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Felicity Ward to lead The Office Australia

Aussie series will be the 13th adaptation of Ricky Gervais comedy, and the first with a female office manager.

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Felicity Ward (Wakefield, The Inbetweeners 2) will play boss Hannah Howard in the upcoming adaptation of The Office Australia, now confirmed by Prime Video.

Rumoured since early 2022, the local adaptation marks the first-ever female lead in the role created by Ricky Gervais, now the 13th edition globally.

Ricky Gervais said, “I’m very excited about Australia remaking my little show from the turn of the century. Office politics have changed a bit in 20 years, so can’t wait to see how they navigate a modern-day David Brent.”

Produced by both BBC Studios Australia and New Zealand, and Bunya Entertainment the cast also includes Edith Poor (The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, The Power of the Dog), Steen Raskopoulos (The Duchess, Feel Good), Shari Sebbens (The Sapphires, Thor: Love and Thunder), Josh Thomson (How to Please a Woman, Young Rock), Jonny Brugh (Thor: Love and Thunder, What We Do in the Shadows), Pallavi Sharda (The Twelve), Susan Ling Young (Reckoning, Hungry Ghosts), Raj Labade, Lucy Schmit, and Firass Dirani (Underbelly, House Husbands).

“We are thrilled to be bringing one of the biggest comedy franchises ever made to Prime Video customers in Australia and around the world,” said Sarah Christie, senior development executive Prime Video Australia. “It is an honour to continue the international comedy legacy of The Office locally while introducing new, quintessentially Australian characters. We can’t wait for audiences to meet Hannah Howard, the first female boss The Office format has explored.”

“The Office has connected with audiences around the world because everyone recognises their own David Brent, and now it’s Australia’s turn,” said Kylie Washington, general manager and creative director, production, BBC Studios ANZ. “We figured the world is ready for a lovable, flawed, lady boss, ruling over her packaging empire in The Office Australia. This is the first scripted project from BBC Studios ANZ, and I’m excited to partner with Bunya Entertainment and Prime Video to reimagine such an iconic show with some very Aussie characters.”

Sophia Zachariou, producer and co-managing director, Bunya Entertainment, said, “To me, Wernham Hogg’s David Brent was a leading light in comedy. The Office UK made the mockumentary form available to a wide audience, and that was its sheer brilliance. I can only hope that global audiences find our Aussie take on The Office as funny, self-deprecating, and believable as those that have gone before it.”

Production will commence in Sydney in June, with filming to take place over eight weeks.

In The Office Australia, Hannah Howard is the managing director of packaging company Flinley Craddick. When she gets news from Head Office that they will be shutting down her branch and making everyone work from home, she goes into survival mode, making promises she can’t keep in order to keep her “work family” together. The staff of Flinley Craddick indulge her and must endure Hannah’s outlandish plots as they work toward the impossible targets that have been set for them.

The Office Australia is co-produced by BBC Studios ANZ, Bunya Entertainment, and Amazon Studios, and is based on a BBC Studios format. The Office Australia is executive produced by Julie De Fina (Aftertaste), Jackie van Beek (The Breaker Upperers, What We Do in the Shadows, Wellington Paranormal), and Kylie Washington, with lead producers Sophia Zachariou (The Moth Effect, The Chaser’s War on Everything, Gruen, The Checkout), Linda Micsko (The Letdown, Laid), and Greer Simpkin (Mystery Road, In Limbo). Van Beek serves as lead set-up director with De Fina as head writer. Christiaan Van Vuuren (Bondi Hipsters, A Sunburnt Christmas, Dom and Adrian) and Jesse Griffin (Educators) will also direct on the series.

15 Responses

  1. when i first heard this i thought it was a joke ,why would you bother we already have a far superiour show in utopia
    Everytime a show or moive goes woke its fails ghostbusters,oeans 8 and now the office why people will tune in for the first episode and it will be embarassing its lazy .

  3. Half an hour of folks in pyjamas doing WFH. Season (series?) finale – drama surrounds a Return To Office order on the group chat. Riveting stuff.

  4. While I’m apprehensive about the format getting a 3rd iteration, I think Felicity Ward will be great as the naive manager. I think an Aussie version is more likely to hit a similar cringe level as the original. Fingers crossed for Felicity and all involved it’s a hit!

      1. Fair to note, but this is the 3rd version that most Aussie viewers will be able to watch, comprehend and relate to.

        I doubt many people are watching an Indian version unless they speak Hindi (or whichever of the many Indian language the show was produced in).

  5. OMG no. Bad bad choice for the lead. Another unfunny comedian leading a sitcom. First Mother & Son & now this. Surely we Aussies can produce our own sitcoms.

  6. Having cringed at the UK version and not being able to tolerate the US version even as background noise, I can’t see myself enjoying yet another version. We already have Utopia which is one of the most superior and accurate office comedies.

    1. The original version by Ricky G was fully intended to be cringe inducing-the US version rapidly changed the focus to give it the sort of longevity US networks so crave.

  8. I love the US Steve Carell led version and I know that the UK Ricky Gevase led show has a following.

    And while I hope that everyone involved does well in writing, producing and acting in the show, I struggle to see how this new show will provide a something new while standing next to two iconic shows (and I don’t use iconic lightly).

    I’m hoping for the very best … but I don’t think I have high expectations.

  9. Don’t see the point of this, TBH. We’re very familiar with the UK and US versions. Why not make a whole different show set in an office? You could call it Utopia… hang on …

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