100-532: The Office is a British mockumentary television sitcom first broadcast in the UK on BBC Two on 9 July 2001. Created, written and directed by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant , it follows the day-to-day lives of office employees in the Slough branch of the fictional Wernham Hogg paper company. Gervais also starred in the series as the central character, David Brent . Two six-episode series were made, followed by
200-618: A two-part Christmas special . When it was first shown on BBC Two, ratings were relatively low, but it has since become one of the most successful of all British comedy exports. As well as being shown internationally on BBC Worldwide and channels such as BBC Prime , BBC America , and BBC Canada , it has been sold to broadcasters in over 80 countries, including ABC1 in Australia, The Comedy Network in Canada, TVNZ in New Zealand, and
300-479: A Metacritic score of 98 out of 100, based on 19 reviews. The Office, overall, scores 97 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 47 critic reviews and is labeled a "Metacritic-Must Watch". The Telegraph names it one of the ten best TV sitcoms of all time. In 2019, The Guardian ranked it #6 on its list of the 100 best TV shows of the 21st century. At the British Comedy Awards in 2001, The Office won
400-458: A Microsoft employee who becomes increasingly exasperated by Brent's antics. Brent is obviously resentful of the company's success. He believes he has what it takes to become the next managing director of Microsoft and continually drops hints to that effect. While not on general release, the videos emerged on the Internet in 2006. The clips also appeared on certain peer-to-peer networks. Microsoft
500-401: A book, which is published by an incompetent vanity publisher. Mark, Dobby, Jez and Hans go paintballing. Mark gets a job at the bathroom supplies company where Hans works, but is soon sacked. He also starts an evening course to gain an MBA . Jez falls in love with Dobby and declares his feelings, as does Mark. While Mark and Jez fight, Dobby leaves the scene and heads to New York , where she has
600-435: A couple, but their relationship is made difficult by Mark's unwillingness both to be intimate with her and to do pleasurable things she has taken an interest in, such as clubbing and drug-taking. This hesitance is worsened when Mark is "mugged" by some unarmed street thugs (to whom he non-forcibly gives his phone and wallet out of cowardice), which, much to Sophie's horror, leads him to carry an illegal knife. Things get worse for
700-542: A cult favourite"; Jane Simon of The Daily Mirror claimed that Peep Show in years to come will "be seen as the pinnacle of comedy it obviously is." Peep Show won the titles "The Best Returning British TV Sitcom 2007" and "Comedy of the Year 2008" in The Comedy.co.uk Awards . The Guardian newspaper described it as "the best comedy of the decade". The Times praised the show's "scorching writing" and named it
800-423: A cult. Mark is promoted to Senior Credit Manager by Johnson but does not fire Sophie as ordered, after she reveals that she is pregnant with what may be his child. In the closing moments of the series, Jez tells Mark that he recently had sex with Sophie and that her baby might be his. The series begins with JLB Credit closing down. Sophie tells Mark and Jez that Jeff is also a possible father of her baby. The mystery
900-464: A fictional genre in which dramatic techniques are combined with documentary elements to depict real events. Nor should either of those be confused with docufiction , a genre in which documentaries are contaminated with fictional elements. They are often presented as historical documentaries, with B roll and talking heads discussing past events, or as cinéma vérité pieces following people as they go through various events. Examples emerged during
1000-430: A group of staff to formulate a merger between two departments is a failure, which leads to Mark humiliating himself at a JLB conference. Big Suze breaks up with Jez once again after Johnson offers to pay him in order to have sex with her and he agrees. Despite being disgusted by the offer, she subsequently starts a relationship with Johnson claiming that he is an "alpha male". In an attempt to get away from Sophie, Mark joins
1100-517: A guide for historic walks, then becoming a waiter in Gail's Mexican restaurant—all the while trying to get anywhere with Dobby. To resolve their woman troubles, Jeremy and Mark host a party, which ends in Jeremy trying to rekindle his love for Elena, Mark failing to win over Dobby, and Gail and Elena deciding to enter into a civil partnership . Mark pledges to take driving lessons in order to drive Sophie to
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#17327661279991200-505: A gym and discovers that Nancy is working there, after which Jez makes a failed attempt to reconcile. Sophie leaves on a business trip to Frankfurt , leaving Mark to consider a fling with a woman whom he recently met at his school reunion. Jez finds some well-paid work as a handyman for "The Orgazoid", one of his musical heroes, but discovers that his new employer expects him to give him "a hand ". Mark and Sophie attend couples' counselling, which Mark hopes will unearth all their problems and end
1300-563: A hotel in the Quantocks , a trip on which Jez, Big Suze and a withdrawing Super Hans accompany him. Despite it being apparent that Mark has privately begun to loathe Sophie, he nonetheless remains committed to proposing to her. Sophie gets lost out on the hills at night, forcing Mark and Jez to go and look for her. They then get even more lost themselves; it is only after Jez asks Mark what he truly likes about Sophie that he changes his mind about
