open/close all folders
Main
David
David Brent
"Some people are intimidated when talking to large numbers of people in an entertaining way. Not me."
Played By: Ricky Gervais
The incompetent General Manager of the Slough offices of Wernham-Hogg. He fancies himself a popular jack-of-all-trades, when in reality he is a needy, lonely and selfish man.
- Abhorrent Admirer: To his new secretary, highlights include accidentally giving her a black eye by kicking a football at her and drunkenly babbling that she'll "come to love him" at Chasers.
- Accidental Hero: He becomes a hero when he saves a number of redundancies at the Slough branch by not taking a promotion. But it was only by accident - it turned out he wanted the promotion but was ultimately not offered it because he failed the medical due to high blood pressure. He takes the credit anyway.
- Age Insecurity: David is vague about his age. When anyone asks, he says "I'm thirties". In the second series, Trudy quips "Born in the thirties, you mean".
- Ain't Too Proud to Beg: Begs for his job at the end of Season 2.
- The Alcoholic: Drinking seems to be his solution to everything. It's implied he's insecure about it when Dawn jokes that he drinks, "every lunchtime", as well.
- The Alleged Boss: A mixture of types 1 and 2 - he wants to be everyone's friend, and is not particularly good at managing people. He also undermines his own authority when he publicly threatens to take disciplinary action against whoever played that prank which involved superimposing his head on a pornographic image and emailing it to everyone (even the cleaner!) only to back down when the perpetrator is revealed to be Chris Finch.
- Attention Whore: Watch him seethe whenever anyone is getting more attention than him, especially Neil.
- Bad Boss: Despite trying to act like A Father to His Men, he's more than willing to sell his employees out to help himself get a promotion. He also hires someone despite knowing that he's not qualified for the position in question, and hires someone else to be his secretary, despite having been told that he can't do that as there isn't a budget for it; the latter actually leaves another job as a result, only to end up being made redundant.
- Benevolent Boss: He thinks he is, but he's really The Alleged Boss. He goes into Bad Boss territory when he accepts a promotion knowing it will mean most of the staff losing their jobs (although he later saves their jobs when he fails the medical).
- Casanova Wannabe: He's a middle-aged, short, pug-nosed, charmless, fat, tragic man, who women (including Trudy) avoid like the plague. Until the finale. Although Life on the Road shows even that didn't last.
- The Cameo: Appears in the cold opening for a Season 7 episode of the American Office where he briefly meets Michael Scott (and they naturally click).
- Cannot Tell a Joke: Not that it stops him trying. And trying.
- Character Tics: Adjusting his tie.
- Covert Pervert: Jennifer catches him checking out her legs just as Finchy makes a comment over the phone about his wandering eyes.
- Deadpan Snarker: He has his moments where he's actually witty whenever he's just being himself instead of performing for the camera.
- Deconstructed Character Archetype: The bulk of the series paints him as a Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist, yet the Series 2 finale and ensuing Christmas specials reveal that he's actually a very lonely and frustrated man.
- Digging Yourself Deeper: Whenever he tries to get out of making an off-color comment, he just says something even more offensive.
- Dreadful Musician: Zigzagged. His guitar playing is actually pretty good but his lyrics make the songs cringe-worthy.
- Dirty Coward:
- It's strongly implied his mateyness towards Finch is out of pure fear. Although he subverts it in the Series Finale where his date is concerned.
- Will ruthlessly sell employees out to save his arse financially, only to beg for his job when Jennifer and Neil sack him.
- Somewhat subverted in the season one finale, where he actually has the balls to fire Alex. Alex accuses him of "passing the buck". While it is true that Alex should never have been hired in the first place due to his not being qualified for the job, his firing id still one of the few times we actually see David Brent acting as a manager should.
- Don't Explain the Joke: One of the reasons he fails so consistently at telling jokes is that when he notices nobody is laughing he feels the need to explain what the joke was about. Because obviously the joke was a gut-buster so they must just not understand it and it's totally nothing to do with being a bad joke or terrible delivery or attempting to joke at entirely inappropriate times or anything like that.
- He ruins the Twenty Questions joke by telegraphing the punchline early in the telling.
- Establishing Character Moment: In the first episode where he jokes about firing Dawn for stealing Post-it notes, he continues even after Dawn bursts into tears.
- Everyone Has Standards: Even 'he' finds Ben's "Wouldn't mind escaping up her tunnel", joke about Donna to be creepily inappropiate telling him to, "Get out".
- Everything Is Racist: Parodied, with a strong dose of Hypocritical Humour, in the very first episode. David introduces Ricky the temp to Sanj:David: This guy does the best Ali G impersonation. 'Ay!' (laughs) I can't do it... Do it.Sanj: I...David: Go on.Sanj: I don't, I...David: Oh, sorry, no, it's not you. It's the other one.Sanj: The other ... the other what?David: Erm...Sanj: (smiling) "Paki"? (laughs slightly)David: Ah. That's racist. (wags a disapproving finger at Sanj and walks off)
- Fat Bastard: He tries unconvincingly to suck in his beer gut when Jude walks in after the motivational speech when changing shirts.
- Four-Temperament Ensemble: Sanguine - Tries to be an entertainer and is very irresponsible.
- Friendless Background: He doesn't seem to have any friends. He considers Finchy his 'best friend' but Finchy sees him more as a lackey and a target for his jokes. Ironically, he treats Gareth very similarly to how Finch treats him.
- Get Out!: Says so during his attempt at reverse pyschology during the motivational speech.
- Humiliation Conga: In the final few episodes he 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 degrading personal appearances in grubby night clubs. Finally he gets banned from the office and the Christmas dinner. He can't even persuade anyone except Tim to come out for a drink with him.
- Hidden Depths: He's a decent guitar player, even if his song lyrics are naff.
