[[foldercontrol]]

!Main Characters
[[folder:Jen Barber]]
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jenit_545.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300: Ich. Bin. Ein. Nerd.]]
-> '''Portrayed by:''' Creator/KatherineParkinson

Reynholm Indutries' IT Department's "Relationship Manager". An ambitious career woman whose dreams of climbing the corporate ladder are always foiled by either her co-workers' antics, her tendency to compulsively lie about her abilities, or her complete lack of understanding of anything relating to computers.
----
* AccentOnTheWrongSyllable: The way she says "[=COMputer=]".
* AcquiredSituationalNarcissism: When she thinks she's won Employee of the Month and it turns out, everyone just thinks she's dead. Happens again when she ''actually'' wins Employee of the Month.
* AllWomenLoveShoes: Jen loves shoes so much that it's literally all she can say when she sees a pair that she wants until she can get her hands on them.
* BelligerentSexualTension: Has some of this going on with Roy, mostly in series 1.
* BirdsOfAFeather: Beneath her delusions of being a promising young up-and-comer, Jen is actually quite similar to Roy in terms of personality and temperament. The two of them get along very well as a result, and occasionally have minor [[ShipTease Ship Teases]] with each other.
* BlatantLies: Her EstablishingCharacterMoment has her bluffing her way through a job interview with Denholm by stating that she's good with computers. Despite her claim, she can't even pronounce the word "computer" right.
* ButtMonkey: Not nearly to the same degree as Roy, but Jen tends to find herself publically humiliated and prevented from moving up in the corporate world at least OnceAnEpisode.
* CatchPhrase:
** "TAXI!" (ScrewThisImOuttaHere)
** "How ''DARE'' you!" is also quite a common phrase for her.
* CloudCuckoolandersMinder: For Moss, Roy and Richmond.
* ComicTrio: Alternates between being the clueless leader and the ignored voice of reason.
* ConsummateLiar: Jen seems to be incapable of getting into a conversation with anyone not named Moss or Roy without weaving an enormous web of lies about herself. She's generally quite good at convincing others that she's telling the truth, but almost always ends up getting exposed when she's actually forced to demonstrate whatever skill she lies about possessing.
* DiggingYourselfDeeper: While Jen is able to function in social situations much better than either Moss or Roy can, she's an incredibly compulsive liar, and can rarely get through an exchange without burying herself under a mountain of lies and false promises that she has no chance of keeping. Her entire job at Reynholm Industries is the result of her lying about her skill with computers, and generally every plot that she instigates throughout the series is the result of her lying about herself in order to impress someone else.
* DudeMagnet: Has a different boyfriend almost every episode.
* TheFace: She's set up as this in the beginning, anyway, but as it turns out she's almost as weird as the people she works with.
* FatalFlaw: As detailed above, Jen is a chronic, compulsive liar and will regularly lie about her accomplishments just because she's feeling ignored or trying to feel better about herself. It never works. ''Jen herself'' acknowledges this problem:
-->'''Jen:''' What don't you get about this? I lie, I lie, and I LIE! And then I lie some more!
* FemaleMisogynist: While Jen is a self-professed feminist, and regularly expresses disgust at Douglas' inappropriate and disrespectful behavior towards women, she tends to be very bitter and hostile towards other women whenever she's actually made to work with them, because she hates it when they get more recognition and praise than she does. Roy outright describes her as "One of those women who hates other women." She's also completely willing to compromise her beliefs if her career is on the line, such as when she backpedals on her declaration about an erotic calendar featuring female employees being sexist and exploitative after she realizes that ''she'll'' be the one who suffers if it doesn't end up selling well.
* FieryRedhead: Very easily angered and annoyed. She goes brunette in Season 2 before switching back.
* HiddenDepths: Her office steadily becomes more and more decked out in cutesy Japanese paraphernalia as the series goes on, an interest that is otherwise not gone into.
* InformedDeformity: Occasionally stated to be quite ugly, to the point where the closeted gay man she was dating claimed to have only been dating her because she looked like a man. Needless to say Katherine Parkinson is quite attractive and Jen herself has a new date at least OnceAnEpisode.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Not nearly as callous as Roy, but she's still an incredibly shallow person who actively seeks out flaws in other people. She does, however, grow to care lot about Roy and Moss, even turning down a prestigious job offer from another company because they can't cope without her. She also tries to help Richmond become less of a shut-in, even though Richmond is often creepy and unsettling.