1400-470: A long-term liberal incumbent played by Gore Vidal . Man Bites Dog is a 1992 Belgian black comedy crime mockumentary written, produced, and directed by Rémy Belvaux , André Bonzel , and Benoît Poelvoorde . In 1995, Peter Jackson and Costa Botes directed Forgotten Silver , which claimed New Zealand "director" Colin McKenzie was a pioneer in filmmaking. When the film was later revealed to be
1500-519: A mockumentary about the survival of the megalodon . The Canadian series Trailer Park Boys and its films (1998–present) were one of the first mainstream examples of Canadian mockumentaries. Popular examples in the US include sitcoms The Office (2005–2013), Parks and Recreation (2009–2015), and Modern Family (2009–2020); the American improv comedy Reno 911! (2003–2009); Derek (2012–2014);
1600-415: A mockumentary refers to films, while the term comedy verite refers to TV series, though term is widely used here. The series Documentary Now! (2015–present) on IFC , created by Saturday Night Live alumni Bill Hader , Fred Armisen , and Seth Meyers , spoofs celebrated documentary films by parodying the style and subject of each documentary. Hight argues that television is a natural medium for
1700-456: A mockumentary, Jackson received criticism for tricking viewers. Borat! Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan from 2006, and its 2020 sequel Borat Subsequent Moviefilm , are two controversial yet successful films that use this style, as does Brüno , a similar film from 2009 also starring Sacha Baron Cohen . Sony Pictures Animation released their second animated feature, Surf's Up in 2007, which
1800-449: A mockumentary, as it provides for "extraordinarily rich sources of appropriation and commentary". In 2018, the BBC released the series Cunk on Britain created by Charlie Brooker and starring Diane Morgan about British history with Philomena Cunk, an extremely dim-witted and ill-informed interviewer, asking various experts ridiculous questions. The follow-up Cunk on Earth featuring
1900-456: A mutual romantic attraction, despite her engagement to dour and controlling warehouse worker Lee ( Joel Beckett ). In June 1998, Merchant and Gervais made Seedy Boss , a 20-minute film starring Gervais, as part of Merchant's TV producer training for the BBC. The pair met when Merchant was hired as Gervais' assistant at radio station Xfm ; neither had any previous TV experience. Gervais's character
2000-570: A new job. The final series opens with Mark and Jez meeting for the first time since their fight over Dobby, with Mark still bearing a grudge over the role Jez played in his break-up with her. Jez is living in Super Hans' bathroom, while Mark has a new flatmate. After reconciling, Jez moves back in with Mark and they go back to their old ways. Jez begins a relationship with a younger man, Joe, and also has sex with Joe's girlfriend Megan. Mark seeks out April ( Catherine Shepherd —previously seen only in
2100-424: A number of localised adaptations (based on its basic story and themes) produced for the television markets of other nations, creating an international Office franchise , including the successful and Primetime Emmy Award -winning American remake on NBC starring Steve Carell as David Brent's counterpart, Michael Scott , and on which Gervais and Merchant acted as executive producers. Several direct follow-ups to
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#17327661279992200-570: A pilot for a US remake starring Johnny Galecki as Mark and Josh Meyers as Jeremy. However, the pilot failed, and the series was never produced. Galecki went on to star in The Big Bang Theory shortly afterwards. Spike TV commissioned its own version in 2008, originally to be written and directed by Robert Weide , who is the executive producer of Curb Your Enthusiasm . It was to be written by Armstrong and Bain, but it never went to series. In May 2019, Sam Bain, co-creator of
2300-548: A poll by Radio Times . It has also been described as one of the best television programmes produced in the 21st century, and one of the best comedy series of all time. Writers Jesse Armstrong and Sam Bain met actors/writers Mitchell and Webb during a failed attempt to complete a team-written sitcom for the BBC . They had an old, unproduced script that they wanted to revive called All Day Breakfast and brought in Mitchell and Webb to help out. The show did not work out but
2400-575: A real property in Croydon , where the show takes place. The flat's owners did not allow it to be used for series 3, so a replica was constructed in a carpet warehouse in Neasden . Further filming took place at West London Film Studios . Mark and Jeremy's flat was chosen to be in Croydon because pilot director, Jeremy Wooding, “liked the idea of there being trams”, but Channel 4 stopped him using trams in
2500-419: A realistic portrayal of "why ordinary people are evil", while Armstrong said it was "about oddball male friendship, perhaps even 'masculinity ' ". Despite never achieving high viewing figures during its original run, Peep Show received consistent critical acclaim and has since become a cult classic . In April 2019, three years after its final episode, the series was named the 13th greatest British sitcom in
2600-402: A rut with no prospects. It ends with the two watching TV together, asking and answering inane questions, with Jez thinking to himself how they both "love each other really" and Mark reminding himself that he "simply must get rid of him". The series was met with critical acclaim, and is considered to be a cult television show. Early previews called it "promising" and noted it had "the sniff of