- Hypocrite: He has no problem mocking Malcolm's bald-patch only to get heat up about the Mr. Toad comments.
- I Just Want to Be Loved: The reason he's an Attention Whore.
- Jerkass: He 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. He's generally crass, insensitive and selfish, Season 2 just highlights this even more painfully.
- Jerkass Has a Point:
- Lack of professionalism aside, he does have a point about Neil sort of 'marking his territory' when he plays games in the main Wernham Hogg office despite telling Dave not to. The Jerkass part is that Brent is even worse when it comes to this and that it altogether comes down to resenting the fact that Neil just so happens to be 'better' at showing off than David.
- Earlier, when he's still slated to take over Jennifer's job — letting his branch be folded into Swindon's in return for an excellent personal promotion — his response to whether he feels he's let his team down is that any one of them would do exactly the same thing in his shoes. Considering the apathy and disinterest in the office, he's probably not far off the mark.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: When Chris makes a disparaging wisecrack about David's date, David decides that he's having none of it.
- Job Mindset Inertia: Implied. He might be an abysmal boss, but he's said to have been a good salesman, has awards to show for his past achievements, and his superiors apparently saw enough merit in him to offer him a promotion over the much more professional Neil (voting 5-2 in his favour, much to Brent's astonishment and insufferable pride). In the Christmas specials, we see that the same sort of behaviour which made him a woefully unfit boss actually serves him quite well in the sales arena.
- Kick the Dog:
- He reduced Dawn to tears when he pretends to fire her in the first episode.
- He viciously insults Trudy when she touches a nerve about his age, making fun of her weight and calling her "an embarrassment". On her birthday.
- Know-Nothing Know-It-All: He thinks he's a brilliant manager, but it's clear that neither his bosses or employees have any respect for him.
- Laughing Mad: He doesn't think it's a sign of insanity but when he laughs during his motivational speech in an attempt to get the audience to join in, it does come across as this trope especially as he starts with a fake laugh and the laughter completely takes him hostage as he continues.
- Manchild: 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 or Jennifer the way a petulant schoolboy would.
- My God, What Have I Done?: He does this after making Dawn cry when he tells her he's going to fire her. She angrily calls him a "sad little man", and David, who usually will clumsily defend himself when criticised, can only sadly say, "Am I?"
- The Nicknamer: He has a habit of giving often insulting nicknames to people. He calls Malcolm, a bald older employee, "Kojak". But he doesn't take it well when he finds out the staff have nicknamed him "Bluto" and "Mr Toad".
- No Social Skills: He's not nearly as witty as he thinks he is, and his attempts at being funny tend to be crushingly embarrassing. Elsewhere, he gives Dawn a serious dose of Too Much Information when he confides to her after a bathroom break that he'd just been checking his testicles for lumps.
- Old Maid: A Rare Male Example. David is very insecure about his age, insisting he's "in his 30s" and when Trudy points out he's nearly forty and has let himself go a bit, he lashes out at her and calls her "an embarrassment".
- Pet the Dog:
- He sticks up for Gareth when Donna insults him during the end of "New Girl".
- He also seems to feel genuinely bad when he makes Gareth (of all people) cry.
- He appears genuinely happy in Christmas Special part 2 to see Dawn and Tim leave the office as a couple.
- The Peter Principle: He 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.
- Pointy-Haired Boss: He doesn't sack Chris over the porno prank, hires a secretary even when his branch needs to cut back and he forgets to pay his staff.
- Right for the Wrong Reasons: His overt political correctness is usually either a desperate attempt to look progressive or downright offensive in and of itself, but there are two cases were (by happenstance more than conviction) he happens to probably be in the right:
- He sends Ben out for making jokes about "escaping up" Donna's "tunnel"- obviously not appropriate work comments.
- He calls Philip a racist for condemning Nelson Mandela's attacks on public property - anyone who thinks empty post offices are more important that the basic human rights of black people most likely has racist sympathies.
- Small Name, Big Ego: Is deluded about his banter, managerial skills and how young he looks.
- Sucks at Dancing: David, with his cringe-makingly memorable attempt at sexy dance moves at an office party, which boil down to spasmodic and random windmill arm movements, grunting his own tune, and gyrating.
- The Thing That Would Not Leave: Becomes this in the Christmas Special, when he regularly turns up at the office several years after being fired.
- Unreliable Narrator: He considers himself a victim of this in the Christmas Special, in a drunken rant with his date where he claims the documentary makers "stitched him up" by editing together a cut of the show that deliberately emphasised the bits of his personality and life that make him look like a complete tool and downplaying his redeeming qualities. Interestingly, the Christmas Special ended up making him look a bit better.
- Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist: Until the finale and a Deconstructed Character Archetype at that. He appears to be your typical, alpha-male wannabe who thinks he's cooler than he is but he's actually a lonely and frustrated man who just doesn't know how to connect with anyone.
- Verbal Tic: Especially during interviews, "....yeah?". He also says "fact", a lot to emphasis a point. He also says, "guilty", and "just a bit", when responding to questions.
- White Man's Burden: Sees himself as more enlightened than the average Englishman and makes sure everyone notices how politically correct he is.
- Wrong Genre Savvy: He thinks he's in a TV show about an effortlessly cool boss who everyone loves, and that he's the boss in question. He's right about the "being in a TV show" bit at least.
In Life on the Road
- Afraid of Blood: He faints at the sight of it.
- Afraid of Needles: He ends up getting very squeamish when he tries to get a tattoo.
- Cannot Talk to Women: Zigzagged. While Brent is comfortable around a few of his female co-workers, he gets very anxious around women he's attempting to pick up.
