“The Office” comedy franchise will see middle management led by a woman for the first time in an Australian version that will play on Amazon’s Prime Video.
Australian comedian and actor Felicity Ward (“Wakefield,” “The Inbetweeners 2”) will portray Hannah Howard, the MD of packaging company Flinley Craddick in “The Office Australia.” In a post-COVID plot twist, Howard gets news from head office that her branch will be shutting down and that staff will have to work from home. She goes into survival mode, making promises she can’t keep and launches outlandish plots in order to keep her “work family” together.
The Australian adaptation is the 13th iteration of the show that was originally created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. Other international retreads have included those in France, Canada, Chile, Israel and the Middle East.
Filming of the eight-part series will commence in Sydney in June. Production is by Prime Video, BBC Studios Australia and New Zealand and Bunya Entertainment. The show will be branded as an Amazon Original and launch on Prime Video worldwide, excluding the U.S., in 2024.
“The Office Australia” also stars Edith Poor (“The Power of the Dog”), Steen Raskopoulos (“The Duchess”), Shari Sebbens (“Thor: Love and Thunder”), Josh Thomson (“Young Rock”), Jonny Brugh (“What We Do in the Shadows”), Pallavi Sharda (“The Twelve”), Susan Ling Young (“Hungry Ghosts”), Raj Labade, Lucy Schmit, and Firass Dirani (“Underbelly”).
“I’m very excited about Australia remaking my little show from the turn of the century,” said Gervais, co-creator, co-writer and star of the original U.K. version. “Office politics have changed a bit in 20 years, so can’t wait to see how they navigate a modern-day David Brent.”