Who would have thought that a 2001 mockumentary about a workplace in Slough would still continue to be one of the UK's most iconic comedy gold sitcoms 21 years later?
Indeed, the brainchild of Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant has gone on to have quite the afterlife even beyond the four walls of Wernham Hogg paper company.
Since its initial BBC Two broadcast, The Office has developed into a multi award-winning international franchise with remakes in 10 different countries – most notably in the US where the Dunder Mifflin Paper Company is fronted by Steve Carell.
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But let's rewind back to where it all began: the 14 episodes starring Ricky Gervais, Martin Freeman, Lucy Davis, Mackenzie Crook and many more iconic faces...
What have they all been up to over the past two decades?
Ricky Gervais - David Brent
Alongside his behind the scenes writing and directing roles roles on the mockumentary, Ricky Gervais played gaffe-prone branch manager, David Brent.
He was already an established comedian before this point – featuring in popular shows including Golden Years and The 11 O'Clock Show – but Brent was undoubtedly a career-defining for Gervais securing him his first Golden Globes, Bafta and Emmy awards.
Since then, he has become one of British TV's most iconic faces, creating and starring in smash-hits like Extras, Derek and AfterLife - the third series of which premiered on Netflix earlier this year.
The world renowned funny-man has now hosted the Golden Globes an impressive five times, becoming notable for his stinging critiques of the famous audience members.
His career has also led to appearances on the silver screen, including in Night at the Museum, The Muppets and The Office spin-off Life on the Road.
Martin Freeman - Tim Canterbury
Martin Freeman is another of The Office's most successful alumnus who has gone on to have a huge Hollywood career.
His portrayal of long-suffering sales rep Tim immediately catapulted him into blockbuster films including Love Actually, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and Nativity.
But it was being cast as Dr John Watson in Sherlock alongside Benedict Cumberbatch that further catapulted Freeman into the spotlight in the 2010s.
In recent years, Freeman has played Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit trilogy, Lester Nygaard in Fargo, Everett K. Ross in the Marvel universe and Paul Worsley in Breeders, which he also created.
With numerous world-renowned awards now under his belt, he recently moved back to the BBC for popular police crime drama The Responder.
Lucy Davis - Dawn Tinsley
After making her television debut on The Detectives with her father, Jasper Carrott, Lucy Davis achieved somewhat of a breakthrough as receptionist Dawn Tinsley in The Office.
She went on to appear in a number of other sitcoms on both sides of the Atlantic, including Black Books and Ugly Betty.
More recently, Davis has starred in Netflix's Chilling Adventures of Sabrina as witch aunt Hilda Spellman.
She has also played Wonder Woman's best friend Etta Candy in the 2017 and 2020 DC films alongside Gal Gadot.
Sadly, The Office star has had a relatively tough time healthwise, having battled both bulimia as well as kidney failure for the second time in 2005. 2020 also saw her rushed to hospital with Covid-19 type symptoms.
She's the former wife of Welsh actor Owain Yeoman.
Mackenzie Crook - Gareth Keenan
The Office was not the first TV project Mackenzie Crook collaborated with Ricky Gervais on – having previously appeared on The 11 O'Clock Show – but it was certainly the one that helped establish him on the comedy scene.
Since rising to fame as assistant (to the) regional manager Gareth Keenan, Crook has featured in much-loved films including Tintin, Muppets Most Wanted as well as the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise as Ragetti.
Crook has also found further success on the small screen, playing Orell in Game of Thrones, Johnny White in Skins and Andy Stone in Detectorists, which he also wrote and directed.
In recent years, the Office star has directed and starred in the BBC reboot of Worzel Gummidge.
Ralph Ineson - Chris Finch
Ralph Ineson's misogynistic, repulsive and offensive travelling sales rep Chris Finch was probably the most unpleasant character in The Office, but that did not stop Brent from idolising him and his humour.
