die horribly slow and painful deaths.
80	** Talented artist/receptionist Dawn wanting to be an artist, but stuck working a dead-end job with a deadbeat lover who constantly belittles her talent, because he doesn't want her to give up the paycheck that supports the two.
81	** Tim, who has dreams of going to university to study psychology, ends up abandoning them when he gets promoted. Even more alarming is in his rationalization to Dawn, he starts using management speak that is very similar to how David talks.
82	** Keith says his job is just a stopgap and he wants to get into music.
83	** David says he could have been successful in music, but gave it up for his job at Wernham-Hogg. When he actually tries to start a musical career, it doesn't go well. Apparently the people who actually enjoy their mundane jobs are talentless hacks.
84	* CreatorCameo: Stephen Merchant has a small part as Gareth's mate Oggy.
85	* CringeComedy: It's almost physically painful to watch at times. A standout example is the second season premiere, where David follows an effortlessly funny introduction from his new boss, Neil, with an incredibly desperate comedy routine based on obscure inside jokes about other employees in the corporation. And despite nobody responding to the jokes, not even the ''one'' guy present who actually knows the employees being joked about, he just continues to double down on the schtick until he eventually just sits down in frustration. There's also the lame motivational speech and the disastrous dance.
86	* DatingServiceDisaster: David has a few in the Christmas special.
87	* DeadpanSnarker: Tim is the most consistent example, David has his moments where he's actually witty when not performing for the camera. Finchy is a Deconstructed, meaner example.
88	* DeathFakedForYou: The tech support guy, Simon, is convinced that Creator/BruceLee's death was a cover-up to allow him to go DeepCoverAgent and bust up the Triads. Gareth, of course, [[SuperGullible believes him.]]
89	* DeconstructedCharacterArchetype: David Brent. The bulk of the series paints him as a UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist, yet the Series 2 finale and ensuing Christmas specials reveal that he's actually a very lonely and frustrated man.
90	* DiegeticSoundtrackUsage: The "Training" episode ends with David singing and playing "Handbags and Gladrags".
91	* DiggingYourselfDeeper: David normally does this without anyone prompting him.
92	* TheDogBitesBack: After years of being Chris Finch's ButtMonkey, Brent finally snaps in the Christmas special when Finch insults his date:
93	--> '''David:''' Chris, why don't you fuck off?
94	* 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 Creator/PeterPurves (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).
95	* DownerEnding: Series two ended with David being sacked and Dawn leaving after rejecting Tim. The Christmas specials gave them more of a HappyEnding with David finding love and [[spoiler:Tim and Dawn finally getting together]].
96	* EarnYourHappyEnding: David eventually manages to find love and Tim & Dawn eventually manage to get together, both in the series finale, but only after spending years going through the soul-crushing hell of the uncompromisingly rigid white-collar office workplace (with David additionally losing his job and facing constant public humiliation in the process of trying to regain his footing).
97	* EmbarrassingBrowserHistory: In "Work Experience", a pornographic image with David's face is circulated across the office. After a prolonged hunt to find the perpetrator, David accuses Tim, who then reveals that it was actually Finch, and explains it is quite easy to trace the search history of anyone using an office computer. David then asks nervously if anyone knows how to delete a browser history.
98	* EstablishingCharacterMoment:
99	** Gareth is first seen creeping up on Tim, whacking him over the head with a newspaper and yelling "whasssup", establishing his irritating character.
100	** In Chris Finch's first scene, he shows himself to be a bully and a jerk who treats Brent as a ButtMonkey.
101	* FiringDay: In the first season finale, Alex, a new warehouse recruit, is made redundant by Brent. It's established in the first episode that Brent hired him because he took a liking to him despite him being unsuitable, so this is one of the few times we see him behaving like a proper boss.
102	* 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.
103	* TheFriendNobodyLikes: One of the central themes of the show is that you spend far more time with your coworkers than you do with your actual friends, family and loved ones. Tim lampshades this in the last episode, saying your work-mates are just people you share the same bit of carpet with for most of the week. Several characters also embody this trope, most notably David Brent (who tries so hard to be everybody's friend in spite of how unlikeable he is for the most part), and Chris Finch (who probably knows nobody really likes him, but doesn't really care).