2700-551: A second series, but it stopped it from being a breakout hit and stopped it finding a bigger audience." Bain and Armstrong agreed that the POV style stopped it from becoming mainstream. The first episode of series 6 – the first to be shown in its new earlier time slot of 10pm – attracted Peep Show's highest ratings to date, with 1.8 million viewers (9.2% audience share), with a further 208,000 (1.8%) watching it on Channel 4 +1. Other awards: In 2005, The Carsey-Werner Company created
2800-407: A similar plot was released by BBC Two in 2022 and is available on Netflix . The BBC series People Like Us was first produced for radio in 1995 before a television version was made in 1999. Kay Stonham 's Audio Diaries was a similarly short tenured radio mockumentary that premiered the year after People Like Us 's run on Radio 4 ended. Peep Show (British TV series) Peep Show
2900-456: A single episode in series 2), whom he always thought to be his perfect woman, despite her now being married. Dobby has moved to New York and has a new boyfriend. He beats up Mark when he discovers Mark has been tracking Dobby's movements. Hans marries Molly in Norfolk . Sophie turns up at the flat depressed and appears to have a drinking problem. She is in a relationship with a man whom she thinks
3000-451: A video diary, deleted scenes, out-takes, and a Slough slang glossary. Bonus features include a documentary on the making of the specials, the full uncut music video of David Brent's cover of "If You Don't Know Me by Now", a featurette on the making of "Freelove Freeway", and a Golden Globes featurette. Bonus features include the How I Made The Office documentary, a documentary on the making of
3100-484: A video shop before he was told to get off as he was scaring the customers. The writing for each series takes place seven to eight months before filming begins; once each episode is mapped out scene by scene, they must be approved by the producer Andrew O'Connor and Channel 4. Rehearsals take two weeks and filming lasts for six to seven weeks. For the first two series, the scenes set in Mark and Jeremy's flat were filmed in
The Office (British TV series) - Misplaced Pages Continue
3200-473: A whole other dimension in terms of jokes." The idea for using voice-overs came from a scene in the Woody Allen film Annie Hall in which the true feelings of the characters are conveyed by subtitles. The POV technique separates Peep Show from other sitcoms and Mitchell claims that without it Peep Show would be similar to shows like Spaced and Men Behaving Badly . Two pilots were filmed for
3300-507: A wild sex life, but tensions brew after she makes it clear that she believes in free love , announcing that she has no commitment to him in front of their friends without his consent. Jez is further humiliated by Nancy having sex with a member of the dance class in front of him, but he remains naively enamoured with her. Things take a turn for the worst for Jez after Nancy then decides to become celibate. Jez briefly appears to be having some success with his music career with Super Hans. Mark's life
3400-400: A young Australian woman whom he had recently met whilst speed dating. Jez runs out of money and steals from Johnson's credit card and is temporarily evicted by Mark. Jez asks Big Suze if he can stay with her and Johnson, but is rejected. He tries to obtain money from his mother after his great aunt dies, which reveals their strained relationship. Mark, however, thrives in her company and is given
3500-545: Is " Handbags and Gladrags ", performed by Big George , based on the Rod Stewart arrangement, and originally written in the 1960s by Mike d'Abo , former vocalist for the rock group Manfred Mann . Gervais and Merchant also considered "Sitting" by Cat Stevens for the theme. In Series 1, episode 4, a version of the theme performed by Gervais (in character as Brent) was featured over the end credits. The first series also features Gervais performing " Free Love Freeway ", and
3600-411: Is a 1978 television film in mockumentary style about The Rutles , a fictional band that parodies The Beatles . The Beatles' own 1964 feature film debut, A Hard Day's Night , was itself filmed in mockumentary style; it ostensibly documents a few typical (and highly fictionalized) days in the life of the band as they travel from Liverpool to London for a television appearance. Since the beginning of
3700-499: Is a British television sitcom starring David Mitchell and Robert Webb , and created by Andrew O'Connor , Jesse Armstrong and Sam Bain . The series was written by Armstrong and Bain, with additional material by Mitchell and Webb , among others. It was broadcast on Channel 4 from 19 September 2003 to 16 December 2015. In 2010, it became the longest-running comedy in Channel 4 history in terms of years on air. Peep Show follows
3800-703: Is a Cold-War era American "mockumentary" film that made use of archival government footage from the 1950s. Woody Allen's 1983 film Zelig stars Allen as a curiously nondescript enigma who is discovered for his remarkable ability to transform himself to resemble anyone he is near, and Allen is edited into historical archive footage. In 1984, Christopher Guest co-wrote and starred in the mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap , directed by Rob Reiner . Guest went on to write and direct other mockumentaries including Waiting for Guffman , Best in Show , and A Mighty Wind , all written with costar Eugene Levy . In Central Europe,
3900-666: Is a platonic friend rather than a girlfriend; Mark's father humiliates Dobby when he realises they are together, and she leaves, causing an enraged Mark to put his Christmas dinner through a paper shredder. After Zahra tells Jez that she has split from Ben, Jez accepts her offer to move in with her. Mark, needing to salvage his relationship with Dobby, asks her to move in with him, to which she agrees. Zahra rejects Jez after she learns he has been flirting with Super Hans's girlfriend, dumping him. The series begins with Mark waiting for Dobby to move in, while Dobby waits for Jez to move out. Mark suspects that Dobby will never move in, and that Gerrard