* LookingForLoveInAllTheWrongPlaces: Constantly, though she's just as likely to break up with perfectly nice guys over an insignificant "flaw" that they possess, such as having a full name that sounds like "pedophile" and looking like a magician.
* NerdNanny: She takes care of Moss and Roy. In the episode where she leaves the IT department, they start to lose it in ''less than a day''.
* NiceMeanAndInBetween: The In-between. She's not as nice as Moss but a bit nicer than Roy.
* NoPeriodsPeriod: Averted. She gets one, then Moss and Roy "synchronise" with her. [[spoiler: ...and then the rest of the world's IT workers synch in as well.]]
* NormalFishInATinyPond: Jen firmly believes herself to be a charismatic and driven young professional. In reality, she's generally incompetent, quite lazy, and is only charismatic in comparison to Moss and Roy, an extremely low bar.
* NoSocialSkills: Not quite. While she can actually function decently in social environments, pretty much every episode features her walking herself into different awkward situations due to handling them poorly.
* OnlySaneMan: Comparatively at least, though her outrageous level of tech illiteracy and massive ego frequently push her out of this territory.
* OtakuSurrogate: Later on in the series after she starts to settle into the IT department, her office becomes covered in Japanese memorabilia.
* PlatonicLifePartners: Grows into this with Roy over time. While there are a few hints of romantic chemistry, nothing ever comes of it and they instead share what could be called the most normal friendship on the show.
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: See CatchPhrase. Her first instinct upon being publicly humiliated/outed as a liar is to call for a taxi and attempt to flee the scene.
* SelectiveObliviousness: Deliberately avoids developing any further understanding about computers or the workings of the IT Department due to her belief that doing so will cause her to forget other "more important" things. When she gets into a band Moss and Roy like, she complains that she "shouldn't even know who they are!"
* SmallNameBigEgo: Convinced she's on the verge of a career breakthrough despite spending most of her time bumming around with Moss and Roy and not even knowing how to pronounce the word "computer".
* SmokingIsCool: Averted; she is an on-off smoker and complains smoking isn't "fun" like it used to be.
* TheSmurfettePrinciple: The only recurring female character on the show. Justified in that none of the male characters are capable of maintaining relationships and she herself is shown to seek out rivals in other women.
* SuddenlyShouting: Very prone to this.
* TeamMom: Best shown when Jen leaves to pursue another job interview, Moss gets electrocuted and concussed, while Roy becomes shirtless, homeless and forced to live in a box; all in the space of ''two hours!''
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Maurice Moss]]
[[quoteright:298:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mossit_4659.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:298: I like being weird. Weird's all I've got. That and my sweet style.]]
-> '''Portrayed by:''' Creator/RichardAyoade

One of Reynholm Industries' IT Department's two programmers. A socially-inept yet good-natured uber nerd and all-around weirdo who still lives with his mother. Possesses a genius intellect and creative mind that are hindered only by every other aspect of his character.
----
* AlliterativeName: '''M'''aurice '''M'''oss.
* AwesomeButImpractical: The majority of his inventions are incredibly intricate and well-made yet also completely pointless, such as a step ladder for moths to get out of a bath.
* BecomingTheMask: A recurring problem of his is becoming ''too'' dedicated to the roles he has to play, such as when he pretended to be Jen's husband for a high school reunion.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: His eventual response to being bullied by a group of delinquents is to chase them down waving Denholm's old revolver in the air, shouting "I've got a gun! I've got a ruddy gun!!"
* BitchInSheepsClothing: Nice though he may be, he can be incredibly mean-spirited and petty, most frequently to Richmond.
* BlackAndNerdy: He even has a side-parted afro. That said, his blackness is rarely if ever referenced. Incidentally, Richard Ayoade is half Nigerian and half Norwegian.
* BrainyBrunette: Has dark, curly hair and is hands down the smartest character on the show.
* BreakoutCharacter: Easily the most iconic character from the show.
* CharacterDevelopment: Subtly done, but still there.
** Moss begins the series completely oblivious to the fact that his relationship with [[MyBelovedSmother his mother]] is seen as weird by most others. By the end of the series, he shows regular frustration with her intrusiveness and seems to want more independence away from her.
** At first, Moss is unable to pick up the most basic social cues. Come Series 3, he is improvising a staged CockFight with Roy at a party.