104	* FreudianTrio: During the celebrity dating show, Bubble is the Id (making rude innuendo and tongue-in-cheek chauvinistic remarks), Howard Brown is the Superego (the refined, well-spoken accountant), and David Brent is the Ego (or rather, he constantly tries to be both the Id and the Superego depending on which he thinks will make him more popular).
105	* GagPenis: The one in Gareth and David's joke about the [[BlackIsBiggerInBed black man's cock]] ("bigger than the bread bin").
106	* GenreDeconstruction: Of the WorkCom. When the cameras are on him, David Brent attempts to be the funny, charismatic sitcom boss, and he constantly (and desperately) compares himself to great comedians, but it's incredibly obvious he's just an ordinary bloke working in a mundane office where people just want to do their jobs and collect a paycheque.
107	* TheGhost: Anton, Jeff Lamp, Pete Gibbons. Neil in series one.
108	* GilliganCut:
109	** David assures Jennifer that the news about the proposed merger with Swindon (and possible redundancies) will not leave the room. In the next scene everyone is discussing it.
110	** Having just been reprimanded by Jennifer for telling a racist joke, David jokes with a group of employees about smoking weed. Cut to him being reprimanded by Jennifer again.
111	* GirlOnGirlIsHot:
112	** Gareth certainly thinks so:
113	--> '''Rowan:''' Gareth, quick trust exercise: what's your ultimate fantasy?
114	--> '''Gareth:''' [[ComicallyMissingThePoint Two lesbians probably. Sisters. I'm just watching.]]
115	--> '''Rowan:''' Okay, er, Tim?
116	--> '''Tim:''' [[ARareSentence I never thought I'd say this but can I hear more from Gareth?]]
117	** There's a {{callback}} to this in a deleted scene where Dawn and Rachel torment Gareth by pretending to be lesbians.
118	* HairTriggerTemper: Lee spots Tim getting a bit too close to Dawn and immediately shoves him against the wall. In another scene Lee threatens him for asking Dawn out. It takes Tim a while to realise he's just joking this time.
119	* HappilyEverAfter: Mocked in an after-the-fact (out of character) documentary. [[spoiler: Dawn and Tim's]] actors think the two characters will go on to a happy life together, only to be shot down by Ricky Gervais, who basically says, 'Only if it's funny.'
120	* HateSink:
121	** Chris Finch has '''zero''' redeeming qualities. Following that, Lee is a terrible boyfriend. Tim's pregnant co-worker Ann is also very rude and self-absorbed.
122	** Neil was apparently meant to be this but is less hateable than Chris.
123	** Downplayed with the warehouse workers in the end. They're pigs, but seeing them tell off Anne the obnoxious pregnant woman makes them almost admirable.
124	* HopelessSuitor: Gareth to Rachel. It's a mark of his self delusion that he can't understand why a girl like her would prefer Tim.
125	* HopeSpot: David gets one at the end of series 2 when it seems there's a chance Neil and Jennifer will reconsider his redundancy. We learn in the Christmas special that he still lost his job.
126	* HufflepuffHouse: The rest of the office: Keith, Emma, Jamie, Sheila, Ralph, Ben.
127	* HumiliationConga: In the final few episodes David loses his job, then finds out the motivational speakers won't be using his services again. He's reduced to begging Jennifer and Neil not to fire him. It gets even worse in the Christmas specials when he goes on a few disastrous blind dates and is reduced to making degrading personal appearances in seedy nightclubs. Finally he gets banned from the office and the Christmas dinner. He can't even persuade anyone to go out for a drink until Tim [[PetTheDog takes pity on him]].
128	* HypocriticalHumour:
129	** David gives belittling nicknames to people, but when he finds out the staff have nicknamed him [[Literature/TheWindInTheWillows Mr Toad]] and [[WesternAnimation/{{Popeye}} Bluto]], he gives them a lecture about nicknames being hurtful. He gets called out on it by one of the guys in the office.