4000-442: Is falling apart, as Sophie plans to move in with Jeff. Mark forges a brief friendship with a colleague, Daryl, which he ends after he discovers that Daryl is a Neo-Nazi . Mark falls for a shy, attractive student in a shoe shop and makes an ill-judged visit to his old university, Dartmouth , where she studies. Mark finds out from Jez that Jeff has been cheating on Sophie, and when Mark informs Sophie of that, Sophie begins slowly to end
4100-443: Is having an affair. She offers Mark a chance to give their relationship another go, which he initially accepts, but Mark decides to try to break up April's marriage and start a new life with her. In the final episode, all the duo's past lies and selfish decisions catch up with them. Mark loses his job at a bank because of a loan he gave Jez previously (ironically, to exploit him) without asking for correct identification paperwork, and he
The Office (British TV series) - Misplaced Pages Continue
4200-486: Is now his wife, that he hooked up with Toni. The series begins with Jez in a relationship with Michelle, of whom he is not fond but with whom he stays as they plan a threesome with another woman. Big Suze ( Sophie Winkleman ) re-enters Jez's life, but has a new boyfriend, Stu, whom Jez is both deeply jealous of and somewhat sexually attracted to. Despite Stu's benevolence towards him, Jez punches him, which ends in him getting punched himself. Mark and Sophie have finally become
4300-567: Is replaced by his rival Jeff. Joe leaves Jez after his lies about him being popular and young are caught out, and Jez claims he is tired of partying all the time. Super Hans' wife is upset because he is unwilling to stop his old disreputable lifestyle, and after he kidnaps and threatens April's husband, she finally leaves him. Super Hans ends up leaving for Macedonia to open a moped hire business and leaves Mark and Jez right back where they always end up due to their bad choices, with Mark losing his newest relationship and job, while Jez remains stuck in
4400-416: Is ruined by Jez's apparent drug overdose. Shortly afterwards, Jez claims to Toni that he has a terminal illness in order to persuade her to have sex with him. Tony moves back in with Toni. Super Hans develops a crack cocaine addiction. At Sophie's dance class, Jez meets, falls in love with and starts a relationship with Nancy ( Rachel Blanchard ), an attractive and happy-go-lucky American. They briefly enjoy
4500-436: Is sexually attracted to him. Jez remembers engaging in fellatio with Super Hans ( Matt King ) during a drug binge. Sophie beats Mark to a promotion, so Mark and Jez desperately team up to prank call Sophie, which leads to her shooting them with a pellet gun. They also launch a pepper spray attack on Super Hans, who has begun a fling with Toni. Mark sees a therapist, and nearly succeeds in having sex with Sophie, but this chance
4600-438: Is solved when Sophie reveals that Mark is the baby's father. Jez meets Elena, a beautiful young Eastern European woman and occasional marijuana dealer who lives in their building. Jeremy quickly falls in love with her, but things deteriorate when it is revealed that Elena has a long-term partner, Gail, who is returning to London . Mark looks for work, starting a company with an ill-equipped Johnson, almost landing his dream job as
4700-450: Is therefore shot multiple times from different angles. Armstrong and Bain's choice of the style was influenced by the 2000 Channel 4 documentary Being Caprice about the model Caprice Bourret which featured a similar technique that had in turn been copied from the 1999 film Being John Malkovich . Bain noted: "So it's a third-hand steal, really. We thought it would be great for comedy, hearing someone else's thoughts. The voices give you
4800-496: Is trying to steal her from him; however, Gerrard dies of flu. Jez and Super Hans amicably end their band, and this causes Jez to contemplate his life so far: he eventually agrees to undertake therapy sessions, which are paid for by Mark. Impressed by the therapy, Jez decides to become a life coach, but he fails a course of questionable value. Mark then gives Jez a fake life coach certificate and he begins "coaching" anyone who will let him, causing emotional and personal harm. Mark writes
4900-414: The 15th best TV show of the 2000s. Ricky Gervais has been cited as saying "the last thing I got genuinely excited about on British TV was Peep Show , which I thought was the best sitcom since Father Ted ". While presenting an award at the 2005 British Comedy Awards , Gervais called it "the best show on television today" and said it was a "debacle" that it did not win an award. In 2019, Peep Show
5000-461: The 1950s when archival film footage became available. A very early example was a short piece on the " Swiss Spaghetti Harvest " that appeared as an April Fools' prank on the British television program Panorama in 1957. Mockumentaries can be partly or wholly improvised . Early work, including Luis Buñuel 's 1933 Land Without Bread , Orson Welles 's 1938 radio broadcast of The War of
5100-491: The 1960s but was popularized in the mid-1990s when This Is Spinal Tap director Rob Reiner used it in interviews to describe that film. Mockumentaries are often used to analyze or comment on current events and issues in a satirical way by using a fictional setting, or to parody the documentary form itself. While mockumentaries are usually comedic , pseudo-documentaries are their dramatic equivalents. However, pseudo-documentary should not be confused with docudrama ,