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: His brain simply does not work like an ordinary person's.
* CollectorOfTheStrange: Moss collects wires.
* ComicTrio: Generally always plays the dumb follower to either Roy or Jen, but occasionally assumes the role of ignored voice of reason when the other two become too caught up in themselves.
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: He's easily the most capable of the trio, though he's also generally clueless.
* DitzyGenius: An absolute genius in practically all things technological, a complete idiot in everything else.
* GadgeteerGenius: To an almost absurd degree.
* TheGhost: His mother is often mentioned, but never seen or even heard by the audience.
* GoshDangItToHeck: "Mother-flippin'" seems to be reserved for when he's ''really'' mad. When Roy tries to make him to make him say a proper swear word, the worst he can manage is "ploppers".
* HeCleansUpNicely: Even with his ridiculous hairdo, Moss is in much better shape than Roy and can generally look very good when in a nice suit, which is commented on by Jen.
* HeterosexualLifePartners: With Roy, who he claims to be his wife.
* InnocentlyInsensitive: Almost always responds to Jen's problems with blunt answers emphasizing why they're her fault while at the same time genuinely meaning to be helpful. He's like this with Roy too - when Roy's girlfriend buys him a new jacket, Moss asks him if he'll be wearing it all the time now, before declaring "it's the worst thing ever!"
* LastNameBasis: Almost exclusively addressed as Moss rather than Maurice.
* ManChild: He is a man in his thirties who acts and speaks like a 4 year-old most of the time, doesn't swear, still lives with his mother and sobs uncontrollably when confronted by bullies half his age.
* MommasBoy: He still lives with his mother and remains almost disturbingly close to her.
* MoralityPet: Moss is more or less the only person who Roy will consistently act kindly towards, and even that isn't guaranteed.
* MyBelovedSmother: Although he later starts to express an annoyance at her constant intrusions into his life.
* NerdsAreVirgins: He faints at the mere mention of the word "bra", though he's implied to have had a steamy encounter with a beautiful woman attracted to his skill at quiz games. He also might have slept with Jen in the series one finale, but it's never made clear, and the office therapist is smitten with him.
* NerdyNasalness: Moss is a stereotypical nerd (socially awkward, works in IT, loves technology like robots, has almost no fashion sense). He's also very nasally.
* NiceGuy: While he lacks any sort of tact, he's a far nicer guy than either of his friends.
* NiceMeanAndInbetween: The Nice, most of the time.
* NoSocialSkills: To a ridiculous degree. Roy seemed to have been the only person he spoke to besides his mother before Jen showed up.
* SuddenlyAlwaysKnewThat: Occasionally displays extraordinary (like detecting any substance by smell) or out-of-character (mostly, acting cool) skills. Generally hand-waved by him having recently read up on them on a website.
* TheStoic: Beyond raising his voice, he rarely emotes, and his face almost never leaves a completely neutral expression.
* TokenGoodTeammate: Though he's still a huge jerk to Richmond, Moss is far nicer than either Roy or Jen.
* TVGenius: Occasionally builds outrageous inventions out of nowhere.
* WeirdnessMagnet: Moss is usually a bit odd by himself and he has a habit of meeting strange people. Oftentimes, he's just too nice to say no or doesn't recognize the danger.
** He tried a cookery course and ended up befriending a German cannibal (parodying the then-recent Armin Mewes incident).
** He went to a dinner party, wound up with a love-starved woman, and then started treating her as his wife.
** He tried speaking with football terminology and he befriended a gang of bank robbers. Fortunately, Moss left the bank robbers before their first heist and wasn't aware of their activities.
** He took part in [[Series/{{Countdown}} Countdown]] and he ended up in a secret, cult-like society that's way too dedicated to the show.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Roy Trenneman]]
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/royit_7193.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300: The same reason I do everything, Jen; to have sex with a lady.]]
-> '''Portrayed by:''' Creator/ChrisODowd

One of Reynholm Industries' IT Department's two programmers. A bitter, slovenly and unmotivated man who devotes much more time and effort toward finding ways to avoid having to do work than he does actually doing his job. Possesses the mentality of a horny teenager, making him considerably more mature than Moss.
----
* AccidentalPervert: The time he got stuck under a desk between two women. Notable in that it was one of the few times when he ''wasn't'' being a pervert intentionally.