130	** Moments later, Brent then suggests that they should at least start by picking on Keith, who also happens to be overweight and wears glasses as well.
131	** David's attitude to the mocked up porno picture of him changes when he finds out it was his "best mate" Chris Finch who did it. He once again gets called out on it.
132	** David complains that one of his blind dates is less attractive than she was in her photo. She later mentions that he also sent an unrepresentative photo of himself.
133	* TheIllegal: Lee and Dawn's stay in the US between series 2 and the Christmas specials is not entirely legal. Having entered the country to visit Lee's sister, they wind up staying three years on a 90-day visa, working odd jobs for money under the table since they don't have work permits. On the other hand, the sister isn't charging rent and Lee thinks that this leaves them not too badly off.
134	* IncompetenceInc: Wernham Hogg does not come across as a particularly well-run company, to say the least.
135	* InDaClub: Deconstructed in the last ten or so minutes of "New Girl". Chasers is revealed to be a tacky, seedy place in which apart from the music, is no fun at all unless you are completely drunk.
136	* InterrogationByVandalism: Played for laughs. When Gareth is extremely possessive of his stapler, and has labelled it "Garet", Tim seizes it and dangles it out of the office window.
137	--> '''Tim:''' I'm going to let this go, unless you stop acting like a fool.
138	--> '''Gareth:''' Well, you won't, so...
139	--> '''Tim:''' (Letting it go) Well, I have, so...
140	--> '''Gareth:''' What if that kills someone?
141	--> '''Tim:''' They'll think you're the murderer. It's got your name on it.
142	--> '''Gareth:''' Why would a murderer put his name on the murder weapon?
143	--> '''Tim:''' To stop people borrowing it?
144	* IntraFranchiseCrossover: David Brent has made a couple of guest appearances on [[Series/TheOfficeUS the American version]].
145	* ItsWhatIDo: David says this in the first episode of the second series, soon after he has told the "black man's cock" joke, when the Swindon intake have not grasped that they're supposed to laugh at everything he says.
146	* {{Jerkass}}:
147	** Chris Finch and Lee. Neil is also a bit of this, albeit more subtly.
148	** Brent also qualifies despite the more sympathetic aspects of the character. This is the guy who tried to throw his staff under the bus for a promotion and then lied that he turned it down (when in fact he failed a medical) to make them think he was a hero.
149	* JerkassHasAPoint: While it may have seemed mean to ban David from the office, Neil was correct that as an ex-employee, there was no good reason for David to just keep turning up for a chat and disrupting the staff at work.
150	* JerksUseBodySpray: When [[SmallNameBigEgo David Brent]] affects a contrived cool-guy persona for a motivational speaking gig, he changes shirts in front of his bemused client and hoses himself down with body spray, catching his BeleagueredAssistant in the face. He isn't hired back.
151	* KarmaHoudini: Chris Finch's prank - photoshopping Brent's face onto some porn - goes unpunished. Which diminishes Brent's authority in the office, as he was adamant that, when found, the culprit ''would'' be punished - only to change his mind when it's revealed that his "best mate" was responsible.
152	* KavorkaMan: Chris Finch is an obnoxious, arrogant and sexist bully, and not particularly attractive, yet he is seen to be reasonably successful with women. Keith is a less dislikable example as he's seen dancing with more than one woman at the various office parties. Even Gareth sometimes falls into this category, although the women he meets at Chasers are not exactly picky.
153	* KickTheDog:
154	** Finchy does this to Brent a lot. TheDogBitesBack in the final episode.
155	** David reduces Dawn to tears when he pretends to fire her in the first episode.
156	* KickThemWhileTheyAreDown: Neil subtly does this to David a few times in the Christmas episodes. He keeps reminding David that he said he'd be bringing a woman to the party, knowing how slim David's chances are of actually finding a date. Note the StunnedSilence from Neil and Finch when David ''does'' bring along an attractive woman.
157	* KnownOnlyByTheirNickname: Gareth's friends Oggmonster, Jimmy the Perv, Fishfingers and Gobbler. Although the Oggmonster did reveal under questioning from David that his real name is Nathan.