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#17327661279995200-405: The 1980s, the mockumentary format has gained considerable attention. The 1980 South African film The Gods Must be Crazy (along with its 1989 sequel ) is presented in the manner of a nature documentary , with documentary narrator Paddy O'Byrne describing the events of the film in the manner of a biologist or anthropologist presenting scientific knowledge to viewers. In 1982, The Atomic Cafe
5300-783: The Best New TV Comedy award. In 2002, it won the Best TV Comedy award, and Gervais the Best TV Comedy Actor award. In 2004, the series won the Golden Globe Award for Best Television series: Musical or Comedy, the first British comedy in 25 years to be nominated for a Golden Globe, and the first ever to win one. Gervais also received the Golden Globe For Best Actor in a Television series: Comedy or Musical. The same year,
5400-476: The Christmas Special includes him performing "If You Don't Know Me By Now". The show is considered one of the greatest British sitcoms of all time. Series one currently holds a Metacritic score of 98 out of 100, based on 12 reviews. Series two received similar acclaim, holding a Metacritic score of 93 out of 100, based on 16 reviews. The Office Christmas specials were also well received, and hold
5500-596: The DVD commentary for the first episode of the first series. Mark and Jez start out with similar aims of sleeping with their next-door neighbour Toni (Elizabeth Marmur). Jez does this, while she is separating from her husband, Tony. Mark is obsessed with his colleague Sophie ( Olivia Colman ), who is more interested in their manly colleague Jeff. Mark has a one-night stand with a teenage goth girl. Mark and Jez endure awkward situations: Mark admires his boss, Alan Johnson ( Paterson Joseph ), and struggles to work out whether or not he
5600-501: The Money and Run (1969), The Clowns (1970) by Federico Fellini (a peculiar hybrid of documentary and fiction , a docufiction), Smile (1975) , Carlos Mayolo 's The Vampires of Poverty (1977) and All You Need Is Cash (1978). Albert Brooks was also an early popularizer of the mockumentary style with his film Real Life , 1979, a spoof of the 1973 reality television series An American Family . Woody Allen 's Take
5700-427: The Money and Run is presented in documentary style with Allen playing a fictional criminal, Virgil Starkwell, whose crime exploits are "explored" throughout the film. Jackson Beck , who used to narrate documentaries in the 1940s, provides the voice-over narration. Fictional interviews are inter-spliced throughout, especially those of Starkwell's parents who wear Groucho Marx noses and mustaches. The style of this film
5800-489: The World ". The Hart and Lorne Terrific Hour (1970–1971) also featured mockumentary pieces that interspersed both scripted and real-life man-in-the-street interviews, the most famous likely being "The Puck Crisis" in which hockey pucks were claimed to have become infected with a form of Dutch elm disease . All You Need Is Cash , developed from an early series of sketches in the comedy series Rutland Weekend Television ,
5900-551: The Worlds , various April Fools' Day news reports, and vérité -style film and television during the 1960s and 1970s, served as precursor to the genre. Early examples of mock-documentaries include various films by Peter Watkins , such as The War Game (1965), Privilege (1967), and the dystopic Punishment Park (1971). Further examples are " The Connection " (1961), A Hard Day's Night (1964), David Holzman's Diary (1967), Pat Paulsen for President (1968), Take
6000-401: The actors' heads, or attached to a hat, to give the viewer a point of view identical to that of the protagonists. The quality of footage captured with this method is sometimes poor and the technique was used less and less in later series. When head-mounted cameras are not used, scenes are filmed with the camera being held over the actor's shoulder, or directly in front of their face; each scene
6100-630: The band. Mark finally beats off competition from Gerrard to become Dobby's boyfriend, although he continues to behave awkwardly in her company. Gail sacks Mark from his job at the restaurant. Jez pretends to be an intellectual in order to impress Zahra, which enables him to have sex with her. When Mark comes to meet him the next morning the two find themselves locked in Zahra's flat, causing Ben to discover them and Mark to miss his son's christening. Jez, Hans, Dobby, Mark, Mark's sister and parents all have Christmas dinner at Jez and Mark's, with Mark pretending Dobby
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#17327661279996200-416: The character thinking at the time; it was later expanded so that the view could come from a third party. Bain and Armstrong are the show's principal writers and Mitchell and Webb provide additional material. Many story lines come from experiences in the writers' lives, particularly Bain's. For example, the series 5 episode "Burgling" sees Mark apprehend a burglar by sitting on him, something Bain once did in
6300-634: The comedy series The Muppets (2015); People Just Do Nothing (2011–2018) and the Australian Chris Lilley shows Angry Boys , Summer Heights High , We Can Be Heroes: Finding the Australian of the Year , Ja'mie: Private School Girl , Jonah from Tonga and Lunatics . Shows currently running in this format include What We Do in the Shadows (2019–present) and Abbott Elementary (2021–present). Strictly speaking,
