The Ricky Gervais series is known for inroducing the world to a number of household names
Ricky Gervais as David Brent in The Office(Image: BBC)
It seems like it was yesterday. Tim and Dawn kissed on the dancefloor of the Wernham Hogg office, David Brent told Finchy where stick it then got a genuine laugh at his Frank Spencer impression.
But if you can believe it, it’s now 25th years since The Office first appeared on our screens in 2001, and Tim set Gareth’s stapler in jelly. Since then, the cast have moved onto a wide variety of things. Some to Hollywood superstardom, and others have enjoyed success much closer to home.
David Brent and his colleagues from Wernham Hogg were last seen on our screens back in December 2003, two years after it first aired in the summer of 2001. All fans got was two seasons consisting of six episodes and a two-part Christmas special, as well as a spin-off film.
Created, written and directed by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, The Office followed the day-to-day lives of office employees in the Slough branch of the fictional Wernham Hogg paper company.
But where are the cast of the iconic BBC comedy today?
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Thursday, July 9, marks 25 years since The Office debuted in the UK, having inspired a US remake and changed the landscape of comedy forever, now seems like the perfect time to see what the cast are up to now.
Ricky Gervais
Ricky Gervais(Image: Netflix)
If creating and writing The Office wasn’t enough, Ricky Gervais played David Brent to critical acclaim. The immature and arrogant branch manager may have made us all cringe with his antics, yet we’d be lying if we said we didn’t love him in spite of it.
Two years after The Office came to an end, Gervais returned with his second BBC comedy, Extras. Running for twelve episodes, Gervais played Andy Millman, a background artist who meets famous faces such as Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Stiller, Daniel Radcliffe, David Bowie and Robert De Niro.
Sticking with terrestrial TV, Gervais went on to create Life’s Too Short, An Idiot Abroad and Derek. While none of them achieved the mainstream success of The Office, they all have their die-hard fans.
However, Gervais struck gold in 2019 with After Life. The emotional Netflix series, which ran for three seasons, saw him play a man who decides he wants to end his life following the death of his wife. It was praised for showing Gervais in a new light as he showed that even those with cold hearts can be vulnerable.
Always keeping busy, Gervais continues to perform stand-up to this day. Tickets for his 11th stand-up show, Legend, went on sale just last week. Drawing some criticism for his no-holds-barred comedy style, Gervais’s Armageddon tour set a Guinness World Record for the highest gross for a single stand-up performance, grossing £1,410,000 at the Hollywood Bowl.
If all that wasn’t enough for one man, Gervais has also had a successful Hollywood career. He appeared in supporting roles in the Night at the Museum trilogy, Stardust and Muppets Most Wanted.
His pursuit of becoming an unlikely leading man in an industry he poked fun at during several Golden Globes presenting stints hasn’t exactly gone to plan. Ghost Town, The Invention of Lying, which he directed, and Special Correspondents all failed to make a splash. When you have a career as successful as his, we doubt Gervais, who has been in a relationship with producer and author Jane Fallon since 1982, cares too much about this.
Martin Freeman
Martin Freeman(Image: Getty Images)
Arguably the man who gained the most fame after The Office is Martin Freeman, who played Tim Canterbury. Viewers spent the entire run of The Office manifesting that he and Dawn Tinsley ended up together.
Freeman initially stayed in the world of comedy, appearing in the hit films Ali G Indahouse and Love Actually. He soon proved that drama was his calling with his work as Lord Shaftesbury in the 2003 BBC historical drama Charles II: The Power and The Passion.
Returning to the BBC to play Dr. John Watson in Sherlock, few could have predicted what it would do to his career. Acting alongside Benedict Cumberbatch, Freeman won the 2011 BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor and the 2014 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor.
Hot off the back of Sherlock, Freeman was cast as Bilbo Baggins in Peter Jackson’s three-part The Hobbit film series. The Lord of the Rings prequel may not have impressed fans, but everyone was in agreement that Freeman did a stellar job.
