Stars of The Office UK reflect on series as it turns 25 | BBC News — Transcript

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1. 0:00Let's talk about that genius comedy
2. 0:01based on workplace life in Slough.
3. 0:03Awkward moments, cringeworthy behavior,
4. 0:05infamous dance routines. 25 years since
5. 0:08it first aired, the hit BBC sitcom The
6. 0:10Office is now hailed as one of the
7. 0:12all-time British greats.
8. 0:13>> Our reporter Graham Satchell has been
9. 0:15hearing from some of the stars of the
10. 0:16show which helped launch a number of
11. 0:17Hollywood careers and a series of
12. 0:19international spin-offs.
13. 0:27>> The setting was desultory.
14. 0:29The workplace humdrum.
15. 0:32And the comedy groundbreaking.
16. 0:40The Office introduced us to middle
17. 0:42manager David Brent, played by the
18. 0:44co-creator of the show, Ricky Gervais.
19. 0:49Overbearing, self-aggrandizing,
20. 0:51embarrassing, hilarious.
21. 0:55>> [clears throat]
22. 0:57[laughter]
23. 0:58[cough]
24. 0:59>> Right from the very beginning, the show
25. 1:01was toe-curlingly awkward.
26. 1:06>> Lovely Dawn.
27. 1:08Dawn Tinsley, receptionist.
28. 1:12>> Do you get this a lot, don't you?
29. 1:13>> Yeah.
30. 1:14>> I'd say
31. 1:15at one time or another, every bloke in
32. 1:17the office has woken up with a cracker
33. 1:18dawn.
34. 1:19>> What?
35. 1:20>> [snorts]
36. 1:20>> Yeah, I have that line said to me a lot.
37. 1:23I hadn't ever worked in an office
38. 1:26before, but I recognized just human
39. 1:29interaction and how we're all just
40. 1:32trying to survive.
41. 1:34>> WHAT'S THAT?
42. 1:35>> DON'T do that.
43. 1:36>> The Office gave us immediately
44. 1:38recognizable archetypes. Gareth, the
45. 1:40sycophantic assistant manager.
46. 1:43>> Put my stapler inside a jelly again.
47. 1:45>> That's the third time he's done it. It
48. 1:46wasn't even funny the first time.
49. 1:48>> Tim, the everyman prankster.
50. 1:50>> Give him an official warning.
51. 1:51>> How do you know it was me?
52. 1:53>> It's always you.
53. 1:54>> The genius was in the awkward
54. 1:56embarrassed silences.
55. 1:59>> What did you watch on telly last night?
56. 2:00>> I didn't watch telly, I watched a video.
57. 2:02>> that big practice.
58. 2:03>> Yeah, I've never seen it.
59. 2:05>> The dull conversations.
60. 2:07>> It's annoying, isn't it?
61. 2:08>> Not for me, I haven't seen it.
62. 2:10>> Ricky famously just would do anything to
63. 2:13make you corpse.
64. 2:15>> Mad.
65. 2:15>> Um
66. 2:16>> I used to look at him and think, why are
67. 2:17you Well, I'd say, what are you do This
68. 2:19is your show. What are you doing?
69. 2:21>> Take eight. Take nine. Take 10.
70. 2:24Action.
71. 2:25Oh, dear.
72. 2:26>> Hey.
73. 2:28>> [laughter]
74. 2:28>> Hey, take 11.
75. 2:30>> Trust, encouragement, reward.
76. 2:33I'm going to
77. 2:34>> It should be enough for me having my own
78. 2:37sitcom on telly, but if uh
79. 2:40I can make the day longer
80. 2:43>> [laughter]
81. 2:44>> and put [clears throat] Martin off more,
82. 2:46then I will. Sue me.
83. 2:48>> It was easily the funniest time I've
84. 2:51ever had. And it was because of feeling
85. 2:53>> Yeah.
86. 2:54>> like a naughty schoolboy.
87. 2:56>> You know. So.
