YouTube channel<\/a>.<\/p>\nFrom casting near-misses to behind-the-scenes secrets, here\u2019s 25 nuggets of trivia you probably didn\u2019t know \u2013 one for each year of Slough-based brilliance. See you down Chasers nightclub to celebrate.<\/p>\n
1. Martin Freeman could have played GarethMartin Freeman as Tim Canterbury in The Office. Photograph: BBC<\/p>\n
Although it\u2019s hard to imagine now, Freeman originally auditioned for the role of \u201cassistant to the regional manager\u201d Gareth Keenan, which ultimately went to Crook.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was only as I was leaving the audition that Ricky asked me to read for Tim,\u201d he has said. Freeman was duly cast as self-deprecating sales rep Tim Canterbury. The rest is Hat FM history.<\/p>\n
2. The staring janitor is part of the family<\/p>\n
The mute caretaker who appears every now and then \u2013 standing motionless and looking straight at the camera \u2013 is co-creator Stephen Merchant\u2019s dad, Ron. \u201cWe put him in because we thought he had a funny face,\u201d said Merchant Jr.<\/p>\n
3. Copy that<\/p>\n
In every single episode, there is a shot \u2013 filmed from the exact same angle \u2013 of a whirring photocopier making multiple copies of a document.<\/p>\n
4. Ratings were so bad, the show was nearly cancelled<\/p>\n
It\u2019s now hailed as one of the all-time great British comedies but when The Office aired in summer 2001, viewing numbers were so low that it almost wasn\u2019t recommissioned. \u201cAudiences were rotten,\u201d the executive producer, Jon Plowman, has said. \u201cBut the BBC repeated it within a few months and it doubled its figures.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first series got the lowest ever BBC focus group score,\u201d recalls Gervais. \u201cJoint bottom alongside women\u2019s bowls which had been rained off.\u201d<\/p>\n
5. Olivia Colman showed her star quality<\/p>\n
Oscar-winner Olivia Colman\u2019s cameo as a journalist named Helena from the trade magazine Inside Paper was one of her first TV appearances, other than sketch shows, and predated Peep Show by a year. You can tell Colman was destined for big things by the way she kept a straight face while Brent said lines such as: \u201cI don\u2019t go around using chicks and shit. I\u2019m just chilling out while I\u2019m young.\u201d<\/p>\n
6. The Canadian boss is named after Gervais<\/p>\n
The show has been remade in 16 territories. In the Mexican version, the boss character goes by the brilliant name of Jer\u00f3nimo Ponce III. In the Canadian French-language edition, set in Montreal, the manager is called David Gervais, in homage to Ricky.<\/p>\n
7. One scene took 74 takes<\/p>\n
The record number of takes for any scene was Tim\u2019s appraisal with David Brent, which took 74 tries because Freeman and Gervais kept corpsing. Freeman struggled to get through the dialogue when Brent said: \u201cYou could be in the hot seat like me,\u201d and did finger guns at his chair.<\/p>\n
\u201cI changed the way that I did it for every take and Martin just couldn\u2019t cope,\u201d Gervais recalled. \u201cHe is such an \u2018actor\u2019, too. He loves his craft. He was probably sat there thinking: \u2018Who\u2019s this fucking fat buffoon who\u2019s never acted before? Why is he in charge?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Another scene requiring many takes saw Tim making small talk with the deadpan accountant Big Keith, who then bit into a scotch egg. The late actor Ewen MacIntosh went through two multipacks of the savoury snack because they couldn\u2019t keep it together.<\/p>\n
8. Nessa from Gavin & Stacey was almost Dawn<\/p>\n
Wernham Hogg\u2019s receptionist, played by Lucy Davis, could have been a different familiar face. \u201cInterestingly, we saw Ruth Jones for Dawn,\u201d the casting director Rachel Freck told Esquire in 2021. \u201cShe\u2019d just done East is East. I wrote nice comments about her in my notes and she was a possibility.\u201d<\/p>\n
9. Staff training day is a standout<\/p>\n
Both Gervais and MacIntosh named the staff training episode (\u201cGareth, what\u2019s your ultimate fantasy?\u201d) as their favourite from either series. The late Matthew Perry, AKA Chandler in Friends, praised the same episode as \u201cpossibly the funniest thing I\u2019ve ever seen in my life\u201d.<\/p>\n
10. The cast could have been non-actors<\/p>\n
Gervais and Merchant originally planned to tour the UK and unearth \u201creal people\u201d to play the supporting parts, adding authenticity to the show\u2019s documentary style. \u201cThat was until we realised real people are terrible actors,\u201d said Merchant. \u201cThat\u2019s why they\u2019re not actors.\u201d<\/p>\n
11. Cat Stevens almost sang the theme tune<\/p>\n