- Casanova Wannabe: Tries to pick up two average looking middle-aged women who are only after his minibar, not the man himself. He deeply resents his bandmates for being able to hook up with women whilst he doesn't.
- Cerebus Retcon: In Life On The Road, Brent admits that he had a nervous breakdown when he was made redundant, went into rehab and has been in therapy ever since. It's also implied that he may suffer from bipolar disorder.
- Character Development: Even more so than in the Christmas Special. Brent learns to accept that he may never be famous and manages to find contentment with his lot in life.
- Embarrassing Tattoo: Due to backing out of a tattoo halfway through getting one, Brent now has the word "Berk" tattooed on his arm (he had wanted it to say "Berkshire", that being the county he is from).
- The Friend Nobody Likes: His new band barely tolerate his presence, with their only interactions being rehearsals and performances. It gets to the point where Brent has to bribe them to come out for a drink with him.
- Innocently Insensitive: Brent's attempts to show his social consciousness only come off as even more offensive, especially during the songs, "Native American", and "Don't Make Fun of the Disableds".
- The Gambling Addict: His solution to any setbacks in his tour is to spend more money.
- Never Grew Up: Lampshaded. He revived his old band, but due to his bandmates all moving on with their lives, Brent has recruited a bunch of 20-somethings. The age difference is glaring.
- N-Word Privileges: He drunkenly called Dom "his nigger" when walking to his hotel room, which Dom tried several times in vain to discourage him from saying.
- Sunk Cost Fallacy: When the band's tour doesn't profit as well as he'd hoped, Brent just takes more and more money from his pension to cover it. His sound engineer finally tells him to just cut his losses and keep things simple.
- Too Dumb to Live: Keeps spending money on the tour and calls Dom the N word on camera.
- Token Black Friend: Dom is reluctantly a black friend to Brent, to the point where his first appearance is so that Brent can convince his HR manager that he's not racist.
- The Team Benefactor: Funds his own band and tour, at great expense to himself.
Tim
Tim Canterbury
"I don't talk about my love life for a very good reason, and that reason is I don't have one."
Played By: Martin Freeman
A witty sales rep at Wernham-Hogg. He's in love with Dawn and, like her, feels he's wasting his life at Wernham-Hogg.
- Anguished Declaration of Love: In the Series 2 finale, he admits his feelings to Dawn, although it is silent due to him turning off his mike. She seems to turn him down but gives a consoling hug.
- Audience Surrogate: His role is partly this. He's not quite the Only Sane Man, but he is the one we're supposed to identify with.
- Berserk Button: Downplayed, but disrepecting Dawn seems to be his. He looks visibly angry when Lee makes crude remarks about her to the warehouse lads and he begins being more snarky towards Finchy when he does the same, when previously he was ignoring him.
- Blatant Lies: "If there's one thing I'm not, it's immature."
- A Birthday, Not a Break: He's working on his thirtieth birthday. While most Britons work on their birthday rather than use up a day's holiday, Tim's gets completely ruined at the Pub Quiz when Finchy decides to steal his shoes and throw them over the roof of the office building after Tim and Ricky beat his team; referee Gareth then accedes to Finchy's demand to be awarded victory in the quiz for the shoe-throwing feat.
- Brilliant, but Lazy: Well, not so much lazy as just too pessimistic to push himself.
- Deadpan Snarker: "...and I'm boring myself just talking about it."
- Earn Your Happy Ending: Dawn ultimately chooses to be with him and break up with Lee, and is on his way to finding a more fulfilling career.
- Four-Temperament Ensemble: Phlegmatic - Lazy with is work and laid back.
- Hidden Heart of Gold: When David is made redundant and Tim is offered his job, Tim suggests they give it to Gareth instead, then lists all of Gareth's good qualities, showing that Tim does see him as more than a nuisance.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: He recommends Gareth for a promotion to Neil instead of taking it himself, and Gareth subsequently becomes twice as obnoxious.
- Insistent Terminology: Tim keeps trying to insist he did not ask Dawn out, he only meant it as a friend. Unfortunately for him, nobody buys it.
- Nice Guy: Although immature, he's more laid back and genuinely friendly than Gareth or David Brent. Probably why Dawn and Tim end up hooking up in the finale.
- The Gadfly: Mainly to Gareth.
- The Prankster: Typically they involve doing something elaborate to Gareth's belongings. One time he was able to hide all of them at once - including his chair and computer - which baffled Gareth.
- Sad Clown: Tim has a brilliant sense of humour, but hates himself for being too shy and unambitious to do anything remarkable with his life.
- Sweet and Sour Grapes: Dawn comes around to Tim after he seems to have given up at the end of the Christmas special.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: His pranks on Gareth in Season 2 would border on bullying if this wasn't a cringe comedy show.
- What You Are in the Dark: Declines a very generous promotion to manager and encourages Neil to give it to Gareth instead; Gareth never learns of this act of selflessness. This is especially meaningful as Tim had only recently iced his own dreams and resolved to pursue stable progression in the company.
- Will They or Won't They?: With Dawn. They do.
Gareth
Gareth Keenan
"I'm not homophobic, all right? Come round, look at my CDs. You'll see Queen, George Michael, Pet Shop Boys. They're all bummers."
Played By: Mackenzie Crook
The power-hungry 'team leader' and ambitious Number Two to Brent. Delusional and pretentious, he often acts as Tim's nemesis.
- Ambiguously Bi: After making a big show of not being up for a threesome containing another guy, he ends up going home with a (presumably married) couple he met at Chasers (granted, the man might have just wanted to watch his wife having sex with another man, but still). He also mentions having a magazine containing a picture of a penis...
- Asshole Victim: No one can say he doesn't deserve to be on the wrong end of Tim's pranks.
- Butt-Monkey: The butt of Tim, Dawn and Rachel's pranks. Not that he doesn't deserve it due to his attitude.