6400-463: The continued high quality of the show itself, and the rising profile of Mitchell and Webb due to the success of their BBC sketch show That Mitchell and Webb Look , their advertisements for Apple , and their feature film Magicians . The fifth series showed no improvement with 1.1 million viewers. Producer Andrew O'Connor cited the POV filming style as the reason for the low ratings: "It made it feel original and fresh and got it commissioned for
6500-588: The couple as Mark is separated from Sophie once again when their employer relocates her to Bristol . Merry, Jez and Mark's friend from university, visits and Mark arranges for her to be sectioned . Jez and Super Hans attempt to run a pub. Jez holds a magic mushroom party in the flat. Jez has a fling with Mark's sister, whom he quickly grows to dislike, while Mark falls in love with Suze. Jez becomes extremely jealous with Mark and Suze's closeness, and outs Mark's feelings for Suze in front of them both. Despite Big Suze seeming to have genuine mutual feelings for Mark, he ruins
6600-408: The critical acclaim, Peep Show never garnered consistently high viewing figures. At the beginning of 2006 there were rumours that the show would not be commissioned for a fourth series due to insufficient ratings of just over a million viewers. However, due to the large DVD revenues of the previous series, a fourth series was commissioned. The premiere of the fourth series showed no improvement on
6700-543: The engagement, but the sessions instead focus on his poor sexual performances. For Mark's stag do, he and Jeremy spend a weekend on a narrowboat on the Shropshire Union Canal , where they meet two sisters in a pub. After meeting the businessman father of the women, Mark attempts to secure a job with him in Bangalore as a means of escaping his upcoming wedding. The plan backfires when Jez accidentally kills
6800-440: The family's pet dog. They find out when a series of attempts to cover it up lead to him eating it. On Mark's wedding day, Mark has resigned himself to marrying Sophie. Meanwhile, Jez is having difficulty juggling a hungover Super Hans, his best man speech and Nancy's imminent return to America. On the way to the church, Mark impulsively proposes to a woman in a cafe and steps out in front of a car making him realise that he should call
6900-650: The fictional Olympic Deliverance Commission in the run-up to the 2012 Summer Olympics ), and W1A , which follows the main characters of Twenty Twelve as they start work at the BBC, as well as The Office (2001) and its many international offshoots , and Come Fly with Me (2010), which follows the activity at a fictional airport and its variety of staff and passengers. British comedy duo Jennifer Saunders and Dawn French often presented short mockumentaries as extended sketches in their TV show French & Saunders . Discovery Channel opened its annual Shark Week on 4 Aug 2013 with Megalodon: The Monster Shark Lives ,
7000-527: The film (David Koechner, Eric Roberts, Chaz Bono, Ed Begley Jr.), performing arts (Ja Rule, Billy Morrison), and TV (Lindsey Shaw, Pierson Fode, Johnny Bananas) to play fictional versions of themselves. In television, the most notable mockumentaries in the 2000s have been ABC Australia 's The Games (1998–2000), the Canadian series Trailer Park Boys (1999–present), the British shows Marion and Geoff (2000), Twenty Twelve (2011–2012) (which follows
7100-485: The first time that viewers were exposed to mockumentary was in 1988 when the Czechoslovakian short film Oil Gobblers was shown. For two weeks, TV viewers believed that the oil-eating animals really existed. Tim Robbins ' 1992 film Bob Roberts was a mockumentary centered around the senatorial campaign of a right-wing stock trader and folksinger, and the unsavory connections and dirty tricks used to defeat
7200-489: The four developed as a partnership, and one idea eventually evolved into Peep Show for Channel 4 . Peep Show was originally conceived as a sitcom in the style of Beavis and Butt-Head revolving around two characters watching and discussing television. However, the idea was dropped due to the large expense that airing clips from other shows would bring as well as Mitchell and Webb's fear that, because their characters would only be watching television, "[they] wouldn't be in
7300-430: The hospital when the baby arrives, but lies to her when he fails his test. Jeremy is upset over losing Elena, especially after she reveals that she is moving to Quebec with Gail. Sophie goes into labour early, and with Mark forced to reveal he cannot drive, a drunk Jeremy attempts to drive Sophie to the hospital and nearly runs Gail over. Jeremy admits that he and Elena were having an affair, then Sophie drives herself to
7400-594: The hospital with the two boys in the back seat. Zahra and her boyfriend Ben are introduced, whom Jez meets while Sophie is giving birth. Jez is instantly attracted to Zahra and is selfishly pleased when he discovers that Ben is in a coma, potentially making Zahra single. However, Ben recovers fully, and, as thanks for being so friendly to Zahra, offers Jez a job with his record company, which Jez accepts as he hopes it will allow him to get closer to Zahra. The job does not go well, and his attempts to sign up his and Super Hans's band fails badly and ends up with him being fired from
7500-425: The job of writing her boyfriend's military biography. Angry, Jeremy ruins Mark's ambitions by revealing how Mark was raped by the veteran's daughter, which she had initiated while he was asleep. Jeremy and Hans get a manager, Cally, for their band and go to a music festival. Jez and Mark both have sex with Cally, but she quickly rejects both of them. Mark fails to ask Dobby out and she finally moves on. Jez and Hans join
