--- description: Breaking news and analysis from time.com. Politics, world news, photos, video, tech reviews, health, science, and entertainment news. title: The Office [British] image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbf815c2563e480b8/69869f2d1eebf74578372348/t100_tv_office_uk1.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Aug 12, 2014 # _The Office_ \[British\] by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close  Everett Ricky Gervais delivers a cringe-tastic performance as David Brent, a paper-company manager and frustrated singer-comedian, who’s never met a work situation he couldn’t turn into a potential lawsuit. Whether accidentally braining a new hire with a soccer ball or hijacking a training session with a sing-a-long of Free Love Freeway, Brent combines a blinkered egocentrism with the pitiable determination to be liked: “I’ve created an atmosphere where I’m a friend first, boss second. Probably entertainer third.” What makes Brent funny is that he’s wrong; what makes him sympathetic is that he really believes he’s right, and with mainly good intentions. He may have been neither a good friend nor boss in the end, but he was certainly entertaining. [Get This TV Series](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00009ZY9E/?tag=timecom-20 "undefined") The Office \[British\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/all-time-100-tv-shows/3103692/the-office-british/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/all-time-100-tv-shows/3103692/the-office-british/"},"headline":"The Office [British]","datePublished":"2014-08-12T14:59:58.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-02T23:01:35.107Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/all-time-100-tv-shows/3103692/the-office-british/","keywords":["Comedy","BBC"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbf815c2563e480b8/69869f2d1eebf74578372348/t100_tv_office_uk1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbf815c2563e480b8/69869f2d1eebf74578372348/t100_tv_office_uk1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/all-time-100-tv-shows/3103692/the-office-british/","name":"The Office [British]"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"The Office [British]","description":"David Brent, a paper-company manager and frustrated singer-comedian, may have been neither a good friend nor boss in the end, but he was certainly entertaining.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/OTi48Liy/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2007-09-05T14:43:29.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/OTi48Liy.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/collections/all-time-100-tv-shows/3103692/the-office-british/","duration":"PT34S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/collections/all-time-100-tv-shows/3103692/the-office-british/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```