- Casanova Wannabe: Brags about having loads of office romances. Any time we see him flirt with a female co-worker, this statement becomes a little less convincing. Although he's quite the Kavorka Man in clubs due to the different environment.
- Control Freak: Regularly tries to maintain order in the office, but just comes across as a buzzkill.
- The Comically Serious: Takes himself, his masculinity and his position (both at work and in the Territorial Army) extremely seriously, enough so that Tim and Dawn make it a habit of tricking him into admitting doing gay stuff by disguising it as questions about his military service.
- Creepy Shadowed Undereyes: He's got prominent dark circles under his eyes, and is a bit of a creep.
- Did I Mention I Am Heterosexual Today: He keeps insisting he has had sex with plenty of women, but doesn't get together with anyone in-series because he doesn't like "sloppy seconds" (ie. dating a woman who has previously dated someone he knows). Needless to say, women don't seem to find this attitude likeable.
- Does Not Like Spam: He hates jelly, because he "doesn't trust the way it moves". Naturally, this leads Tim to encase his stapler in some jelly as a prank.
- Establishing Character Moment: The first thing we see him do is whack Tim across the back of the head with a newspaper and shout "Wazzup!" right in his ear. Gareth then follows this up with a series of unfunny jokes, establishing himself as the most annoying person in the office.
- Four-Temperament Ensemble: Choleric - Only without the charisma
- Hopeless Suitor: To Rachel. It's a mark of his self delusion that he can't understand why a girl like her would prefer Tim.
- Hypocrite: He's not wrong when he comments that the staff never respected David, though he completely misses that they barely respect him either.
- Insistent Terminology: He constantly refers to himself as the Assistant Regional Manager, in spite of David making it clear that he's actually the "assistant to the Regional Manager" (making him effectively a glorified secretary).
- I Resemble That Remark!: Gareth's reaction when Tim compares his "team leader" title to a school kid being made milk monitor.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Gareth obviously has no chance with Rachel and is clearly jealous, but he isn't wrong when he complains that Tim already made a fool out of himself when he confessed his feelings to Dawn and he should probably be a bit warier about jumping into another office romance.
- Kavorka Man: Despite his goofy looks and awkward personality Gareth does get with women, albeit the kind he meets at clubs. The very pretty girl with dreads he hooks up with at the end of the first season is acknowledged by several characters to be way out of his league.
- Lean and Mean: More lean than mean, but he has his moments.
- No Social Skills: He's terrible at flirting with women in the office and doesn't notice when Tim is tricking him into admitting to doing gay stuff while talking about the military.
- Number Two: To David, which he never fails to mention.
- Pet the Dog: He tries to get David a date in the Christmas Special by introducing him to online dating.
- The Starscream: 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 — he acknowledges that David was unprofessional, and purposely embarrasses him in the Christmas special, though given how undermining David was to Gareth, it's hard to say he doesn't deserve it.
- Tyrant Takes the Helm: Played for Laughs, then subverted. When talking to Tim after being told that he's going to be the new manager (not knowing that Tim had actually recommended Gareth for the position after turning it down himself), he implies that he's going to become a Mean Boss — but nothing comes of it. He turns out to be a more by-the-book manager than David was, and actually comes across as being reasonably competent, albeit in a slightly awkward and pedantic way.
- You Are in Command Now: Becomes the new manager after David is fired, and does a surprisingly decent job of it.
Dawn
Dawn Tinsley
"I'd be lying if I said my life had turned out exactly as I'd expected."
Played By: Lucy Davis
The Wernham-Hogg receptionist, she's in love with Tim but is trapped in an unhappy engagement.
- Beleaguered Assistant: To David, she's the one he turns to when he's feeling down, gives him his mail and he treats her like a glorified secretary.
- Betty and Veronica: She's the Archie to Lee's Veronica and Tim's Betty. In the second series, she's the Betty to Tim's Archie and Rachel's Veronica.
- Broken Bird: She feels incredibly unsatisfied with her life, but has resigned herself to it.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: Ultimately chooses to be with Tim, who's supportive of her dream of being an artist.
- Extreme Doormat: She rarely ever stands up for herself, whether that's David putting ridiculous demands on her like expecting her to act like his assistant when he's chosen to be a motivational speaker, continues to put up with Lee's shoddy treatment of her and ends up being a glorified babysitter when she moved to America to live with Lee's sister. Fortunately she finally decides to put her own needs first in the series finale.
- Four-Temperament Ensemble: Melancholic - She's miserable in her relationship with Lee.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Towards Rachel when she and Tim start dating each other, though she's never mean or rude to Rachel herself.
- Meaningful Name: Dawn is a ray of sunshine in Tim's otherwise boring life.
- Sexy Secretary: Not overt, though quite a lot of people seem enthusiastic to kiss her during Red Nose Day. David Brent is implied to have feelings for her as well.
- What Does She See in Him?: Why she sticks with Lee is anyone's guess, though a lot of it may have to with feeling resigned to her lot with him.
- Will They or Won't They?: With Tim. They do.
Recurring
Jennifer
Jennifer Taylor-Clarke
Played By: Stirling Gallacher
Brent's immediate superior in Series One, nicknamed Camilla Parker Bowles by him, is a serious-minded professional, and Brent's behaviour and comedy-driven style of management are shown to be puerile and ineffectual by contrast.
- Benevolent Boss: Extremely patient with David and his incompetent behaviour; he appears to be trying her patience in the first series, and at the end of the second, she and Neil only fire him when he (more or less) dares them to.
- Closer to Earth: When it comes to racial and social issues when she tells off David for telling racist jokes about a black man's cock.