Once again a household name, Freeman went on to appear in hit films such as The World’s End, Marvel’s Black Panther, Ghost Stories and Miller’s Girl. He was last seen in Netflix’s adaption of Agatha Christie’s Seven Dials.
From 2000 to 2016, Freeman was in a relationship with Amanda Abbington, who played Mary Morstan in Sherlock. Together, they have a son and a daughter.
Mackenzie Crook
Mackenzie Crook in Small Prophets(Image: PA)
Mackenzie Crook’s Gareth Keenan was the unsung hero of The Office. Fans still have fond memories of him taking his Team Leader position to heart and his prank war with Tim and Dawn.
Straight after The Office concluded, Crook played the role of Ragetti, a pirate with a comically ill-fitting wooden false eye, in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. The fan favourite character in the Johnny Depp series returned for two of the franchise’s five sequels.
Crook’s other film roles include playing Launcelot Gobbo in Michael Radford’s 2004 film adaptation of Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, as well as popping up in Finding Neverland, The Gathering and The Brothers Grimm. He even lent his voice to a character in Steven Spielberg’s The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn.
Also finding success in theatre, Crook starred alongside Johnny Vegas in Sky Arts; A Reluctant Tragic Hero, played a a brutal career soldier in Jimmy McGovern’s Accused, and played Orell in the third season of Game of Thrones
On top of writing, directing and starring in the BBC comedy Detectorists, which he won a BAFTA Craft Award for Best Writing in a Comedy Series, Crook played the role of Nestor of Maddox in Sky’s bid-budget fantasy series Yonderland. Earlier in the year, his latest sitcom Small Prophets received rave reviews on the BBC.
Crook currently lives in London with his wife Lindsay, a former advertising executive. Tying the knot in 2001, they have a son and daughter together.
Lucy Davis
(Image: Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)
Lucy Davis was consistently breaking hearts as Dawn Tinsley, a woman whose fans were desperate to leave her fiancé in favour of starting a new life with Tim.
After her breakthrough role in The Office, David appeared in the films Sex Lives of the Potato Men and the classic horror comedy Shaun of the Dead in 2004. She juggled these roles with her work as Hayley Jordan in The Archers on BBC Radio 4.
Focusing on TV for several years, Davis made memorable appearances in major US shows Ugly Betty, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, Reaper and Family Guy. Staying strong to her UK roots, Davis played a small part in an episode of Death in Paradise in 2013.
Davis’ career exploded for the second time when she played Etta Candy in the 2017 film Wonder Woman. Playing Gal Gadot’s best friend in the DC superhero flick, Davis landed a part in the Netflix series Chilling Adventures of Sabrina as Hilda Spellman.
Starring in the reboot of the 90s’ children’s classic for three years, David recently played the supervillain Surge, on the Disney Channel sitcom The Villains of Valley View, which ran for 37 episodes.
Davis tied the knot to Welsh actor Owain Yeoman in 2006, in a wedding which was attended by her Office co-stars. The pair separated and divorced in 2011 after six years of marriage.
Ewen MacIntosh
Ewen MacIntosh(Image: Getty Images)
Ewan was a fan favourite as Keith in The Office. Keith was known for rarely speaking to his colleagues, but scaring them off whenever he did.
Sticking to comedy, Ewan appeared in episodes of Miranda and Little Britain. He also performed in the West End show Geek! A New Musical, was a regular on the radio sitcom Cabin Pressure as Carl, and had a role in the 2015 Colin Farrell dark comedy The Lobster.
Presenting various music programmes on Now 80s and Now 90s, Ewen reunited Gervais in the third and final series of After Life. Sadly, Ewan passed away at the age of 50 in 2024.
JustRight Management confirmed his death in a statement shared on social media, saying: “With great sadness we announce the peaceful passing of our beloved comedy genius Ewen MacIntosh. His family thank all who supported him, especially Willow Green Care Home.”