* AllegedlyDateless: Despite his constant complaining about his romantic life, he's had plenty of girlfriends. His standards are just ridiculous.
* AllMenArePerverts: He's willing to spend all of his time with truly despicable and repulsive women so long as he gets to have sex with them.
* AuthorAvatar: Graham Linehan has confirmed that Roy is partially based off of himself.
* BelligerentSexualTension: With Jen, mostly in series 1.
* BrilliantButLazy: His whole work ethic is to do the least amount of work as humanly possible.
* ButtMonkey: Like you wouldn't ''believe''. Roy endures more AmusingInjuries and other such misfortunes than anyone in the whole series. This reaches ridiculous levels in the finale.
* CharacterCatchphrase:
** "Hello, IT, have you tried turning it on and off again?" He even uses it as an answering machine when he can't be bothered to answer the phone.
** In at least the first few episodes, he had a habit of saying the wrong thing and then correcting himself-- "''No, no, that's what I meant!''"
* ChivalrousPervert: Roy does openly lech on women but draws the line on sexual harassment and he won't do anything that breaks their boundaries, as shown by his dislike of Bill Crouse and Douglas Reynholm.
* CloudCuckoolandersMinder: For Moss and Richmond before Jen arrived, since he was the most normal one by comparison. He still occasionally takes on the role in her absence, and still acts as this in the face of Jen's own eccentricities.
* ComicTrio: Alternates between being the clueless leader and the ignored voice of reason.
* DeadpanSnarker: Mostly towards Moss, but Jen gets her share too.
* EveryoneHasStandards: He may be a bit of a perv himself, he's disgusted by sexual harassment and bragging. He disliked Bill Crouse because he kept bragging about his sex life and he dislikes Douglas Reynholm's treatment of women.
* {{Expy}}: He's a considerably more sociable [[Series/BlackBooks Bernard Black]]. Considering both shows are done by the guy who did ''Series/FatherTed'', it can be seen that [[AuthorAppeal Linehan favors having annoyed Irishmen as his leads]].
** Graham Linehan stated in an interview that he initially intended for Roy to ''not'' be Irish, likely in an effort to avert this, but found Chris O'Dowd's performance too perfect to pass up.
* FightingIrish: Roy's Irishness is rarely addressed in plots or even in dialogue, but his habit of yelling and surly aggressiveness arguably fit this trope.
* GadgeteerGenius: Shown on occasion; he's created an answering machine that can have I.T. support conversations and a device that allows him to steal vending machine food.
* GeniusSlob: He's not a genius like Moss is, but he's shown to be genuinely competent at his job when he can be arsed to actually do it.
* HeCleansUpNicely: Looks quite good when he's forced to dress nicely.
* HeterosexualLifePartners: With Moss (if anything, he's the ''husband''). Douglas also seems to think that they're this, though Roy is hardly receptive.
* HiddenDepths: His corner of the office is decorated with items that suggest that he is a fan of underground comics and music, two traits that are otherwise not referenced at any point in the series.
* HollywoodAutism: In the finale, Roy recounts his girlfriend calling him "artistic" in the middle of an argument. This is discussed after he's hung up on [[ItMakesSenseInContext believing that little people can't make coffee]]. Jen deduces that she called him ''autistic'', calling him emotionally colorblind when he uses a cheerfully casual tone of voice when his girlfriend's grandfather dies. His defense is that he wasn't "concentrating." Incidentally, lack of emotional empathy is more a symptom of sociopathy than of autism, the latter of which tends to feature emotional ''hyper''empathy and deficits in ''social'' empathy (i.e. how allistic individuals think and communicate in a given situation).
-->''"Ohhh. Funerals are sad..."''
** He then has to use spices in his eyes to seem appropriately sad... before laughing his hole off at the grandfather's funeral because his side of the family is comprised of little people. He later delivers an impassioned speech about being more sensitive and in touch with his girlfriend's emotions, completely overlooking and ignoring the fact that she's been pepper sprayed and in immense pain (he ''did'' miss the fact that she pepper sprayed herself by mistake, though her body language and tone of voice is easily indicative of pain).
* {{Jerkass}}/JerkWithAHeartOfGold: He's a surly slob who'd much rather slack off and snark than actually do his job. Even when you realize how terrible his job is he still comes off as a massive tool. He perhaps has a (well) HiddenHeartOfGold, as he's occasionally willing to stick his neck out for both Moss and Jen and generally acts genuinely thankful when someone treats him well.