7600-407: The lives of Mark Corrigan (Mitchell) and Jeremy "Jez" Usbourne (Webb), dysfunctional best friends who share a flat in Croydon , South London . Mark is a pessimistic, socially awkward loan manager who dreams of being an intellectual, while Jeremy is a perpetually unemployed slacker who lives in Mark's spare room and who dreams of becoming a famous musician. The show uses point of view shots —giving
7700-655: The making of the specials titled The Office: Closed for Business , a commentary on the second part of the Christmas special, deleted scenes, out-takes, a video diary, the full uncut music video of David Brent's cover of "If You Don't Know Me by Now", a featurette on the making of "Freelove Freeway", and a Golden Globes featurette. Exclusive to this box set is the never-seen-before 20-minute pre-pilot, Comedy Connections featurette, broadcast wraparounds and celebrity interviews (including Hugh Jackman , Matthew Perry , Richard Curtis and Ben Stiller ). A Comic Relief charity short
7800-529: The opportunity due to his lack of self-esteem and feelings of obligation towards Sophie. Jez serves on a jury and has a date with the violent female defendant. In the last episode, Jez tries to get back together with Suze but is hindered somewhat by Super Hans attempting to go cold turkey . Meanwhile, Mark, having ruined his chances of starting a relationship with Big Suze, plans to propose to Sophie, and becomes obsessed and neurotic about doing so. He spends his saved-up Sunday Times "mega-vouchers" on taking her to
7900-466: The original Peep Show series, confirmed in a Guardian article that another US remake is in the works in collaboration with FX Networks . It was being written by Karey Dorenetto and would feature two female leads, but never came to fruition. In December 2022, FX Networks ordered a pilot for another US remake, which would be written by Stefani Robinson and, like the proposed Karey Dorenetto version, would feature two female leads. In April 2023, it
8000-659: The original British series were also released, including the 2016 film David Brent: Life on the Road . The show is a mockumentary based in a branch of fictional British paper company Wernham Hogg (where "life is stationery") located in the Slough Trading Estate . The branch is headed by general manager David Brent ( Ricky Gervais ), aided by his team leader and Assistant to the Regional Manager Gareth Keenan ( Mackenzie Crook ). Much of
8100-520: The pan-Asian satellite channel Star World , based in Hong Kong. It was shown in the United States on BBC America from 2001 to 2016, and later on Cartoon Network 's late night programming block Adult Swim from 2009 to 2011. The show centres on themes of social clumsiness, the trivialities of human behaviour, self-importance and conceit, frustration, desperation and fame. Its success led to
8200-402: The programme its title—with the thoughts of main characters Mark and Jeremy audible as voice-overs. The contrast between the characters' stated thoughts and feelings and their actual intentions is a source of much of the show's humor. The show has been described by Bain as portraying "the stubborn persistence of human suffering", and, through the exploration of existentialism and loneliness, as
8300-447: The proposal, upon coming to terms with the truth that they not only have nothing in common, but that he also finds her incredibly annoying. However, Sophie accidentally finds his engagement ring in his bag before he returns and "says yes", which Mark reluctantly accepts to avoid embarrassment. Recently engaged Mark and Sophie visit Sophie's parents' house, where Jez has sex with Sophie's mother. Mark's attempt, at Johnson's request, to head
8400-401: The ratings of the previous one, continuing to attract its core audience of 1.3 million (8% of viewers). Despite the low viewing figures, the fifth series of the show was commissioned prior to the broadcast of series 4. Channel 4's decision to commission the show for a fifth series was said to be for a variety of reasons, including again the high DVD sales of the previous series (400,000 to date),
8500-563: The relationship. Nancy asks Jez to marry her, for visa reasons, and despite the fact she does not love him and he will get nothing out of the marriage, he accepts gleefully out of his own love of her. Out of concerns for Nancy arguably using him, Mark gets Super Hans to lie to Jez and say that the latter had sex with her, but after they see his reaction they cannot go through with it. Jez and Nancy do get married despite Mark's efforts, but after they decide to start having sex again Jez admits to Nancy, who
8600-524: The series also won a Peabody Award . The Office 's success led to a number of localised adaptations produced for the television markets of other nations, creating an international Office franchise . They included the successful and Emmy-winning American remake starring Steve Carell as David Brent's counterpart, Michael Scott . Bonus features include the featurette How I Made The Office , deleted scenes, Wernham Hogg News, Slough slang glossary, and Wernham Hogg personnel file. Bonus features include
8700-574: The series revolves around Mark's search for "the one". His first date since his wedding is a double date which goes wrong due to going to a boring play, his date being uninterested in him and then returning to the house to find a burglar. He asks out the IT girl, Dobby ( Isy Suttie ), although the date ends badly when they find a vomiting Sophie in the toilets, who reveals to Dobby that she is married to him. Dobby remains interested, even when Mark rejects her offer to be his date at his upcoming birthday party to take