158	* LimitedAdvancementOpportunities: Gareth, Neil and Jennifer all get a promotion over the course of the series. Tim is offered one but turns it down. Brent is offered one too, but fails the medical.
159	* LoveTriangle:
160	** Dawn, Lee and Tim.
161	** Rachel, Tim and Gareth (in Gareth's mind at least)
162	* LowerHalfReveal: In the second series, everyone glances at and comments on David Brent's shoes, which are not revealed to the audience. Later, he suddenly puts his feet on the desk during a meeting, revealing ankle boots with a very high heel.
163	* {{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.
164	* 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 favour of the material that made him look comically incompetent. This being [[{{Narcissist}} David]] [[UnreliableNarrator Brent]], it's clear that he's lying through his teeth.
165	* 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 (to rhyme with "now"), 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]].
166	* MenAreUncultured: Mainly played straight, as most of the men are boorish and ignorant. Finch sneers at Ricky for being university-educated. The warehouse guys are even worse. When we first see them, they're watching a video of two dogs having sex. Averted by Ricky, who knows a lot about Dostoevsky, and Tim, who claims to like ballet, Proust and Alain Delon. Lampshaded by Tim:
167	--> '''Tim:''' I don't know where we're going tonight. [[SarcasmMode Obviously Finchy's a sophisticated guy, and Gareth's a culture vulture, so you know will it be opera, ballet? I don't know. I know the RSC's in town, so er...]] having said that at Chasers, it's Hooch for a pound and Wonderbras-get-in-free night tonight. So I don't know, I don't know who'll win, it's exciting. I'm staying out of it.
168	* {{Metaphorgotten}}: Done by David. During an exercise on how ''not'' to deal with an irate customer, when acting as the customer he shouts "I think there's been a rape!" and says to always get attention, and when acting as the manager, has the other person say his room number, then states his hotel doesn't go up to that floor and that some complaints will be fake.
169	* MoodWhiplash: Tim and Dawn are having a laugh at Brent's latest faux pas, when Lee spots them getting a little too physical for his liking. He pins Tim up against a wall, then storms off with Dawn running after him. The episode ends with Tim sitting at his desk in stunned silence.
170	* TheNicknamer: David has a habit of giving often insulting nicknames to people. He calls Malcolm, a bald older employee, "Series/{{Kojak}}". However, he doesn't take it well when he finds out the staff have nicknamed him "[[Franchise/{{Popeye}} Bluto]]" and "[[Literature/TheWindInTheWillows Mr. Toad]]".
171	* NoodleIncident: Prior to the office quiz night, Gareth cringes at the memory of what happened at the last one, when David went to great lengths to disprove the answer to a question about [[Characters/StarTrekTheOriginalSeriesSpock Mr. Spock]] [[note]] specifically, the question asked what species Spock is, the answer being Vulcan ... only for Brent to go home and get a book about ''Star Trek'' which showed that Spock is actually half-Vulcan, half-Human[[/note]].
172	* NoOSHACompliance: David knowingly hires a forklift driver who hasn't passed his forklift driver's test. He also lies about the man being health and safety trained.
173	* NotThatTheresAnythingWrongWithThat: Brent does this a lot. He tells a mildly homophobic joke in front of Neil, only to then realise that Neil might be gay (he isn't, as it turns out) and trips over himself trying to explain why that would be alright. He ends up giving him a lecture about safe gay sex.
174	* OfficeRomance: A few.
175	** Donna and Ricky in the first series. As both characters get PutOnABus after that, we don't know how it panned out.
176	** Dawn and Lee, although they work in different departments.
177	** Tim and Rachel in the second series, although it's clearly a case of Tim settling for Rachel because Dawn's engaged to Lee, and he eventually ends it.
178	** The biggie, though, is Tim and Dawn, whose UST is evident throughout the show. [[spoiler: They finally get it on in the finale after Dawn comes to her senses and dumps Lee.]]
179	** Gareth claims to have had loads in other offices, but his interactions with women throughout the series suggest this is a case of BlatantLies.
180	** 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.
181	** Finch and Trudy, although it's more a case of casual sex (in the car park, no less) as opposed to a relationship.