* KavorkaMan: While he's reasonably attractive, Roy is a lazy, slovenly jerk who seems to have no problem attracting beautiful women. Keeping them around on the other hand...
* LargeHam: He's quite adept at going off into long winded rants about incredibly minor things and loves to shout.
* TheLoad: While Jen and Moss have their own faults, Roy lacks any kind of outstanding trait that makes him a clear asset to the group. Jen is (comparatively) good with people, Moss is a bonafide genius and Roy is... from Ireland. This gets brought up and mocked on occasion.
* ManChild: Less so than Moss, Douglas and Richmond though still fully apparent.
* MasterOfNone: Somewhat compensates for not being as socially-capable as Jen or as tech-savvy as Moss by not being quite as socially-inept as Moss or as tech-ignorant as Jen.
* MyFriendsAndZoidberg: Frequently. Douglas describes the IT department as "A talented young go-getter, a genius, and an Irishman."
* NiceMeanAndInBetween: The Mean. Rude, slovenly, cynical and petty.
* NoRespectGuy: Gets stepped on by pretty much everybody.
* NoSocialSkills: Much less so than Moss, though Roy still seems to have little idea of how basic societal conventions work. Despite this though, he's shown several times to be capable of handling social situations surprisingly well when he's prepared for them and has something resembling a social life outside of the IT department.
* OnlySaneMan: Trades off with Jen.
* PlatonicLifePartners: Grows into this with Jen over time. While there are a few hints of romantic chemistry, nothing ever comes of it and they instead share what could be called the most normal friendship on the show.
* ScreamsLikeALittleGirl: His voice rises to an obnoxiously high falsetto whenever anxious, scared or excited.
* TheSlacker: Will avoid work at all costs. While his job is soul-crushing, it's heavily implied that he was always a lazy good for nothing.
* SpannerInTheWorks: [[ShippingTorpedo He has a tendency to ruin Jen's dates,]] like tagging along with Phillip when he invited Jen to a musical, attending Peter's dinner party and pointing out his name sounds like "Pedophile", pointing out a guy Jen was dating looked like a magician, crashing Jen's date with Daniel, etc.
* ThisLoserIsYou: While Moss is a lovable collection of every nerd trope imaginable, the slovenly, deadbeat and angry Roy is a far more accurate portrayal of people who work in IT.
* UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist: While Moss and Jen can also be unsympathetic and Roy can occasionally be quite sympathetic himself, he's generally the biggest jerk of the three and more often than not brings his punishments on himself.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Douglas Reynholm]]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/douglasit3_276.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:256: Pucker up boys. It's hammer time!]]
-> '''Portrayed by:''' Creator/MattBerry

The son of the former head of Reynholm Industries who takes over the company after his father's suicide. A thoroughly corrupt and idiotic man with a flair for theatrics and philandering. Oddly fixated on spending time with the IT Department, causing him to be a frequent source of annoyance to the main trio.
----
* AbhorrentAdmirer: Towards Jen, though considering he's tried to drug her in the past, it's understandable. He also doesn't seem to have any interest in her beyond the fact that she's both a woman and his employee and therefore someone that he believes he should be allowed to have sex with. He can't even consistently remember what her name is.
* AffablyEvil: While he's incredibly corrupt, he's a fairly pleasant guy to be around, though he's quite annoying.
* AllMenArePerverts: Will do absolutely anything to sleep with women.
* AttentionDeficitOohShiny: ''Very'' easily distracted. "Ooooh! A gun!" comes to mind.
* BadBoss: Though he actually seems to like his employees, he's just ridiculously corrupt, insensitive and boorish.
* BenevolentBoss: Sees himself as one of these. Most of his actions are motivated by his attempts at acting like one.
* BewareTheSillyOnes: Heavily implied to have killed his wife at various points across the series.
* CorruptCorporateExecutive: Almost hilariously corrupt in every sense of the word.
* {{Cyborg}}: Gets himself a robot (technically "bionic") hand after his real one gets amputated due to getting an infection from his tattoo that he himself learned how to do. It's strong enough to break glass.
* DepravedBisexual: Tries to rape Moss and Roy after he becomes heavily sedated. His original target was Jen, but he doesn't seem to mind at all.
* TheDitz: He's hands down the dumbest member of the cast, despite holding the most power.