Merchant wanted the Cat Stevens song Sitting for the show\u2019s theme music, saying on XFM: \u201cI still feel we should have used that one but Cat Stevens\u2019 people wouldn\u2019t let us, or it was too expensive or something.\u201d<\/p>\n
They also considered The Logical Song by Supertramp, before finally settling on a version of 1960s blue-eyed soul tune Handbags and Gladrags, performed by Big George.<\/p>\n
12. Brent and Jennifer had history<\/p>\n
There were speculative backstories for some characters that never made it into the show. One was that big boss Jennifer Taylor-Clarke (Stirling Gallacher) was old college friends with Brent, hence putting up with his workplace foibles for so long.<\/p>\n
The co-writers also theorised that Brent had worked his way up through the ranks at Wernham Hogg, rather than arriving at manager level, hence his emotional attachment to the company.<\/p>\n
13. Gareth is actually a child<\/p>\n
One thread throughout The Office, according to Gervais, is portraying \u201cmen as boys\u201d. The ultimate example is Gareth, who resembles a teenager in a man\u2019s body. That\u2019s because he basically is.<\/p>\n
\u201cGareth is based on a bloke I went to school with,\u201d said Gervais on the US podcast SmartLess. \u201cThat\u2019s why he\u2019s stuck as an adolescent. I had a list of about 50 ludicrous things that this 14-year-old kid told me. He once said: \u2018If you get captured by cannibals, they show you pornographic pictures so you get an erection and there\u2019s more meat.\u2019 Put those gems in an adult\u2019s mouth and it\u2019s hilarious.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gervais and Merchant originally had a \u201cstrapping squaddie type\u201d in mind for the role, due to Gareth\u2019s military obsession and claim to be a lieutenant in the Territorial Army (\u201cI\u2019ve killed a man. With a thumb\u201d). That all changed when Crook auditioned.<\/p>\n
14. The BBC is full of BrentsRicky Gervais as David Brent. Photograph: BBC<\/p>\n
When producer Plowman questioned how it was possible for a boss as bad as Brent to keep his job, Gervais replied: \u201cLet\u2019s take a walk around the BBC, shall we?\u201d There appeared to be enough Brent types in the corporation\u2019s corridors to pacify Plowman.<\/p>\n
15. Pinocchio nose mime was pivotal<\/p>\n
The series opening scene took several lines directly from a real-life interview with a temp agency that Gervais attended when looking for a summer job, aged 17. \u201cThe recruiter was in his mid-30s, wearing a bad suit, ponytail and glasses,\u201d he wrote on Facebook. \u201cHis opening sentence was: \u2018I don\u2019t give shitty jobs.\u2019 He phoned his friend and at one point said, \u2018Yeah, of course he\u2019s 18,\u2019 then he winked at me and did the Pinocchio nose mime.\u201d<\/p>\n
Decades later, Gervais did the same mime while Brent lied down the phone (\u201cHas he passed his forklift driver\u2019s test? He gives the tests\u201d). It was this moment that convinced Plowman to produce the show.<\/p>\n
16. Des\u2019ree lyric was nod to a local lass<\/p>\n
The song lyric that Brent has printed out and pinned up by his desk (\u201cMoney don\u2019t make my world go round \/ I\u2019m reaching up for the higher ground\u201d) is from Crazy Maze by the pop-soul singer Des\u2019ree, who happened to grow up in Slough. When the unsuccessful secretarial candidate Stuart Foot (regular Gervais collaborator Robin Ince) politely asks about it, Brent proceeds to croon an entire awkward verse.<\/p>\n
At least it wasn\u2019t the lines from Des\u2019ree\u2019s hit Life \u2013 \u201cI don\u2019t want to see a ghost \/ It\u2019s the sight that I fear most \/ I\u2019d rather have a piece of toast \/ And watch the evening news\u201d \u2013 which was voted the worst lyric ever in a BBC Radio 6 Music poll.<\/p>\n
17. There were 30 staplers in jelly<\/p>\n
Because the scene where Tim puts Gareth\u2019s stapler in jelly (\u201cOnly a trifling matter\u201d) was shot multiple times, a different prop was needed for each.<\/p>\n
Props master Matt Wyles told Esquire: \u201cMy first job on The Office was to make about 30 jellies with staplers in them. I was thinking: \u2018This is crazy.\u2019 I\u2019d just moved into a house share in Twickenham and had to make them in the kitchen the night before, then keep them in the communal fridge.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wyles also revealed that he put stones inside Tim\u2019s shoes, lending them extra weight so Finchy could throw them over the pub in the quiz episode.<\/p>\n
18. German doppleg\u00e4nger sparked a lawsuit<\/p>\n