182	* OhCrap: Tim whenever Lee is around.
183	* OhNoNotAgain: Gareth's reaction when he finds that Tim has pranked him by putting his stapler in a jelly for what we're told is the third time.
184	* OneDialogueTwoConversations: Deliberately invoked by Tim and Dawn when they wind up Gareth. He thinks they're talking about military affairs, but they're actually insinuating that he's gay.
185	--> '''Tim:''' If you ever take an enemy soldier prisoner, would you have to search him?
186	--> '''Gareth:''' Yeah, it's possible. Yeah.
187	--> '''Tim:''' Right, so let's just say you've taken him prisoner, you're doing a full body search, you find something hard, you can feel it, you know what it is. Do you just say to him, 'I know you've got a big weapon, give it to me now'? Or...?
188	--> '''Gareth:''' I'm not gonna ask him, I would just get it out myself.
189	--> '''Tim:''' Right. And what happens - you're going into battle situation - are up the front with your men, or are you coming up the rear?
190	--> '''Gareth:''' Well, depends.
191	--> '''Dawn:''' It's possible you'd come up the rear?
192	--> '''Gareth:''' It's possible, yeah.
193	--> '''Tim:''' That's all we wanted to know.
194	* ThePeterPrinciple: David embodies this. There are some hints that he was previously a good sales rep, which presumably led to his promotion to a job for which he was wholly unsuitable.
195	* PetTheDog:
196	** David standing up for Gareth when Donna insults him in "The New Girl."
197	** David also tries to cheer Gareth up when he makes him cry in the Season 1 finale.
198	** Tim agreeing to go out for a drink with David when everyone else shuns him in the Christmas special.
199	** At the end of the Christmas Special, David finally managed to make everyone laugh by doing an impersonation of [[Series/SomeMothersDoAveEm Frank Spencer]].
200	* {{Pixellation}}: In the Comic Relief episode, a group of them gang up on Ben and pull down his trousers and underwear. Being a documentary, the offending images are pixelated.
201	* PointyHairedBoss: David seems to have some sales skills, but he's a terrible boss. He's extremely self-centered and spends most of his energy trying to get his employees to think he's cool rather than manage the office properly. Gervais responded to criticisms that Brent would never reach a management position with a retort that a brief look around any kind of corporate-style organization (including The BBC) would reveal that major positions were being filled by people who were even worse than Brent.
202	* {{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, the predictable happens when he painfully learns that that kind of stuff won't fly in 'real' life.
203	* 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 [[EstablishingCharacterMoment cements him]] as a thoughtless PointyHairedBoss with a hugely inflated opinion of his own sense of humour.
204	* 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, the first upon being told he's redundant, and the second when he finally tells Chris Finch where to go:
205	-->'''David:''' Oh, ''fucking hell''.
206	-->'''David:''' Chris, why don't you ''fuck off''?
207	* ProfessionalButtKisser: Gareth to David. His attitude to David changes noticeably once he becomes the boss.
208	* PutOnABus: David's secretary between series one and two.
209	--> '''David:''' Last in, first out.
210	* TheQuietOne: Keith is a man of very few words.
211	* RedHerring: While waiting outside for his final date to arrive, David spots an obese woman walking towards him and assumes it's her. To his relief, she's there to meet someone else.
212	* 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 had enough of.
213	* RomanticFalseLead:
214	** Lee, coming between Tim and Dawn.
215	** Rachel in the second series.
216	* RunningGag:
217	** Keith says something grossly inappropriate, before taking a huge bite from a scotch egg.
218	** Gareth forgetting the "to the" in his job title:
219	--->'''Gareth:''' Gareth Keenan, assistant regional manager.
220	--->'''David:''' Assistant ''to the'' regional manager.
221	** Dawn and Tim tricking Gareth into saying double entendres that make him sound like he’s discussing gay sex.
222	* SarcasmBlind: Sarcasm is completely lost on Gareth.
223	* SeparatedByACommonLanguage: "Because fanny means your arse over there. ({{Beat}}) Not your [[CountryMatters minge]]."