- Consummate Professional: A serious-minded boss, especially when compared to David. Unlike David (who seems unable to tell one Asian employee from the other), she makes a point of remembering the employees' names despite being senior management, which is why David's lie about firing a non-existent employee gets exposed.
- Demoted to Extra: She only has a single non-speaking appearance during the Christmas specials. Though she and Brent do seem to be more amicable in their brief interaction.
- Leg Focus: Finchy doesn't even need to be in the same room to know when Brent's checking out her legs.
- Straight Man: Devoid of any quirks.
Finch
Chris "Finchy" Finch
Played By: Ralph Ineson
An external sales representative, he is probably the only character in the series who is genuinely mean and nasty. He is brashly confident, openly sexist, rasping-voiced with a natural flair for bullying others with swift, humiliating putdowns, Brent being his usual target. David describes him as his "best friend" but actually acts more like a lackey, laughing at his jokes and attempting to impress him to feel popular.
- The Alcoholic: Not as much as David but he does go to Chasers an awful lot.
- The Big Guy: At 6'3", he towers over almost anyone.
- The Bully: He insults anyone he can. Frequent targets are women, the educated and David.
- Competition Freak: He's very competitive and a bad loser if his actions at the pub quiz are anything to go by.
- Deadpan Snarker: Deconstructed Character Archetype: His snarkiness earns him no friends except David who laughs with his dirty jokes even though he doesn't get them.
- Evil Is Petty: Losing a pub quiz is a big deal to him.
- Evil Sounds Raspy: He has an aggressively northern, raspy voice which crosses with Evil Sounds Deep.
- The Friend Nobody Likes: Everyone, probably dislikes him but he doesn't seem too bothered unlike David.
- The Gadfly: Gervais summed him up as this:Finch is a bully, he's one of those people who comes into a room and takes the piss out of someone else, and you laugh, but really you know it's your turn next.
- Hate Sink: He's the single most detestable character in the whole series — a sexist, obnoxious, mean-spirited bully. Ricky Gervais has said that he's one of two characters we're not meant to like (Neil is the other one).
- Informed Ability: Said to be "bloody good" at his job, although as he doesn't work in the Slough office we never see him actually doing any work. More pertinently, Brent builds him up as a wonderfully charming wag who is constantly coming up with terribly witty remarks and rapid-fire repartee. When he turns up, he's quickly revealed to be a nasty, sexist bully.
- Jerkass: He's rude and really mean to pretty much anyone who isn't Neil.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Nasty as he is, he's probably right that David Brent couldn't pull anyone like The Corrs, given that not even Trudy would kiss him.
- Jerk Jock: Drunkenly brags about his ability to throw things after getting beat at Trivia Night and is a tall, confident bully.
- Karma Houdini: His prank on David — superimposing his head on a pornographic image and emailing it to the whole company — goes unpunished. As do his derogatory remarks about Jennifer which she hears (by way of a voicemail on David's phone that he lets play in front of her) but seemingly does nothing about.
- Kavorka Man: More repulsive in the personality sense but on-screen he's scored with Lorna and Trudy, possibly due to the confidence thing and being 6'3". Although his other conquests are implied to be exaggerated.
- Kick the Dog:
- Makes unprovoked sexist comments to Dawn.
- Humiliates David on camera just because they lost the quiz.
- Calls David's date a dog despite evidence to the contrary.
- Inferiority Superiority Complex: He's just an insecure as David Brent when it comes to losing the pub quiz, acting like a Spoiled Brat when he doesn't get his way.
- Oop North: He's from Yorkshire and supports Leeds United.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: Very sexist and makes some homophobic jabs too, particularly at David's expense.
- Shutting Up Now: Usually an unstoppable snark machine, Chris goes too far when he makes an unpleasant remark in the Christmas special about David's date, and David's response causes Chris to resort to this.
- Sore Loser: He is filled with indignant fury when he and David Brent come in second place to Tim and Ricky at the annual company Quiz Night since they have previously been winners for several years running. After the quiz ends and everyone is gathered around the pub, Finch says he can beat Tim and Ricky at 'loads of things'. He suggests a throwing contest, in which the winning team must pick something for Finch to throw over the Wernham Hogg building. If Finch does so successfully, Finch and Brent will be declared the "real winners" of the quiz. Even though Tim and Ricky do not agree to the challenge, he nevertheless goes ahead with it anyway and successfully throws one of Tim's shoes over the building, at which point he and Brent take Tim and Ricky's prize (a bottle of champagne) and relish their victory obnoxiously, with Finch telling Ricky to "respect [their] elders," and "do not fuck with the big boys."
- Toxic Friend Influence: He brings out the worst in David and Neil. David eventually grows sick of his attitude while Neil knowingly sets Finch up for jokes he knows will be insulting.
- Villainous Breakdown: As mentioned under Sore Loser, after losing the pub quiz he becomes outright nasty.
Lee
Lee
Played By: Joel Beckett
Dawn's fiancé who works in the company's warehouse. She met him in school and they have been together ever since. Whilst not mean, Lee is somewhat dull, humourless and casually critical of her ideas of being an illustrator. His idea of an amorous proposal was a four-word notice in the newspaper — "Lee love Dawn. Marriage?". It is clear from an early stage that she stays with him out of a fear of loneliness rather than real love. Lee is laid-back, loyal, and also more physically imposing than Canterbury, that is the reason Tim finds him intimidating. Lee has a somewhat violent temper, which is shown when he holds Canterbury against a wall, simply for starting to dance with Dawn.
- Bastard Boyfriend: A quintessential example. Inconsiderate and possessive without a romantic bone in his body.
- Crazy Jealous Guy: Very possessive of Dawn.
- Disposable Fiancé: Finally (and mercifully).
- Hair-Trigger Temper: He 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.
