The Office UK Review!

Now pretty much everyone knows about The Office, but strangely enough I have never watched it – see plenty of clips, but never watched it. However having late last year finally sorted out a Jellyfin server my TV viewing experience has totally changed. We already had lots of dvd and Blurays which I had converted and stored but with Jellyfin it makes watching them a breeze, on pretty much any device. This has allowed me to watch things like The Office properly, and enjoy them…

The first Mockumentary I can remember, I was actually taken to the building used in the series by an ex, but I had never really watched it back then. It was a pretty big thing when it first aired, but I have just never had the chance to watch it as intended from start to finish till now. It isn’t “nice” watching, a lot of the humour is awkward and you do often think did he really say that? But still, I decided to view it with an open mind, and I am glad I did. I enjoyed it, though it has dated a bit, and am really glad I watched it finally. As with a lot of things, a lot of the humour is in bad taste in todays world, but watched as a product of the time it is pretty harmless, and it obviously is not as bad as some others as it has not been banned everywhere. The fact it is still available after all these years on BBC iPlayer speaks volumes…

The Office (UK)

7.9 out of 10

Classic is often overused and/or misused but this really is. Spawned a load of rip-offs and a US version that launched the career of John Krasinski aka Mr Emily Blunt and others. Awkward, funny, touching at times it also includes a will they won’t they romance for the ages with Tim and Dawn. And talking about Tim this helped propel Martin Freeman to greatness as well!

Humour

8.1 out of 10

Not very politically correct but stays (just) on the right side of funny not tacky

Acting

8.1 out of 10

Some classic actors who went on to great things. Olivia Coleman even makes an appearance!

Video and Audio Quality

6.9 out of 10

It shows it's age badly in some things. Grainy and definitely shot on a budget it does the job… remember it is meant to be a bit rough looking!

Overall

8.6 out of 10

I rate it pretty high overall. Only 2 series plus 2 Christmas specials it doesn't drag on like some series' did!

Pros

Well acted, scripted and hangs together well despite being over 20 years old!

The humour can be challenging, but overall works well. A bit cringe here and there (deliberately)

A smattering of future stars and some that have provided easily their best roles so far

Cons

The humour won't appeal to everyone, and wasn't meant to.

Some real awkward moments, but it could have been so much worse…

It has not aged that well, particularly in video quality where the low budget shows!

Information

IMDB Watch on iPlayer