From legal threats to ‘the worst haircut you can think of’: 25 years of The Office
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- The Office UK celebrates its 25th anniversary, with Freeman and Crook reuniting for a BBC documentary and co-creator Ricky Gervais releasing a retrospective on YouTube
- BBC executives nearly cancelled the show after its 2001 debut earned the lowest focus group score in BBC history — joint bottom alongside rained-off women's bowls — before ratings doubled on repeat broadcast
- Ricky Gervais originally wanted Cat Stevens' "Sitting" for the theme but settled on Big George's cover of "Handbags and Gladrags," also rejecting Supertramp's "The Logical Song,"
- The Office has been remade in 16 territories, including a Canadian French-language version whose boss is named "David Gervais" in homage and a Mexican version with "Jerónimo Ponce III,"
- Germany's ProSieben launched Stromberg in 2004, prompting the BBC to threaten copyright action; the dispute ended with Gervais and Merchant receiving an "inspired by" credit
- Props master Matt Wyles made roughly 30 staplers in jelly for the famous prank scene because multiple takes required fresh props, preparing them in his Twickenham house share's communal fridge the night before shooting
Why it matters: The show that recorded the lowest BBC focus group score in history now counts 16 international remakes and triggered a BBC copyright threat against Germany's ProSieben over Stromberg — a near-cancellation-to-global-format arc that the BBC documentary and Gervais YouTube special now monetize for a new generation of viewers.