Paying tribute to Ewen, Gervais wrote on X, previously known as Twitter: “Extremely sad news. The very funny and very lovely Ewen Macintosh, known to many as ‘Big Keith’ from The Office, has passed away. An absolute original. RIP.”
Ralph Ineson
Ralph Ineson.(Image: GETTY)
Every TV show needs a baddie, with Ralph Ineson providing The Office with an all-timer in the form of Finchy. Constantly taking advantage of David, Finchy was the epitome of ‘2000s lads’ banter’.
Coronation Street fans will remember Ineson from his short stint on the cobbles in 2005 as a therapist named Zack. Ineson also appeared in hit programmes such as Spooks, This Life, The Walking Dead and Game of Thrones, where he played Dagmer Cleftjaw.
Once Hollywood noticed his distinct gravely voice, there was no looking back for the actor. He played Amycus Carrow, a Death Eater, in three Harry Potter films, and a police officer in Kingsman: The Secret Service. His most praised work was as Anya Taylor-Joy’s dad in Robert Eggers’s debut film The Witch.
Other big screen outings for the Leeds native include Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Ready Player One, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, The Green Knight, The Tragedy of Macbeth, The Northman,The Creator and Nosferatu. Last year saw him voice the iconic Marvel villain Galactus in The Fantastic Four: First Steps, a baddie who eats planets.
Stirling Gallacher
Stirling Gallacher(Image: Getty Images)
Stirling Gallacher played David’s immediate superior in season one of The Office, who would consistently knock him down a peg or two. At the time she landed the role, she remained working her nine to five IT job for the BBC.
Gallacher is best known for playing Dr. Georgina ‘George’ Woodson in the BBC soap opera Doctors from 2003 until 2009. She and Seán Gleeson, who played her husband, Ronnie Woodson, won Best On-Screen Partnership at the 2007 British Soap Awards.
On top of her work on Little Britain, Gallacher played the Mayor of Walford on EastEnders, was a love interest for Sophie Webster (Brooke Vincent) on Corrie, and joined Casualty for a three-year-stint as Ffion Morgan.
Oliver Chris
(Image: PAUL GILLIS / Reach Plc)
Oliver Chris was introduced as David’s new temp Ricky in The Office’s first episode. Fans will remember when he helped Tim win trivia night in a fan favourite episode.
Chris went on to land a viral hit just before the World Cup when he wrote a new version of The Beatles’ Let It Be about Wayne Rooney. He also lent his voice for most of the Alex Rider series of audiobooks by Anthony Horowitz.
Returning to TV in the role of Captain Leonard in Sean Bean’s Sharpe’s Challenge in 2007, Chris also appeared in the comedy Bonkers. Chris is best known for his stage work, including portraying Christian in Cyrano de Bergerac at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester.
Finding further success with James Corden in the National Theatre production of One Man, Two Guvnors in 2011, Chris travelled to Broadway to play Prince William in the play King Charles III, a role he played again for a 2017 BBC TV film.
The 2020s have proven to be very fruitful for Chris, having wrapped up his time on Motherland, and starred in AppleTV+’s Trying and Foundation. He can currently be found on Rivals, where he plays the dastardly James Vereker.
Joel Beckett
Joel Beckett as Jake Moon on EastEnders(Image: BBC )
Joel Beckett has the hard job of playing Dawn’s fiancé Lee on The Office. His work was so strong that he was quickly cast in EastEnders as Jake Moon.
Known for his turbulent romance with Chrissie Watts (Tracy-Ann Oberman), Beckett initially departed Walford in 2006. After a very brief return in 2024, this year saw Jake and Chrissie finally get their happily ever after.
Chris is one of the busiest men in UK soap, appearing in episodes of Holby City, Doctors, Heartbeat, Casualty, The Bill and even Corrie. Football fans will remember him from the football hooligan film Green Street, where he played Terry.