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: He kicks in the doors of a church, screams out "''FATHEEEEEER!!!''", makes a hash out of the proceedings, and hits on Jen while he's at it to show he's a lascivious LargeHam who has little time for niceties.
* HeterosexualLifePartners: Believes himself to be this with Roy. He's not.
* HiddenDepths: Genuinely tells Roy that he admires his bravery and wishes him luck when he misinterprets Roy mistakenly wearing lipstick as being him making a controversial social statement.
* HopelessSuitor: Occasionally acts as one towards Jen, though he doesn't seem to be particularly committed to it.
* IconicSequelCharacter: Becomes a prominent character (and the only addition to the main cast after the original three) to the point where, until the belated release of ''[[SeriesFinale The Internet is Coming]]'', he was the focal character of the final episode. He wasn't introduced until the second series.
* ILoveYouBecauseICantControlYou: Keeps going after Jen, despite her making it clear several times that she has no interest in him, seemingly because he finds her resistance alluring.
* IncomingHam: He (was) the page image! "FFFAAATHEEERRR!"
* InnocentlyInsensitive: Sincerely believes himself to be a beloved BenevolentBoss with a glowing reputation and a great rapport with his employees. He's just so fundamentally corrupt, selfish and bigoted that his attempts at actually ''being'' the person he believes himself to be always result in him furthering his reputation as a BadBoss.
* ItsAllAboutMe: An interesting case. While he genuinely seems to want to show his appreciation for his employees fairly often, these efforts are foiled by his general selfishness and lack of real interest in them. Notably, while he occasionally acts like a HopelessSuitor towards Jen or a wannabe [[HeterosexualLifePartners buddy]] towards Roy, he's so self-involved that he can't be guaranteed to remember either of their names. He's more into the ''idea'' of being close with his workers than actually being close with them.
* {{Jerkass}}: Self-absorbed, corrupt, misogynistic and childish.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: He genuinely seems to consider Moss and Roy to be his friends. When he thinks Roy is wearing lipstick to stand up for what he believes in, Douglas applauds his bravery.
* KavorkaMan: He's had plenty of women despite his awful personality. It helps that he's loaded.
* LargeHam: "GOD ''DAMN'' THESE ELECTRIC SEX PANTS!"
* ManChild: Surprisingly even more so than Moss. If Moss is a coddled MommasBoy, then Douglas is a sheltered SpoiledBrat.
* {{Metaphorgotten}}: "Well, I'm the boss. Head Honcho. El Numero Uno. Mr. Big. Film/TheGodfather. [[Film/TheLordOfTheRings Lord of the Rings]]. [[Film/TheBourneIdentity The Bourne... Identity]]. Er... Film/TaxiDriver. Film/{{Jaws}}. I forgot the question quite a while back. Who are you, again?"
* MoralMyopia: A strange example that seems to be an [[InvertedTrope inversion]] of DoubleStandardRapeFemaleOnMale. He thinks it's perfectly fine to try and make sexual advances on Jen, but seems to be disgusted at her being amused at Roy's sexual assault encounter with a masseur.
* NoIndoorVoice: Shouts nearly every line he has. When he doesn't, [[LargeHam he'll still try to overact as much as possible]].
* NoSocialSkills: Despite being far more successful than the IT department, he's hardly any better at understanding how the world works. He compensates for his lack of understanding of most things by [[NoIndoorVoice being the loudest person in the room at all times]].
* PinkIsErotic: Douglas is shown wearing pink in a few episodes (a t-shirt, a tie, and a dress shirt). He is also obsessed with sex, is openly sexist, and is obsessed with Jen.
* RealMenWearPink: Often sports a pink necktie and kerchief, or exercise spandex...
* SilverSpoonTroublemaker: Douglas's actions and behavior are a stark contrast from his father and tend to get him in more hot water.
* StrawMisogynist: His cartoonishly backwards and inappropriate opinions about women are a frequent source of humor. In-universe, he is a frequent target of criticism by various feminist publications, all of which goes completely over his head (he believed he was given the "Shithead of the Year" award by one such organization as recognition for being a feminist icon, for example).
* TilMurderDoUsPart: Heavily implied to have killed his wife.
* TooDumbToLive: Constantly falling for pyramid schemes, puts a gun in his mouth and fires repeatedly to see if it was loaded, thought a briefcase was a computer, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking considers Roy to be the picture of the trendy modern man]].
