The Office (UK) S1 E1 - 'Downsize' Review

Investment in People.

The first ever episode of The Office (UK) sets up an entertaining and relatable workplace, although a number of jokes fall flat.

'Downsize' is light on story and heavy on exposition as it aims to establish the characters and relationships within the fictional offices of Wernham Hogg, whilst encouraging the viewer to sympathise with these characters and plot threads. As such, the best way to address this episode would be to view it as a character study. Here is what I got from the characters:

• David Brent (Ricky Gervais) - The protagonist, loveable idiot boss David Brent drives the show forward and his cringe-inducing gags and interactions form the core of the humour in the show. He clearly wants to do good, but is misguided and inappropriate, resulting in awkward office interactions which many viewers would likely associate with. Despite his rudeness and poor sense of humour, I instantly rooted for Brent and his passion for his colleagues.
• Tim Canterbury (Martin Freeman) - seemingly the most confident young salesman in the office, Tim's infatuation with Dawn was immediately obvious and although it is evident that the show wants us to ship the couple, I found their interactions awkward and bumbling and more needs to be done if the show-runners want me to invest in the pair. Aside from that, his tormenting of Gareth is amusing if a bit cruel and his constant whining is unfortunately already a bit grating. Here is hoping this is going to change as the series progresses!
• Gareth Keenan (Mackenzie Crook) - the office weirdo who is the boss's pet and has an acute superiority complex. Gareth sticks to the rules and dislikes fun, so isn't an immediately gripping character, although his strangeness did create a couple of amusing moments in this episode, especially every time he was corrected by David and reminded that he was Assistant TO the Regional Manager, which was a great running gag.
• Dawn Tinsley (Lucy Davis) - the cute office receptionist, Dawn comes across as somewhat shy but who cares little for strict office rules. Her boyfriend is instantly established as a controlling d*ckhead, although his presence did cause a unexpectedly hilarious and awkward encounter with Tim as they struggled to find a single thing to talk about. Clearly, Tim is intimidated by his romantic rival, which will likely be a running theme this season. Dawn is the victim of multiple inappropriate jokes from David, who is clearly trying hard to be accepted by her but only succeeds in offending her. Other than that, Dawn had little character development in this first episode, so it will be interesting to learn more about her in the coming episodes

Other than these major characters, there were precious little words spoken by the other workers at Wernham Hogg, except from general unrest over the news that the office might be downsizing. This seems like it will be the main focus for the first season and I imagine the fallout will form the conclusion of the season.

I love the irony of making a comedy in the most dull of all work environments - an office of a paper company - but David Brent is right - it is the people that are the most important, just as it is the characters in The Office which make it worth watching. 

Personally, I have attempted to start this series 3 times in my life and always failed at the first hurdle due to this episode. I found that there were more awkward silences than funny moments or gags, so because of that this show can be difficult to get into. Hopefully the show will grow more entertaining as we learn more about the characters.

>> Special Mention: One of the best jokes was undoubtedly David's comment about how he wouldn't let head office fiddle with his children, as the only one who could fiddle with his children would be him! The stand out laugh of the episode.

DID YOU KNOW?!

-> This pilot episode actually had a budget of £90,000!

RATING: 6.5/10