Fans of The Office are a notoriously fickle bunch, myself included.
A one-eyed devotee of the Ricky Gervais original, for years I couldn't bring myself to watch the Steve Carell-led US version.
There's no way the US could grasp the quiet hilarity of the UK mockumentary, I thought. The hum of a photocopier in action. A phone ringing. Fingers tapping furiously on keyboards.
When I did watch it, encouraged to do so by my teen-aged children, I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was similar to the original but it had its own spin, and I begrudgingly realised there was nothing wrong with that.
I loved the original, I liked its successor. I haven't seen the versions made in France, Canada, Chile, Israel, India, the Middle East, Poland and South Africa. But I admit I was nervous about watching The Office Australia, not least because it's the first in the global franchise to feature a woman in the lead role.
I could just imagine the online comments, and it made my eyelid twitch.
My advice? Make sure you watch at least two episodes of The Office Australia before making any rash judgements. Do not, under any circumstances, stop at episode one. You will be doing yourself, and Felicity Ward, a disservice.
Ward plays Hannah Howard, 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.
Hannah is as cringeworthy, delusional and incompetent as David Brent and Michael Scott. I would go one step further, though, and suggest that there are more "layers" to Hannah, personality wise. Her vulnerability surprised me.
The appeal of The Office Australia lies in our ability to relate to the circumstances, the location, the lingo, the culture, the post-lockdown realities of office life. It's set in Rydalmere. There's even a bin chicken (sorry, ibis) pecking around in the opening credits.
In episode two, Hannah tells an area manager she will start firing people to keep costs down. She finds out a warehouse employee died the previous week and pretends to have fired him. She then holds a wake for the man - who nobody remembers - based solely on the information contained on his driver's licence. Shameless.
Ward is a delight to talk to. She's loud, funny, confident, kind and self-deprecating. Smart, too. We go off topic more than once, Ward blaming it on her "ADHD" which she also diagnoses me with.
"I'm an oversharer. I walk away from every conversation with some level of shame that I've said something I shouldn't," she says.
"I've never been officially diagnosed with ADHD, you know, I've lost two referrals to get tested. Ha! Lisa, treat yourself in 2025 and go and get diagnosed. I can hear it in your voice. I'm not being judgemental, it's just that game recognises game."
Ward has been open about her mental health, acknowledging her (diagnosed) anxiety disorder in Netflix special Live at the BBC: What if there is no toilet? and the ABC TV documentary Felicity's Mental Mission. She's a staunch advocate for breaking down stigmas.
"I said to my husband once 'I think that I'm brave' and he said 'You're not brave, you're reckless'. And he's right, I am," she says. "Rather than being relaxed about my health I would say I'm reckless. I've had IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) for at least 20 years that I know of, and I've never cut out a single food group in my life. I'd rather deal with the consequences and eat garlic, you know what I mean?"
Any know where all the toilets are at any given time and place?
"Exactly. I'm not cutting garlic out of my meals."
Ward grew up at Killcare and moved to Sydney in 2001 where she kicked off her stand-up comedy career. She's lived in London with her husband Chris Savva for the past 11 years. The couple have a son.
"I'm a Central Coast girl. A coastie, mate, 'til I die. Newcastle is like a half sister, maybe more like a blended family. The same but different," she says.
She got a scholarship to attend a performing arts school - The McDonald College in Strathfield - in years 11 and 12 and loved it.
"I was a brain but I was always an attention seeker. I can't tell you how many times I mimed Dire Straits with a tennis racket," she says.
"There was always a compulsion to perform. Always. My poor parents [laughs]."
Her first big break was sketch comedy show The Ronnie Johns Half Hour in 2005. Her stand-up career began at the 2008 Melbourne Fringe Festival where she performed her debut full-length solo stand-up show, Felicity Ward's Ugly as A Child Variety Show, winning the Melbourne Airport Award for Best Newcomer.
More gigs and more awards followed. Her new show, I'm Exhausted, kicks off its UK run on October 25 in Essex.
Ward has a matter-of-fact attitude to being the first "woman boss" on The Office: people will either like the show or they won't.
"I don't read any comments, I don't Google my name, it's none of my business what other people may think about the show," she says.
"But I also know what it's like to love something so much that you don't want it to be remade. Point Break is one of my favourite films of all time and when I saw that they were remaking it, I was furious.
"I understand the feeling, when you've got something that you love so much and think is perfect, you don't want it to be touched by other people."
She says the UK and US versions "both exist in their own hilarious little worlds" and hopes people approach the Australian version in the same way.
"This show is absolutely The Office, and quintessentially Australian, and absolutely our own," Ward says, with a hint of emotion.
"And there are, sadly, so many similarities between me and Hannah. She is every annoying personality trait that I've ever had, put into one character."
She's nervous but excited about the show's premiere, and declares her undying love for her fellow cast members.
"People will have whatever opinions they want, but I f---ing love it. I watched all the episodes in one night," Ward says.
"By episode four I found myself comfort watching it while I was folding laundry. I f---ing love this show, I'm so proud of it, it was the best job I've ever had, and I hope that we get to make 50 seasons.
"If you don't like it, that's OK! It's television, it's art, it's subjective. But I would love for people to watch all of it."
The Office Australia season is streaming on Paramount + from October 18
THE OFFICE - FUN FACTS
- Ricky Gervais gave his approval for the idea of a female boss - the first in The Office franchise.
- While filming in western Sydney in an empty office floor, a real-life office was taking place the floor below.
- Directors and writers Jackie van Beek and Jesse Griffin are also both comedians - and are married.
- Josh Thomson's character, Martin, sits in a back office. Which meant that Josh was on set all day, every day but was often shot at a distance - he used the time productively to finish his taxes and edit his wife's web series.
- The script of the pillow fight scene only ever had Hannah hitting Lloyd with a pillow - the on-screen melee that we see on screen was never scripted and totally unexpected. The actors just let it rip on the day.
- The computers and the phones on each of the characters' desk all worked - the actors were able to send emails and make phone calls as if it were a real office.
- Josh Thomson plays the character Martin Katavake - Katavake is Josh's mother's maiden name.
- Steen Raskopoulos has known Felicity Ward since he was 16 as Felicity appeared in the comedy sketch show The Ronnie Johns Half Hour with Steen's sister Jordan.