* TrrrillingRrrs: "SPEAK, PRRRRIEST!"
* TyrantTakesTheHelm: His father was awful and horrendously corrupt, but at least seemed sort of competent at his job. Douglas is manic, unpredictable, and constantly forces his employees to do things they don't want to do. Despite this, he comes off as much more well-intentioned than Denholm ever did.
* WeCanRebuildHim: Gets his hand amputated after it's infected by the tattoo that he himself learned to make. He gets a robotic replacement that looks exactly like his original hand. It's strong enough to break glass, which he uses for his own amusement.
[[/folder]]

!Recurring Characters
[[folder:Richmond Avenal]]
[[quoteright:180:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/richmondit_3199.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:180: ...I'm not ''wearing'' makeup!]]
-> '''Portrayed by:''' Creator/NoelFielding

A strange and mysterious goth who lives in the basement of Reynholm Industries. While technically a member of the IT Department (if only through proximity), he spends most of his time locked in a secret room due to Moss and Roy's dislike of him. Jen is slightly more tolerant, allowing him to tag along with the main trio on occasion.
----
* AmbiguouslyBi: Has ([[TheImmodestOrgasm seemingly great]]) sex with Jen's friend Jessica in one episode, but also has a subscription to ''Heat'' magazine, which Roy had earlier (correctly) used to prove that Jen's latest crush was gay due to his interest in it, and in the Series 1 finale is [[BedmateReveal heavily implied to have had drunken sex with Denholm]].
* ButtMonkey: More so than Roy, which is ''really'' saying something. How big of a ButtMonkey is he? ''Moss'' actively and openly hates his guts.
* TheBusCameBack: Vanishes from the series for a bit because he has "scurvy", but he returns later.[[note]] In reality, Noel Fielding was too busy with filming Series/TheMightyBoosh at the time.[[/note]]
* CassandraTruth: He delivers a dramatic speech in "The Work Outing" about how going to the play will not end well for any of them, but unfortunately it takes so long and he delivers it with his back to them, meaning they just get fed up and sneak out in the middle of it.
-->"That's just bloody rude."
* ChekhovsSkill: [[spoiler:His background as top executive of Reynholm Industries is what allows the main trio to live comfortably at the top at the end of the series without having to do any work.]]
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: He spends most of his time living in the walls reciting poetry, and apparently has conversations with crows.
* ComicallyMissingThePoint: Pretty much his M.O. to the point where he's rarely very useful. He's a nice guy at least.
* CommutingOnABus: Comes and goes as he pleases, albeit mostly because nobody really cares about him.
* TheEeyore: At times; notably in "The Red Door".
-->''" There's absolutely no point to anything."''
* EmbarrassingMiddleName: Felicity.
* ForgettableCharacter: Roy, Jen and Moss tend to completely forget about his existence for long stretches of time. It's implied that most people do.
* TheFriendNobodyLikes: Moss and Roy hate him, while the more patient Jen clearly doesn't care much about him and frequently forgets he exists. The crew seems more pleasant towards him later on, especially Roy, but he clearly is a low priority to them. [[spoiler: Their friendship is still strong enough that he helps the trio head to the top of the company in the series finale.]]
* GeniusDitz: The former top executive of Reynholm Industries despite his incredible spaciness. Then again, considering what we see of the upper management...
* {{Guyliner}}: He's a walking goth stereotype, after all.
* HeCleansUpNicely: Inverted. He's naturally a very attractive guy, but his makeup and clothing make him look like a creep.
* HiddenDepths:
** He was the former second-in-command of Reynholm Industries, with all of the business savvy that title suggests.
** He's great in bed, if TheStinger for Dinner Part is of any indication:
--->'''Jess:''' Oh! Look at me! "Having an orgasm!"
* TheLoad: Never very useful, not like the others give him much of a chance to be.
* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: It's occasionally hinted that he may actually have become some kind of supernatural vampire-like being through sheer force of moping.
* MisunderstoodLonerWithAHeartOfGold: Though he is ''very'' weird.
* NiceGuy: Even more so than Moss, he's a very kind and supportive friend.
* NoRespectGuy: Garners even less respect than Roy.
* NoSocialSkills: Just as bad as Moss in this regard.
* PerkyGoth: He's actually a very nice guy, he just has a terrible habit of talking incessantly about Music/CradleOfFilth (not a ''real'' one — that would be horrible!) and depressing everyone around him. Generally, most of his humor is derived from his image as a creepy goth being contrasted by his almost outrageously polite and inoffensive interests.