In 2004, Germany\u2019s ProSieben network made a comedy called Stromberg, set at an insurance company. The BBC thought it was so similar to The Office they threatened legal action for copyright. In the end, an agreement was reached, which included giving Gervais and Merchant an \u201cinspired by\u201d credit.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was surprised,\u201d said Gervais. \u201cIt\u2019s not like the Germans to just march in and take something that isn\u2019t theirs.\u201d<\/p>\n
19. Tim is a 21st-century Oliver Hardy<\/p>\n
Tim\u2019s fourth-wall-breaking was inspired by a certain silent movie double act. When Crook did something idiotic, Merchant would shout \u201cDo Oliver Hardy!\u201d and Freeman would give an exasperated look to camera.<\/p>\n
Gervais has taken the comparison further: \u201cThe Office is basically a room full of Laurels and one Hardy, which is Tim. His character is pretty common in comedy: that person who thinks they\u2019re better than everyone else but it doesn\u2019t seem to get them anywhere. Lisa Simpson, Woody Allen, Bob Hope \u2026 they\u2019re all Tims.\u201d<\/p>\n
20. Gareth\u2019s hair was a dealbreakerRicky Gervais as David Brent and Mackenzie Crook as Gareth Keenan. Photograph: BBC\/Jack Barnes<\/p>\n
Freck\u2019s original audition notes on Crook read: \u201cVery understated, very funny and inventive. Consistent. I think he could do it. Haircut?\u201d After the second round, she wrote: \u201cCast. Hair clause.\u201d<\/p>\n
His hair needed to be bad but it still wasn\u2019t bad enough. Before shooting the pilot episode, Crook reportedly went into a barbershop and asked for \u201cthe worst haircut you can think of\u201d.<\/p>\n
21. Forklift driver bookended the first series<\/p>\n
At the beginning of the debut episode, Brent is seen hiring somebody for a forklift driver\u2019s job. The same man, played by Neil \u201cJeff from Peep Show\u201d Fitzmaurice, is shown being fired by Brent at the beginning of episode six. Although typically, their meeting is derailed by a discussion of whether elves exist.<\/p>\n
22. Brent\u2019s dance was made up on the spot<\/p>\n
Despite the show\u2019s naturalistic, spontaneous feel, Gervais and Merchant say \u201c95%\u201d was scripted. However, one of the rare improvised moments is among the most famous: Brent\u2019s cringe-inducing dance (\u201cfusing Flashdance with MC Hammer shit\u201d).<\/p>\n
\u201cIt wasn\u2019t rehearsed or choreographed,\u201d Gervais has said. \u201cI just went berserk for 30 seconds, then had to have a sit-down for 30 minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n
23. Ashley Jensen was heard but not seen<\/p>\n
The voice of the unseen, uncredited BBC interviewer in the 2003 Christmas specials belongs to Ashley Jensen. She would go on to co-star with Gervais in Extras.<\/p>\n
24. It was nearly narrated by John Nettles<\/p>\n
The pilot episode was more overtly a documentary pastiche \u2013 even down to having a voiceover by John Nettles of Bergerac and Midsomer Murders fame.<\/p>\n
The show\u2019s editor, Nigel Williams, told Esquire: \u201cIt was literally like, \u2018David Brent works at Wernham Hogg \u2026\u2019 So it was very crude in its setup, compared to what it ended up being.\u201d<\/p>\n
25. Mic drop moment<\/p>\n
When asked about their favourite moment from The Office, Gervais and Merchant have given the same answer. \u201cI like the bit where Tim takes his microphone off at the end of series two,\u201d said Gervais.<\/p>\n
Merchant agrees: \u201cThe moment when Tim unhooks his mic and tells Dawn how he feels but we never hear what is said. I thought it was a perfect way of using the fake documentary style to tell our story.\u201d She said no, by the way. Until she didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
Ricky Gervais\u2019s YouTube special is released at 6pm on Wednesday 8 July. Mackenzie Crook<\/a> and Martin Freeman Remember \u2026 The Office airs on the same night at 10pm on BBC Two and iPlayer<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fetch the acoustic guitar and twiddle your TM Lewin tie because it\u2019s the 25th anniversary of The Office.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":679784,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[96,391,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-679783","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-entertainment","tag-tv","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/679783","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=679783"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/679783\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/679784"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=679783"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=679783"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=679783"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}