- Hate Sink: He's a terrible boyfriend. He gropes Dawn in front of their co-workers, makes her leave her entire life behind so they can live off his sister in America with no real improvement to their situation and proudly tells the crew that he never buys Dawn a Christmas present because he reckons the whole thing is a con.
- Jerk Jock: More understated than Finch however.
- Kick the Dog: The second series confirms that he's not a good person by showing him manhandle Tim in a moment of paranoia, then grope Dawn in front of his mates. He also tells Dawn she might as well give up her hopes of being an illustrator because she's not good enough to be one.
- Wacky Marriage Proposal: Not so much 'wacky' as 'coldly pragmatic' and 'cheap'. He placed an advert in the newspaper for Dawn, but as he was paying by the word, the proposal was phrased as "Lee love Dawn. Marriage?"
Keith
Keith "Big Keith" Bishop
Played By: Ewan Macintosh
A large, stoical accounts rep.
- Ascended Extra: Gervais and Merchant liked the deadpan persona that Ewan MacIntosh created, so they gave him more lines and used him as Mr. Exposition.
- The Big Guy: Which the almost as fat David Brent never fails to notice.
- Captain Obvious: His interactions with the other staff are essentially just him saying exactly what they're thinking without realising it.
- Dull Surprise: Ewan Macintosh's deadpan delivery of every line is why they made more use of his character throughout the show.
- Hidden Depths: His music career aspirations.
- Kavorka Man: He claims to have no problems getting the ladies and he is actually seen dancing with one of the women in the office at the Christmas Party. Trudy also let him kiss her.
- Nice Guy: He's very inexpressive and very socially awkward, but for the most part he seems to get along well with his colleagues. Notably, unlike Brent or Gareth, when Keith says something tone-deaf nobody gets annoyed because they know he doesn't mean anything by it and he generally tries to give well-meaning if blunt advice, especially to Tim.
- Overly Long Gag: "What're the options?" "Not at all, To some extent, Very much so, Don't know""...dunno."
- Shipper on Deck: For Tim/Dawn - he gives Tim a (for Keith) pep-talk in the Christmas Special about how Dawn coming back for the Christmas Party is probably his last chance with her.
- The Stoic: Shows absolutely no emotion, even when David outright mocks his size to his face.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Scotch Eggs.
Neil
Neil Godwin
Played By: Patrick Baladi
Brent's counterpart at the Swindon branch, and later his immediate superior. He is young, handsome, charming, professional and energetic, a more competent manager than Brent, and has a better relationship with staff. Brent is hugely resentful and jealous of him, and makes occasional, often childish attempts to either undermine or rival him. He grows increasingly exasperated with Brent's incompetence, poor judgement, and failure to do his job properly.
- The Ace: Neil is successful at everything he puts his hand to.
- Always Someone Better: To David. Although the latter would never admit it, Neil enjoys the social and professional success that Brent craves.
- Benevolent Boss: Although more of a downplayed example than Jennifer, he does appear to look out for his employees' welfare as he is seen to be genuinely surprised when he finds out that David somehow forgot to pay his staff. He also displays little pleasure in sacking David, trying to spin it as a "generous redundancy package", rather than outright stating that he's firing David because he sucks at being a manager. He also recognises Tim's potential.
- Deadpan Snarker: Gets in a few good jabs at David's incompetence, such as the time when he tells the latter that he'd "rather be popular, than steer the ship in the right direction".
- Decon-Recon Switch:
- Starts out as a deconstruction of the rival archetype who is usually portrayed as more successful than the protagonist — not only is Neil a success, he has much better people skills than Brent.
- Then in the Christmas Special we find out that Neil enjoys making crude jokes with Finch, showing that he does have a nasty side, just not a particularly big one.
-
Designated Villain: To David. And according to Word of God, to the surprise of some viewers. - Evil Counterpart: Maybe not 'evil' so much as 'more successful'.
- Foil: Unlike David; Neil puts his job first, doesn't force anyone to be his friend or listen to his personal issues and he doesn't chase the spotlight.
- Hate Sink: According to Gervais, along with Chris Finch, he's the other character the audience is meant to dislike.Neil you shouldn't like, because he doesn't care. He was better than David Brent at his job, but it meant less to him than it did to David Brent.
- Hero Antagonist: It's hard not to see Neil's point of view; he might be an 'enemy' to David, but he doesn't want to be and only wants to keep the workplace running which he can't do when Brent is being so blatantly incompetent.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Although we as the audience are expected to side with David, most of Neil's points against David are valid, in addition to which it's his job to make sure that David is running the place correctly.
- Kick the Dog: He really lets himself down when he laughs with Chris Finch's inaccurate joke about David Brent's date being a dog.
- Kick Them While They Are Down: Kick The Son Of A Bitch when they're down more like. He 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 Stunned Silence from Neil and Finch when David does bring along an attractive woman.
- Meaningful Name: 'God' and 'Win' to emphasize his superiority over David.
- Politically Incorrect Hero: He looks after his staff better than David does, but has no problem with Chris Finch's sexist jokes (as painfully revealed during the Christmas Specials).
- Supreme Chef: Apparently baked Trudy's birthday cake himself. Oliver says he does it for all of his employees on their birthday.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: In the Christmas Specials, he is much more openly disdainful of David than he ever was before. However, it's worth keeping in mind that by this stage, David is a former employee who left on bad terms and has been consistently dropping in to disrupt the working day for three years. Less understandably, he's friends with (or at least gets on well with) Chris Finch. On the DVD commentary, Stephen Merchant suggests that Finch's nastiness rubbed off on Neil, while Ricky Gervais believes that Neil was never all that nice to begin with. Though his nastiness in the Christmas Specials may also be the result of his still having had to deal with David for three years after he fired the guy for not doing his job properly.