224	* SevenMinuteLull: David gets caught in the middle of a (lame) dirty joke in the SevenMinuteLull at the end of "The Party."
225	* ShipperOnDeck: Averted; according to Tim in the Christmas Special, his nan reckons that Dawn made the right choice by sticking with Lee. Later played straight by [[TheStoic Keith]] when he tells Tim that Dawn coming back for the Christmas party probably represents the last chance he (Tim) will have of getting together with Dawn.
226	* ShoutOut: A few.
227	** David and Finch's quiz team is called [[Creator/MontyPython The Dead Parrots]]. When the name is announced, they repeat lines from that sketch.
228	** For the Comic Relief episode, Keith dresses up as [[Series/DaAliGShow Ali G]].
229	** Also in the Comic Relief episode, Neil and Rachel's dance routine is straight out of ''Film/SaturdayNightFever'', with costumes (white suit and black shirt for him, red maxi-dress for her) to match.
230	** This is immediately followed by David, who describes his dancing as a fusion of ''Film/{{Flashdance}}'' and "Music/MCHammer shit" before launching into a routine that truly leaves everyone speechless.
231	** For his celebrity appearance in a nightclub during the Christmas Special, David dresses up as Film/AustinPowers.
232	** The series ends with David showing that he actually can get people to laugh by doing a [[Series/SomeMothersDoAveEm Frank Spencer]] impersonation.
233	* SharedUniverse: David Brent goes on to appear in two episodes of Series/TheOfficeUS, placing both shows in the same continuity. The same goes for the 2016 film ''Film/DavidBrentLifeOnTheRoad''.
234	* ShowWithinAShow: Aiding the realism of the show's mockumentary format, characters in the 2003 Christmas specials (which take place long after the initial two seasons were shot and aired) are aware that ''The Office'' exists in-universe and comment on events from previous episodes based on what was broadcast on the BBC (i.e. the episodes as we, the real-world viewers, saw them), with David taking particular ire at how awfully he comes across in the aired footage.
235	* ShuttingUpNow:
236	** Finch, who usually has an endless supply of witty ripostes, is reduced to stunned silence when Brent [[PrecisionFStrike puts him in his place]] for insulting his date.
237	** Brent's problem is he '''never''' knows when to do this, so he just [[DiggingYourselfDeeper keeps digging]].
238	* SmallNameBigEgo: David is absolutely convinced that he's the life of the office and is a world-class musician, philosopher, and stand-up comedian. Everyone else he comes into contact with thinks differently. He does however seem to be at least ''partially'' aware that he isn't as great as he thinks he is, given how he reacts to people pointing it out, or otherwise not treating him as he feels he deserves. For example, when he tried giving Tim career advice which was rejected out of hand, he grew quite agitated, angry, and dismissive. Many of David's own illusions about himself are, of course, stripped away by the end of Series Two.
239	* SneakyDeparture: Tim builds a wall of box files between his desk and Gareth's, so that he does not have to look at Gareth. When Gareth tries to speak to him from the other side of this wall, Tim creeps away from his desk, unseen by Gareth. Gareth eventually realises he is alone.
240	--> '''Gareth:''' Right, I know you're not there, and obviously you can't hear that, but I'm not staying here talking to myself... because they're filming.
241	* SoulCrushingDeskJob: Most of the office, but Tim in particular.
242	* SoundtrackDissonance: Used intentionally (and hilariously).
243	* StandardOfficeSetting: The series is set in a small regional branch office of a large corporation, which shows off the range of this setting: there's a receptionist desk at the front, open space with a bunch of desks in the middle, and private office with a door for the office manager.
244	* TheStarscream: Gareth to David. Made more explicit in a deleted scene in which Gareth comes in to commiserate with David for being made redundant, but it's clear he just wants to know if he has a chance of getting David's job. He quickly loses respect for David once he becomes manager and purposely embarrasses him in the Christmas special.
245	* StockLateralThinkingPuzzle:
246	** "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.
247	** Near the end of the ChristmasEpisode, David, Tim, and Gareth are having their first friendly conversation of the entire series; their dialogue suggests David has just posed the Doctor's Son puzzle to Tim and Gareth, who are both stumped.