Since the show wrapped, Ineson has made regular appearances on the big screen, including cameos in Harry Potter, Kingsman, Guardians of the Galaxy, Star Wars and Ready Player One
He has also continued his TV career, most notably playing Dagmer Cleftjaw in Game of Thrones, Connor Nutley in Peaky Blinders, Nikolai Tarakanov in Chernobyl and DCI Alex Boyd in The Capture.
Ineson's current projects include Gunpowder Milkshake, The Tragedy of Macbeth and the upcoming film version of Everybody's Talking About Jamie.
In recent weeks, he has appeared in widely-adored ITV cop drama Trigger Point as Commander Bregman.
Stirling Gallacher - Jennifer Taylor-Clarke
Playing general manager Jennifer Taylor-Clarke, Stirling Gallacher was the competent and professional antithesis of Gervais' Brent.
She went on to play the prime minister's wife in Little Britain and Dr Georgina Woodson in Doctors for more than 1,000 episodes.
More recently, Gallacher has appeared in The Festival, sitcom White Gold and Casualty, in which she played police officer Ffion Morgan.
She has also had a stint on the famous cobbles of Coronation Street as Sophie Webster's love interest Paula Martin.
Patrick Baladi - Neil
David Brent's cool, calm and collected Swindon branch counterpart, and eventually his immediate superior, is played by Patrick Baladi.
Since departing from Wernham Hogg, the actor has portrayed Dodi Al-Fayed in the TV movie Diana: Last Days of a Princess and appeared in made appearances in comedy, Stella, and crime dramas Line of Duty and Marcella.
More recently, he played Darren in American-British parental dark comedy Breeders, which was in fact created by his Office co-star, Martin Freeman.
Ewen MacIntosh - Keith Bishop
Heavy set, slow-talking and apparently emotionless accountant Keith Bishop he is a man of few words. When he does speak, his comments can be eloquent and very often hilariously disturbing.
The mysterious money man himself is played by part-time comedian Ewen MacIntosh, who has since appeared in the likes of Miranda, EastEnders and Little Britain. He has also featured as himself on popular day-time shows Come Dine With Me and Celebrity Pointless.
Despite describing the show as having changed his life, MacIntosh has recently admitted to having faced difficulties in securing further acting roles since the show ended.
He told The Sun last year, however: "Twenty years later, I’m still acting, and I’m still mates with Ricky. We’ve kept in touch over the years. And, I will be appearing with him in series 3 of After Life."
Joel Beckett - Lee
Joel Beckett mainly stuck to the small screen following his Office debut, where he played the role of Lee, Dawn's possessive and lazy fiancé.
The actor is also well known for the role of bad boy Jake Moon in popular soap EastEnders, cop dramas The Bill, Holby City and Silent Witness, and also appeared in much-loved football hooligan drama film Green Street.
He later featured in numerous episodes of medical series Casualty.
After departing from Albert Square back in 2006, Beckett has been worked mainly as a voiceover artist, having worked on countless projects for TV and radio, commercials, documentaries, films, corporate narration and TV promos.
Rachel Isaac - Trudy
Sales rep Trudy is first introduced in the second season of The Office as one of several of the new intake from the Swindon branch, and boy does her fun-loving and booze-fuelled hilarity fit in with the rest of the staff.
Rachel played the office flirt, Trudy, who stood out as the only character who would challenge her boss to his face. She recently told WalesOnline that there were undoubtedly parallels between the real life Rachel and her fictional character in that Trudy was "a bit of a party girl and full of fun".
Despite having rarely appeared in the on-screen spotlight since her mockumentary stint, the actress has featured in numerous headlines in recent years for opening up about the horrendous sexual abuse was subjected to as a child at the hands of her babysitter.
Michael Batten, 79, was jailed for 30 months in 2013 for sex attacks on Rachel Isaac when she was eight. He was convicted of indecent assault and gross indecency.
Prior to The Office, after training as an actress, she starred in ITV drama I Saw You and has since toured America for a Broadway production of Greek tragedy, Medea.
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