* SixthRanger: Only sometimes tags along and is otherwise ignored.
* SophisticatedAsHell: Tells Jen he only drinks absinthe, but happily accepts when she offers him Carlsberg instead.
* TokenGoodTeammate: Even more than Moss. He's the most selfless character on the show by far, but this rarely ever does him much good due to his tendency to get totally ignored.
* WallCrawl: He's capable of scaling a wall in seconds with relative ease. It may have something to with all the time he spends trapped inside them.
* WhatExactlyIsHisJob: He just sort of hangs out in the walls.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Denholm Reynholm]]
[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/denholm.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:200: I hope it doesn't sound arrogant when I say that I am the greatest man in the world.]]
-> '''Portrayed by:''' Creator/ChrisMorris

Douglas' late father and the original head of Reynholm Industries. Compensated for being slightly more competent than his son by being an even bigger tool. Commits suicide in the series two premiere in order to escape retribution for his corrupt business dealings.
----
* AffablyEvil: Seems kind enough to his employess but gives off the vibe that he considers himself superior to them, and has been draining money from the pension for quite some time. It's implied he went to Hell, as he briskly pushes Hitler out of view when trying to beckon Douglas to the other side.
* BadBoss: Fires the entire fourth floor and current security team because they couldn't work as a team.
* BewareTheSillyOnes: His video message to Douglas, meant to be viewed in private, begins rattling off a startlingly specific and corrupt method to drain money from his company. When Douglas is dying, he sees Denholm waiting for him at what he says is Heaven... then pushes Hitler out of the frame to convince Douglas to come to him.
* BrokenRecord: "Are you sure? Are you sure? Are you sure?"
* {{Catchphrase}}: Has a tendency to say "brilliant!" in the same tone of voice quite a bit.
* CloudCuckoolander: The opening shot of the series is an image of him, which the camera pulls back to reveal is a portrait of himself, while he is doing the same pose in real life. Also laughs at cups of tea, wears earplugs for no reason, and eats an apple for the majority of his video will.
* CorruptCorporateExecutive: Has had a "suck fund" taking money from the company, set up by an accountant who'd recently been released from prison.
* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: Has a habit of reusing the same words and phrases in a single sentence, making him sound like he's rambling and forgotten what he meant to say. Even he looks confused by it on one occasion.
* DrivenToSuicide: When the authorities arrive to inquire about irregularities in the pension, he calmly commits a...
* DisneyVillainDeath: Asks his assistant to make him a cup of tea, then calmly walks out of the window, plummeting to his death.
* HairTriggerTemper: Immediately calls off his revived friendship with Richmond after the latter calls him by his first name (which he'd invited Richmond to do), re-sentencing him to his position in the basement and calls him a goblin.
* HiddenDepths: In the final episode of the first series, we see him quickly abandon the crowd he's with in favor of dancing with the I.T. workers, which he continues to do all night. Douglas tells the crew that his father was especially proud of his I.T. department.
* JerkassHasAPoint: As forcibly as he enforces the ideals, it is important for coworkers to be able to work together as a team, and stress can cause problems in the workplace if it's not relieved properly.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: He treats his I.T. employees with dignity and remembers their names, leaves his company to his estranged son, giving him advice on how to get rich off of stealing money from it, and is even shown being genuinely friendly with Richmond in flashbacks.
* LargeHam: Though not quite to the same degree as his son, Denholm was still a very theatrical and eccentric man.
* PointyHairedBoss: Unpredictable and frightening to his employees.
* PosthumousCharacter: He occasionally factors into plots even after his death, and even occasionally reappears in the form of various video wills (and Douglas' brief visit to the afterlife).
* SelfDisposingVillain: Kills himself in the second season to avoid arrest siphoning money from his company.
[[/folder]]

!Other Characters
[[folder:Victoria Reynholm]]
->Portrayed by Belinda Stewart-Wilson

* CloudCuckoolander: Almost as much of one as Douglas. She randomly gets interested in other people’s desserts, and when she’s having lunch with Jen in Heston Blumenthal’s restaurant, she ''eats a knife''.
-->'''Jen:''' ''[picking up a knife''] I didn’t know these were edible too.
-->'''Victoria:''' They’re not.
[[/folder]]