Other Slough employees
Malcolm
Malcolm
Played By: Robin Hooper
An older employee who has little tolerance for Brent's antics.- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Malcolm doesn't appear in Series 2.
- Only Sane Man: He's usually the first to criticise David, while Tim and Dawn are too apathetic to say anything and Gareth is a kiss-up.
- Sequel Non-Entity: Loses his job in the round of redundancies between the first and second series and so does not appear in the latter. It's implied that Malcolm got made redundant purely because he was Brent's least favourite staff member, although he wasn't the only one to lose his job.
- Sitcom Archnemesis: Serves as this for Brent in the first series, after which this role is taken by Neil.
Karen
Karen Roper
Played By: Nicola Cotter
David's secretary in the first series, who he hires despite the fact that the company is facing downsizing and redundancies.- Butt-Monkey: Gets a football in the face. Also gets made redundant not long after (presumably) quitting her previous job to work at Wernham Hogg.
- Sequel Non-Entity: Loses her job in the round of redundancies between the first and second series and so does not appear in the latter.
- Sexy Secretary: Downplayed; it's heavily implied that Brent only hires her because he finds her good-looking.
Ricky
Ricky Howard
Played By: Oliver Chris
A temp worker at Wernham Hogg in the first series.- Flat Character: He's so demure it actually makes him seem a bit dull compared to the larger-than-life main characters.
- Office Romance: Has one with Donna.
- Sequel Non-Entity: Justified, as he's a temp.
- The Smart Guy: Went to university and has a good general knowledge, as demonstrated at the pub quiz.
- Straight Man: Owing to being new to the office and unaccustomed to the weirdness of the workplace.
Donna
Donna
Played By: Sally Bretton
An intern at Wernham Hogg in the first series.- Dude Magnet: Gareth tries and fails to impress her, plus Finch is very impressed when he discovers she's lodging temporarily with David.
- Everyone Can See It: She's pretty open with her flirting with Ricky.
- Office Romance: Has one with Ricky.
- Sequel Non-Entity: Justified, as she's an intern.
- Shut Up, Hannibal!: When David tries to interfere with her personal life, she give him "The Reason You Suck" Speech and tells him he has no right telling her who she can and can't see, adding that he's just insecure and jealous.
Glynn
Glynn, a.k.a. "Taffy"
Played By: David Schaal
The misogynistic warehouse manager (and therefore Lee's supervisor), who is seen as being very slack and has little respect for anyone who works outside of the warehouse, particularly senior management.- Bald of Evil: Evil is pushing it, but he's bald and not very nice.
- Jerkass: Is very old-fashioned about women and disrespectful towards management.
- Jerkass Has a Point: At play when he responds to Anne's criticism of him for smoking near her at the Christmas party.
- Karma Houdini: He gets away with insulting Jennifer, his boss.
- Kick The Son Of A Bitch: He delivers a brutal putdown towards Anne by bluntly pointing out that not everyone cares about her being pregnant, and if she has a problem with people drinking or smoking around her, she shouldn't have come to the Christmas party.
- Lower-Class Lout: For starters, he enjoys watching videos of dogs having sex during work hours and insults Jennifer when she calls him out on this.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: He's incredibly sexist, homophobic and misogynistic.
Alex
Alex
Played By: Neil Fitzmaurice
A new warehouse recruit, despite being underqualified for the job.- Book Ends: He's hired in the very first episode, only to be made redundant at the end of the first series.
- Hypocrite: He considers it a form of discrimination that he lost his job while a (much) shorter warehouse worker got to keep his. Keep in mind the first episode established that he was not qualified for the position he was applying for, and he only got hired because David took a liking to him.
- Oop North: Neil Fitzmarice uses his native Scouse accent.
- Put on a Bus: Made redundant at the end of series 1.
- Seinfeldian Conversation: The iconic "midgets & dwarves"
scene.
Sheila
Sheila
Played By: Jane Lucas
A Slough employee and shrinking violet.- Has a Type: See her Wham Line below.
- Hero of Another Story: Late in the series it's revealed that she has a crush on Oliver, but loses him to Trudy.
- Shrinking Violet: She's very mousy and barely ever speaks, though that might be a good thing, considering her Wham Line below...
- Wham Line: "I like blacks", with Oliver sitting right next to her.
Ben
Ben
Played By: Ben Bradshaw
A Slough employee whose sense of humour isn't far from David Brent's.
- Butt-Monkey: On Red Nose Day, the men in the office pin him down and strip him naked.
- Dirty Old Man: Noticeably older than most of the Wernham Hogg employees, and grabs his dance partner's arse during the Christmas Special.
- Dude, Not Funny!: When the other guys are making risque jokes revolving about Donna, his "wouldn't mind escaping up her tunnel" line is considered by Brent to just be in bad taste.
Simon
Simon
Played By: Matthew Holness
The office's IT specialist.- Armor-Piercing Response: When Tim is making fun of him with Rachel giggling nearby, Simon's response leaves the usually quick-witted Tim stuttering to respond:Simon: Gone off Dawn, have you?
- Insistent Terminology: He's very particular about Bruce Lee movies, noting "Way of the Dragon" should not be confused with "Enter the Dragon".
- Smug Snake: Talks about bizarre conspiracies and possibly false anecdotes in an arrogant tone.
Anne
Anne
Played By: Elizabeth Berrington
A self-absorbed and obnoxious pregnant woman who shares Tim's desk after Gareth becomes manager.- The Bore: She mostly drones on and on about herself without requiring much input from whoever she's talking at.
- Everyone Loves Blondes: Averted. She claims she often gets unwanted attention from male co-workers, but can't understand why. Nor can Tim.
- Hate Sink: She's rude and self-absorbed. And she lied about her son being seriously ill in order to jump the queue at Euro Disney.
