The Office Australia gets its first trailer

We’ve had The Office UK. We’ve had The Office US. And now, The Office Australia will be heading to screens this autumn, too.

First dreamed up in 2001 by British comedian Ricky Gervais, the premise of The Office is simple: staff in the department of a soulless paper company (or packaging company) have to contend both with the banality of their day-to-day job and with their overly demanding boss.

In the UK, that was Gervais’s David Brent. When it launched in the US in 2005, that became Steve Carell’s Michael Scott.

Both shows have been critically acclaimed and are beloved by millions – so, when The Office Aus was announced earlier this year, fans greeted the news with excitement.

It has big shoes to fill – and now, the first trailer for the show has dropped. In it, we’re introduced to the kooky cast for the first time, as well as the show’s unhinged boss Hannah (Felicity Ward).

Here’s what we know.

Is Ricky Gervais involved in The Office Australia?

Not that we know of: the show has instead been written and adapted by Julie De Fina (Aftertaste) and Jackie van Beek (The Breaker Upperers).

However, Gervais has spoken about the upcoming show, saying, “I’m very excited about Australia remaking my little show from the turn of the century. Office politics have changed a bit in 20 years, so can’t wait to see how they navigate a modern-day David Brent.”

Who’s in the cast?

Happily for us, the cast is packed with some of the best comedic talent from Australia – and yes, New Zealand, too.

Aussie comedian Felicity Ward will be starring as Hannah Howard, the temperamental office boss type previously played by Gervais and Carell. She is, in fact, the managing director of Flinley Craddick, a packaging company.

She’ll be joined by Edith Poor, Steen Raskopoulos, Shari Sebbens, Josh Thomson, Jonny Brugh, Susan Ling Young, Raj Labade, Lucy Schmidt, Zoe Terakes, Pallavi Sharda, and Claude Jabbour as main cast members.

There’ll also be guest stars making an appearance, and some of these include Susie Youssef, Justin Rosniak, and Chris Bunton.

What’s the plot?

Presumably, much of the action will be taking place in and around Flinley Craddick, and the network has dropped a few hints about the plot so far. When Hannah gets news from head office that her branch is being shut down and moving to a WFH system, she wants to keep her “work family” from falling apart and therefore starts making outlandish promises to save it.

"The staff of Flinley Craddick indulge her and must endure Hannah’s outlandish plots as they work toward the impossible targets that have been set for them." Sounds stressful.

When will it be out?

The show is coming out soon: all episodes will be dropping on Prime Video from October 18. Perfect, in other words, for bingeing.

Is there a trailer?

Yes, we’ve popped it at the top of the page.