|
|
The Office : Complete BBC Series 2 [2001]
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
| Editorial Reviews: | | |  | | The second series of the award-winning BBC2 mockudrama The Office exceeded even the sky-high standards of the first. Indeed, it ventured beyond caricature and satire, touching on the very edge of darkness. Ricky Gervais was once again excruciatingly superb as David Brent, a subtly shaded modern English comic grotesque in the desperate and self-deluding tradition of Alan Partridge and Basil Fawlty. In this series, however, Brent's to-camera assertions concerning his man-management qualities and executive capabilities are seriously challenged when the Slough and Swindon branches are merged and his former Swindon equivalent Neil takes over as area manager. To compensate Brent cultivates his pathologically mistaken image of himself as an entertainer/motivator/comedian whose stage happens to be the workplace. This culminates in a comically disastrous motivational session ending with a sing-along of Tina Turner's "Simply the Best", which is greeted, typically, with stunned, appalled silence. Meanwhile, Tim, who can only maintain his sanity by teasing the priggish, puddingbowl-haired Gareth, continues to wrestle with his yearning for receptionist Dawn, a sympathetic character persisting with a relationship with a yobbish bloke about whom she still maintains unspoken reservations. As ever, it's the awkward, reality TV-style pauses and silences, the furtive, meaningful and unmet glances across the emotional gulf of the open-plan office, that say it all here. As for Brent, his own breakdown is prefaced by a moment of hideous hilarity--an impromptu office dance, a mixture of "Flashdance and MC Hammer" as Brent describes it, but in reality bad beyond description. Then, when his fate is sealed, he at last reveals himself as a humiliated and broken man in a memorable finale to perhaps the greatest British sitcom, besides Fawlty Towers, ever made. All this and Keith too. --David Stubbs On the DVD:The Office, Series 2 is a single-disc release unlike the more generous Series 1. Extra features are enjoyable nonetheless. Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant feature in a gleefully shambolic video diary--highlights of which include Gervais flicking elastic bands at his cowriter and taping their editor to his swivel chair. The ubiquitous Gervais also mockingly introduces some outtakes (mostly of him corpsing throughout dozens of takes) and a series of deleted scenes, notably of Gareth arriving in his horrendous cycle shorts. --Mark Walker | |
| Custom Reviews: | |
|
| | I loved the Office when it came out but hadn't seen any episodes for a couple of years, so I decided to buy the 2nd series DVD (partly because I remembered thinking at the time it was definitely superior to the 1st series), and I have to say I sat down watched the entire thing back to back in one go. The way this show manages to switch from moments of awesomely banal, cringeworthy humour to some of the most absurdly profound and affecting drama you've ever seen (sometimes within the space of just a few seconds) is something that will probably never be replicated in another tv show. This show hasn't lost any of it's original impact, and I was blown away watching it again just as much as I was the first time round. The Office deserves 6 stars.
| | | I think that it is fair to say that the second series of "The Office" doesn't quite scale the heights of the first. However that said , it remains amusing throughout with some memorable highlights. In this series, David Brent's Slough team integrate with their Swindon counterparts causing various problems for Brent,namely that the whole Swindon team neither like nor respect him. Worst of all for Brent is his new boss,nemesis Neil Godwin, a popular,capable and authoritative figure who patronises and outshines Brent in every episode, much to his chagrin. The usual likeable bunch of characters feature in this second series and their interrelationships are the strength of this classic comedy. Funniest moment for me, apart from the underused Finchy's cameos, would be Neil and Rachel's "Saturday Night Fever" dance. The look on Brent's face...
| | Creative Dance Fusion anyone? | |
| | I had no idea what to expect from The Office (and I was about to watch the 2nd series without seeing the first), but I was enthralled by the realistically (mostly) pathetic characters, sharply observed details and the tightness of David Brent's shirt as he showed off his unique dance skills. This is a deliciously woven poly-blend sweater (posing as a tapestry) of life as too many of us office staff know it.
Apart from the wonderfully awful David Brent, my favourite character is the sweet and hopeless Tim. He is everyman, in fact every viewer, as so many of his reactions to Brent's uniquely obnoxious behaviour mirror our own.
In every scene, the acting is faultlessly controlled and the situations are often painfully familiar.
One of the finest quality shows ever. Enjoy and try not to throw an over-full stapler at the screen. This is a comic invention that is just too true to life.
| | Second Helping reinforces Cult Status | |
| | How do you follow up on the incredible success of the first season of the hit sitcom THE OFFICE? Creatively, Gervais and friends had set the bar ridiculously high for themselves -- on the comic front with this wild set of characters thrown together into the cubicles of daily work life -- so, instead, they ventured into even darker waters and emerged with a classic ending to a show that will undoubtedly go down in history as one of the best ever produced ... on any continent.
| | | The Office realy is a masterpiece, it is hillarious but in a much different way to something like blackadder. I like both but for very different reasons the office is a brilliant piece of written geniousness it is a comedy that is written like a documentry, but if you get into it it is realy funny but don't expect canned laughing because remember The Office is a Documentry, OR IS IT!
| |
|
|
Home
View Cart
Bookmark This Page
Contact Us
