You can leave the office, but the office never really leaves you. That’s the takeaway from our first look at The Office, the upcoming Australianisation of the mega-popular sitcom format.
Amazon Prime Video on Monday released fresh imagery and details about The Office, which will debut on Australian screens on October 18.
The eight-part series stars Felicity Ward as Hannah Howard, local managing director of packaging company Flinley Craddick, as the company faces an all-too-familiar predicament.
As per Prime Video:
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. The staff of Flinley Craddick indulge her and must endure Hannah’s outlandish plots as they work toward the impossible targets that have been set for them.
Alongside Ward, who has starred in Time Bandits, Wakefield, and her own long, successful stand-up comedy career, the show stars Edith Poor, whose credits include The Power of the Dog and The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.
Other members of the ensemble cast include Steen Raskopoulos, Shari Sebbens, Josh Thomson, Jonny Brugh, Susan Ling Young, Raj Labade, Lucy Schmidt, Zoe Terakes, Pallavi Sharda, and Claude Jabbour.
Susie Youssef, Justin Rosniiak, Carlo Ritchie, Rick Donald, and Chris Bunton are set to take on guest roles.
Developed for the Australian screen by writers and executive producers Julie De Fina and Jackie van Beek, The Office also counts Kylie Washington in an executive producer role.
Sophia Zachariou serves as lead producer, with Linda Micsko also taking on production duties.
Jackie van Beek will share directing duties with Jesse Griffin and Christiaan Van Vuuren, who is perhaps best known for his work on Bondi Hipsters.
The show arrives in the wake of the 2001 British original, which propelled star and co-creator Ricky Gervais to global fame, and the 2005 American remake, which endures as one of the most popular TV shows of all time.
The Australian take on The Office is the latest in more than a dozen international localisations.
All episodes will be released for streaming on the 18th, giving fans of the format to binge the series in one go — just as long as they’re not watching while on the clock themselves.
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Senior Business Journalist
Focused on the small business sector, David’s work covers the political, regulatory, and economic issues facing Australian entrepreneurs. Prior to joining SmartCompany, he was a reporter for Business Insider Australia. You can follow him on LinkedIn.
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