248	* TheStoic: Keith, who does not show emotion even when being insulted to his face.
249	* StylisticSuck: David Brent's [[DreadfulMusician music]], and particularly his cover of "If You Don't Know Me By Now".
250	* SucksAtDancing: David, with his cringe-makingly memorable attempt at sexy dance moves in the Comic Relief episode, which boil down to spasmodic and random arm movements, grunting, and gyrating. It really has to be [[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=p6Eaz-1_3iA seen to be believed]].
251	* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: Might as well be called ''Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: The TV Show''. David Brent constantly mugs for the camera and spouts one liners like he's a witty, plays-by-his-own-rules sitcom boss, but everybody just reacts to him with confusion, embarrassment, and occasionally disgust. In one of his very first scenes, he jokes to Dawn that every man in the office wishes they could wake up "at the crack of Dawn" and then doubles over laughing at his own tasteless joke while Dawn is just irritated and insulted.
252	* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: Anne for Gareth in the Christmas special. After Gareth gets promoted, Tim gets another obnoxious, pedantic and irritating person to share his desk with. There's even a passing resemblance.
253	* TakeThatKiss: Tim gives Gareth one, just to wind him up.
254	* TemptingFate: David dares Neil and Jennifer to sack him. A few minutes later they do exactly that.
255	* TheThingThatWouldNotLeave: ''Three years'' after being fired (and after suing the company for unfair dismissal), David still regularly shows up at Wernham Hogg. Gareth politely hints that he shouldn't really keep turning up unannounced, but David is oblivious.
256	* ThisIsMySide: In the first episode of the first series, Gareth slides a ruler between his desk and Tim's, to move things overlapping from Tim's desk. He says "One word, two syllables: demarcation". Later, in the same episode, Tim makes a pile of box files between their desks, so that he does not have to look at Gareth.
257	* ThrowTheDogABone:
258	** 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.
259	** Lee reveals to Gareth that Dawn and Tim are making fun of him by reviving their game 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.
260	* TouchOfDeath: In a deleted scene, Simon the IT engineer claims Creator/BruceLee could burst every blood vessel in a person's body merely by touching them on the chest, but says he would never try it on a person "just in case". Gareth suggests they "test it out on stray cats".
261	* TrustBuildingBlunder: Every time David tries one of these it backfires horribly.
262	* TyrantTakesTheHelm: Averted. Gareth resolves to be a much harsher and more unforgiving boss than David, but despite his somewhat neurotic personality, proves himself to be a rather standard office boss.
263	* UnbuiltTrope: The series is a savage deconstruction of the WorkCom, and its "zany" boss and "quirky" co-workers. Nowadays, the most popular example of that genre would be ''[[Series/TheOfficeUS its own American version]]''. So, effectively, this show is a deconstruction of its own remake and the American {{WorkCom}}s that followed in its wake, a fly-on-the-wall documentary showing how irritating and obnoxious working for Michael Scott and his ilk would be in real life.
264	* UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist: David Brent walks a fine line, as he is so pathetic that it becomes increasingly difficult not to sympathise him. By the Christmas Special, he's almost in [[TheWoobie woobie]] territory.
265	* UnusualEuphemism:
266	--> '''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.
267	* WackyMarriageProposal: Lee's proposal to Dawn was done by way of a small piece in a newspaper.
268	-->'''Dawn:''' I think he had to pay for it by the word because all it said was, "Lee love Dawn. Marriage?" Which...I like, because it's not every day you get something that's both romantic and thrifty.
269	* WhamLine: David to Finch, in the Christmas episode. It's ''very'' well-deserved.
270	--> Chris, why don't you ''fuck off''?
271	* WhatDoesSheSeeInHim: Lee and Dawn. Although they're engaged, Lee is ''never'' shown being nice to Dawn, and is instead seen being horrible to her on several occasions. WordOfGod concedes this, admitting that they had originally intended to make the Tim / Dawn / Lee triangle to be more of a match of equals, but since Tim by default ended up getting more screen-time he couldn't help becoming more likeable.

Context Series / TheOfficeUK