8800-566: The series's comedic success stems from Brent, who frequently makes attempts to win favour with his employees and peers with embarrassing or disastrous results. Brent's character flaws are used to comic effect, including numerous verbal gaffes, inadvertent racism and sexism , and other social faux pas. The other main plot line of the series concerns the unassuming Tim Canterbury ( Martin Freeman ) and his relationship with bored receptionist Dawn Tinsley ( Lucy Davis ). Their flirtation soon builds to
8900-431: The series. The theme tune for the first series was an original composition by Daniel Pemberton and is featured on his TVPOPMUZIK album. From the second series onwards, the theme music is the song " Flagpole Sitta " by the American band Harvey Danger (although the original first series composition was still heard briefly during scene changes). A working title for the programme was POV , as noted by David Mitchell on
9000-427: The show". The title of the show is taken from the 1990s comic book series by Joe Matt . Instead, Armstrong and Bain opted to produce a more story-based sitcom with an unconventional filming style. The events of the two main characters' lives are seen almost exclusively from their own points of view with a voice-over providing their internal thoughts. Scenes in the show are sometimes filmed using cameras strapped to
9100-427: The show, which allowed Armstrong and Bain to firmly develop and finalise the style of the show. Armstrong said, "On the run of doing those two pilots, we really created the show in the way that you couldn't if you hadn't tried it out." In the original pilot, Olivia Colman's character, Sophie Chapman, had a voice-over as well as Mitchell and Webb's characters, Mark and Jeremy. The POV technique was also restricted solely to
9200-403: The specials titled The Office: Closed for Business , a commentary on the second part of the Christmas special, deleted scenes, out-takes, a video diary, the full uncut music video of David Brent's cover of "If You Don't Know Me by Now", a featurette on the making of "Freelove Freeway", and a Golden Globes featurette. Bonus features include the How I Made The Office documentary, a documentary on
9300-446: The wedding off. However, after hiding in the church with Jez while all the guests arrive, Mark, with visible reluctance, feels obliged to marry Sophie when Jez gives away their hiding place. However, realising he was trying to get out of marrying her by hiding, Sophie runs out on Mark after the ceremony, planning to seek an annulment because he is "horrible". Jez gets into the car with Mark after he sees Nancy kissing Super Hans. Much of
9400-422: Was announced Minnie Driver and Amandla Jahava would be starring in the pilot. A book entitled Peep Show: The Scripts and More , which featured the scripts of every episode from the first five series as well as an introduction from Mitchell and Webb, was released in 2008. To celebrate the show, Channel 4 aired a Peep Show Night on Christmas Eve in 2010, which included the documentary Peep Show and Tell and
9500-508: Was based on one he performed to amuse staff at the radio station. Ash Atalla showed the tape to BBC Two head Jane Root , who commissioned a series based on it. Filming took place in an office at Teddington Studios . Unlike most British sitcoms, The Office used a single-camera setup (where multiple-camera setups were traditional) and no laughter track . The style influenced subsequent comedies such as Peep Show , Twenty Twelve , Fleabag , and Motherland . The show's theme song
9600-642: Was made in 2013 entitled The Return of Brent (also known as The Office Revisited ). In 2013, Gervais developed a series of videos, and released them on his YouTube channel entitled "Learn Guitar with David Brent". Within three months, the series had collected over 2 million views. The Brent character also featured in the 2016 film David Brent: Life on the Road , this time with the contributions of Gervais but not Merchant. In 2004, Microsoft UK commissioned two 20-minute corporate videos, entitled "The Office Values" and "Realising Potential", featuring David Brent being interviewed by Jeff (played by Stephen Merchant),
9700-425: Was named the 13th greatest British sitcom of all time in a poll by Radio Times . In the same year, The Guardian ranked it 9th on its list of the 100 best TV shows of the 21st century. In 2021, the BBC ranked it 42nd on a list of the 100 greatest TV series of the 21st century. In June 2020, a scene from series 2 episode 1 of Jeremy in blackface was removed from Netflix due to concerns over racism. Despite
9800-563: Was the first of its kind to incorporate the mockumentary style into animation. REC , a 2007 Spanish film by Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza, uses journalism aesthetics to approach a horror universe set up in a real building in Barcelona . The film was remade in the United States as the 2008 film Quarantine . Ivo Raza's 2020 mockumentary Reboot Camp is a comedy about a fake cult that uses an ensemble cast of celebrities from
9900-432: Was unhappy with the leak, stating that the videos "were never intended to be viewed by the public". During the first video, Brent plays the guitar, the lyrics advocating his ideas in opposition to Microsoft and technology. Mockumentary A mockumentary (a portmanteau of mock and documentary ) is a type of film or television show depicting fictional events, but presented as a documentary. The term originated in
10000-408: Was widely appropriated by others and revisited by Allen himself in films such as Men of Crisis: The Harvey Wallinger Story (1971), Zelig (1983) and Sweet and Lowdown (1999). Early use of the mockumentary format in television comedy can be seen in several sketches from Monty Python's Flying Circus (1969–1974), such as " Hell's Grannies ", " Piranha Brothers ", and " The Funniest Joke in
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