- Hypocrite: She tells Dawn she needs to hurry up and have a baby because "there is nothing worse than an old mum". Going by the age of their actresses alone note , Anne is clearly older than Dawn and pregnant herself.
- It's All About Me: She annoys Tim as she speaks continuously about herself and other topics no-one else is interested in.
- Know-Nothing Know-It-All: She obviously fancies herself as being worldly-wise, but most of Tim's Stealth Insults fly over her head entirely.
- Littlest Cancer Patient: Exploited; Anne pretended that her son was seriously ill in order to jump the queue at Euro Disney.
- Obnoxious Entitled Housewife: Not a housewife, but embodies aspects of this trope due to her selfishness and sense of entitlement.
- One Drink Will Kill the Baby: A variant of this. She criticises the warehouse guys for smoking near her at the party, which leads to her receiving a brutal put-down from Glynn.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: For Gareth. She was specifically introduced to be someone even more annoying than Gareth to sit near Tim.
Swindon transfers
Rachel
Rachel
Played By: Stacey Roca
A young lady, transferred from the Swindon branch as of the second series, who Tim and Gareth both take interest in.- All Girls Want Bad Boys: Tim's not Bad-bad, but he does delight in pranking both his boss and co-worker, sometimes without provocation.
- Betty and Veronica: The Veronica to Dawn's Betty.
- Dude Magnet: Tim, Gareth, Keith and even Lee all notice her.
- The Gentleman or the Scoundrel: A subverted trope. Tim's mischievous nature clearly makes him the scoundrel, but he makes a half-decent boyfriend. Gareth tries unsubtly flirting with Rachel and comes across as an arse-kissing creep.
- Informed Attractiveness: Tim, Gareth, Keith and even Lee all think she's drop-dead gorgeous, despite her not really being any more or less attractive than the other female staff.
- Love Triangle: Is involved in two, both of which also involve Tim.
- Precision F-Strike: After Tim drops her, Gareth tries swooping in and gets told to "Fuck off".
- Put on a Bus: She disappears after Tim dumps her.
- Romantic False Lead: Obviously
- Satellite Love Interest: She's just there so that Dawn can be jealous and Tim can fight with Gareth some more.
- Sequel Non-Entity: Does not show up in the Christmas Special.
- What, Exactly, Is His Job?: Unless you get paid to flirt with Tim, prank David and rebuff Gareth, we have no way of knowing what she does.
Trudy
Trudy
Played By: Rachel Isaac
Welsh, and loves to party.- Both Sides Have a Point: Trudy criticises on Brent for making a black man joke. He counters by saying that if Oliver didn't take offence then the joke must be objectively inoffensive. Trudy then counters by saying that just because it's not her race being mocked doesn't mean she shouldn't be allowed to be offended.
- Everyone Has Standards: She flirts with most of the men she works with and even engages in dogging with Finch, but draws the line at Brent. He's naturally offended by this. Trudy also finds jokes about race in poor taste.
- Informed Attribute: Claims to have a thing for shy men yet ends up hooking up with Finchy, who's about as far from shy as you can get. Granted, it was a one-night stand...
- Lovable Sex Maniac: Notorious enough for her co-workers to buy her sex toys for her birthday knowing she won't take offence.
Oliver
Oliver
Played By: Rachel Isaac
The only black man in the office, which gets him a lot of attention from David Brent whenever he's trying to convince everyone that he's not racist.- Nice Guy: Despite Brent's lack of tact, Oliver always takes it in stride.
- Ship Tease: With Trudy, whom he hooks up with in the season finale.
- Those Two Guys: Forms a quick friendship with Jamie, mostly to show that the rivalry Brent tries to stoke between the Slough lot and the Swindon lot is utterly non-existent.
- Token Minority: Only David and Jennifer acknowledge this, the latter doing so purely because she has to discipline the former for making a racist joke.
Brenda
Brenda
Played By: Julie Fernandez
A wheelchair-bound woman who David and Gareth are unsure how to address. Or deal with.- Butt-Monkey: During the fire drill, David and Gareth try to carry her down the stairs (being unable to use the lift as they would not be able to do so in the event of an actual fire), but give up halfway through and leave her in a stairwell in her wheelchair, rationalising that it's only a drill.
- Inspirationally Disadvantaged: Averted. Only David sees her disability as worthy of attention.
Other characters
Gareths's friends
Jimmy the Perv and the Oggmonster
Played By: Bruce Mackinnon (Jimmy) and Stephen Merchant (Oggy)
Two of Gareth's weirdo friends.- Abhorrent Admirer: Jimmy tries to steal a kiss from Dawn, then repeatedly pesters her for one on the lips when she only gives him a peck.
- Berserk Button: Oggmonster has no problem with jokes about his height, but calling him goggle-eyed is a step too far.
- Creator Cameo: Oggmonster is played by Stephen Merchant, co-writer of the show.
- Drop-In Character: They turn up at the office even though they don't work there.
- Incoming Ham: OGGY-OGGY-OGGY! OINK-OINK-OINK!
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Oggmonster's real name is Nathan, but only Brent calls him this.
Carol
Carol
Played By: Sandy Hendrickse
David Brent's blind date in the Christmas Specials.- Downtime Downgrade: In the US version and the movie, David mentions that he's currently single, so they clearly didn't last.
- Meaningful Name: Her name's Carol and she appears in the Christmas Special.
- Opposites Attract: Carol's attractive, sensitive and an all-round pleasant person to be with. David Brent, well...
- Satellite Love Interest: Her character isn't explored fully, due to appearing in the final episode.
- Single Woman Seeks Good Man: She gets to see the more likeable side to David and quickly warms up to him. David's "good" quality is justified when he stands up to Finch after he insults her, even though she's not around to see it.
