Whenever a much-loved show gets a spin-off, I tend to feel a mix of excitement and fear: excitement that it could be really, really great like the US version of The Office (which had a longer run time than the UK version of The Office) and fear that it won't be. And I'm definitely feeling both with the news that the Australian spin-off of The Office will premiere on Prime Video this October.
The new show, called The Office, will debut on October 18 and have eight episodes. This time around the lead character and office boss is Felicity Ward of Time Bandits, Wakefield and The Inbetweeners 2, and that could introduce an interesting dynamic: the previous seasons have centered around male bosses. Between her casting and the Australian setting I'm hoping for a show that's like an Office meets Deadloch – which is one of three new crime shows with 100% Rotten Tomatoes – mash-up.
What do we know about The Office Australia?
The show is set in Flinley Craddick, a packaging company where boss Hannah Howard (Ward) is in charge. But when head office decides to shut down the branch and get everybody working from home, "Hannah goes into survival mode, making promises she can't keep in order to keep her work family together," Prime Video says.
In addition to Ward, the cast features Edith Poor, Steen Raskopoulos, Shari Sebbens, Josh Thomson, Jonny Brugh, Susan Ling Young, Raj Labade, Lucy Schmidt, Zoe Terakes, Pallavi Sharda and Claude Jabbour. It's being made by BBC Studios Australia & New Zealand, Bunya Entertainment, and Amazon MGM Studios.
According to Deadline, this is the 13th global version of the show, which has also seen spin-off series in Canada, France, Germany, Sweden, Israel, South Africa and more. Even Peacock is making a follow-up series to The Office. Its version is set in an ailing Midwest newspaper where the publisher hopes to revive it with a team of volunteer reporters. The show is currently filming.
I'm crossing my fingers for these ones because it's been a very long time since the first season of The Office aired, and the mockumentary format it used has become pretty tired not just in broadcasting but on social media too. Many imitators have focused on the format without understanding that it was the writing, the characterization and most of all the warmth that made The Office special. Here's hoping the spin-offs focus on those things too to make it one of the best Prime Video series.