88. 2:57>> Ooh, can I have this when you've
89. 2:58finished?
90. 2:58>> Yeah, you can have it.
91. 2:59>> When will you be finished then?
92. 3:00>> At the heart of the show was a will
93. 3:01they, won't they love story between Tim
94. 3:04and Dawn on reception.
95. 3:07>> You immediately, yeah, fell in love with
96. 3:09with her
97. 3:10and this
98. 3:11wanted her to get away, wanted her to
99. 3:13get away from this place. She knew that
100. 3:15she was better than this. And it's
101. 3:17heartbreaking. Right from the beginning,
102. 3:19it's the
103. 3:21the looks, yeah, the audience know that
104. 3:23you're supposed to be together.
105. 3:24>> Yeah.
106. 3:25>> Richard Curtis, who is the king of the
107. 3:28romantic comedy, um has described your
108. 3:31relationship with Tim in in The Office
109. 3:34as one of the greatest romantic stories
110. 3:36of all time.
111. 3:38>> Oh my god, that's really nice. I love
112. 3:41The Vicar of Dibley is one of my
113. 3:42favorite [laughter] shows. So, I'm going
114. 3:45to put Alice and Hugo into that
115. 3:47category.
116. 3:48>> Continue again.
117. 3:50Look after yourself.
118. 3:51>> I will.
119. 3:51>> Have a good laugh.
120. 3:52I could give you Dutch.
121. 3:54>> For me it was career changing.
122. 3:57Um just on a a personal note.
123. 4:00And I think it changed
124. 4:03the face of television a lot. And how
125. 4:06people looked at script writing for
126. 4:09example and
127. 4:11um making television.
128. 4:14>> The office ran for two series and ended
129. 4:16with a Christmas special.
130. 4:20>> I remember doing a scene where
131. 4:22uh Dawn left the Christmas party
132. 4:25and she opened Tim's present in the car.
133. 4:28And I remember
134. 4:30just beforehand Stephen Merchant saying
135. 4:32to me he said, "Oh, I'm so excited about
136. 4:34this scene. I I imagine that as you sit
137. 4:37there and open it, one tear just drop."
138. 4:41And I went, "I I'm not a robot."
139. 4:47But weirdly, one tear came down my face.
140. 4:51[laughter] And I don't know how I did
141. 4:53that at all.
142. 4:55I remember when it aired, my dad came up
143. 4:58to me and he said, "The office was on at
144. 5:00this Christmas party. And kind of we
145. 5:03were all watching it despite it being a
146. 5:05party."
147. 5:06And all of a sudden Dawn appeared in the
148. 5:09back of the party and walked towards
149. 5:11Tim.
150. 5:11>> [music]
151. 5:11>> And the whole room erupted with a tear.
152. 5:18And I was like, "Oh my god. That's going
153. 5:20to be cool."
154. 5:22>> We should say that your dad is Jasper
155. 5:24Carrott.
156. 5:25>> Yeah. Yeah.
157. 5:27A lovely pops. Still touring at 81.
158. 5:30>> He's amazing. Incredible.
159. 5:32>> get over that.
160. 5:34>> [music]
161. 5:36[singing]
162. 5:37>> The office held a mirror up to nature
163. 5:39and did change television around the
164. 5:42world.
165. 5:43>> [music]
166. 5:44[singing]
167. 5:47>> Let's try that. Woohoo. Hey.
168. 5:50Just just
169. 5:52Come on, trust me. You'll feel
170. 5:54>> [laughter]
171. 5:55>> 25 years on, the awkward moments are
172. 5:58still seared uncomfortably in the
173. 6:00memory.
174. 6:01>> HEY.
175. 6:02>> [laughter]
176. 6:06>> YEAH.
177. 6:10AWKWARD.
178. 6:11WELL, I WAS TRYING TO I WAS TRYING TO
179. 6:12GIVE it more awkward, you know? Silence
180. 6:14can be so awkward.