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1. Its inspiration came from close to home

Mackenzie Crook as Gareth

Gareth is based on a kid I went to school with. That’s why Gareth’s an adolescent.

Ricky Gervais

Throughout the show, Ricky was open about sharing his influences on The Office – everything from Laurel and Hardy to films like The Graduate. But one major inspiration was to be found in the corridors of the institution that commissioned his vision. What’s Funny About presenter (and producer of The Office) Jon Plowman asked Ricky at the time how it was possible for someone as terrible as David Brent to keep his job. Ricky’s reply was, “Let’s take a walk around the Â鶹ԼÅÄ shall we?” It appears there were enough Brents at the Corporation to pacify the producer.

2. Gareth is a child

One theme of the show that Ricky identified was portraying "men as boys". While the female characters in The Office acted as grown-ups, their male counterparts are all somewhat childlike. Gareth in particular seems to be a teenager in a man’s body. This is because he was. As Ricky explains: “Gareth is based on a kid I went to school with. That’s why Gareth’s an adolescent.” This proto-Gareth had a plethora of ludicrous opinions and facts, just like his fictional avatar. “I had about 50 of these things that this 14-year-old boy said to me. You put it in this adult and it’s hilarious.”

3. Moments were taken straight from Ricky’s life

The moment that convinced producer Jon Plowman that he needed to make this show was when he saw David Brent miming a Pinocchio nose as he lied down the phone to someone. This actually happened to Ricky in real life when, as a 17-year-old, he tried to get a summer job from a very Brenty recruiter. “He didn’t look like David Brent, he had a ponytail. He was about 35 with a bad suit and glasses. And he did the Pinocchio thing. It was this weird juxtaposition of ‘trust me’ but also ‘I’m stitching up a friend for you guys – that’s how much you can trust me.’”

4. Casting was essential

Yes, he is an idiot, but he’s my idiot. Comedy celebrates imperfection.

Ricky Gervais on David Brent

Ricky had only previously worked with Martin Freeman and Mackenzie Crook, who played Tim and Gareth in the show. “I don’t think I knew or had heard of anyone else.” But he insisted on getting actors at the start of their careers to play background roles, or sometimes extras were given lines if they looked the part. And while docu-soaps are commonplace now, when the show began they were rare, with entirely fictional ones even rarer. So convincing the actors "not to act" was tricky. “It was hard to show people what we meant. The realism, the nervousness. All the things that looked odd on the telly. It did look odd. It still looks odd.”

5. The show had heart

While the excruciating behaviour of David Brent provided many memorable moments in The Office, it was the love story between Tim and office receptionist Dawn that gave the show its heart. As Ricky states: “People tuned in for David Brent but stayed for Tim and Dawn.” Again it was an unusual influence that convinced Ricky to include a love story in the sitcom. “I loved the Marx Brothers growing up. They were crazy people doing crazy things. But they were doing crazy things to bring two lovers together. So you let them do anything because there was a cause.” Brent could be as ridiculous as he wanted as long as Tim and Dawn grounded the show.

6. Brent had to be sympathetic

Though he can be boorish, embarrassing and spineless, David Brent had to keep the audience on his side to make the comedy work. As Ricky explains: “Yes, he is an idiot, but he’s my idiot. Comedy celebrates imperfection. That’s what we like about someone – they fall over for our pleasure and as long as they get back up again they’re doing their job.” Though you would never want to be friends with Brent in real life, it’s fun to spend 30 minutes with him once a week.

7. Brent’s musical side couldn’t be too broad

One important aspect of David Brent’s character was his desire to be seen as a renaissance man, combining comedy, music and practically every other art-form, often at the most inappropriate times. But Ricky knew that Brent’s songs couldn’t be "comedy" songs, as it would be less believable. “They were not comedy songs. They were OK songs that a middle-manager at a paper merchant in Slough should not be singing. He’s the boss, he should not be doing that song.” It was the situation, rather than the content, that drove the comedy.

8. Success came by not trying

Ricky revealed that he shook off the pressure of making a second series that would equal the success of the first by not thinking about it. As he told himself at the time: “You got it right by not knowing what people wanted. So do that again. One of my favourite phrases is: ‘To lead the orchestra you’ve got to turn your back on the audience’.” His inexperience allowed him to create something unique, so he simply attempted to repeat that formula.

9. Not everyone was a fan

While the show’s influence has grown massively since it first aired, at the time it was a moderate success, with decent viewing figures, but not so impressive that Â鶹ԼÅÄ higher-ups might have wanted to get involved and share in the glory. And some of the reviews were not universally glowing, as people tried to get to grips with the show. In fact, its first ever review was in the Evening Standard by Victor Lewis-Smith, as Ricky has obviously never forgotten. “It said, ‘Gervais sometimes fluffs his lines.’ Like we’d leave it in!”

10. It deals with the big issues

The show went on to be remade in the States and became a massive success over there. And Ricky thinks he knows why it worked in America and is still beloved here. “The big reason it worked is because the themes are universal. As quintessentially English as it seems, it’s actually about the big issues. Boy meets girl, Wanting to be loved.”

To learn more, listen to What's Funny About... Ricky Gervais on The Office