The first trailer for Prime Video’s Australian adaptation of The Office has dropped online, and it’s been widely judged “cringe” – only not in the way the show’s creators might have hoped.

The mockumentary franchise, which was created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant and first screened in the UK in 2001, has always been defined by its awkward humour. But many fans on social media have called this first look at the local version “embarrassing”.

“[It’s] the Raygun of The Office cinematic universe,” one Facebook comment reads.

This is the 13th version of the show (it has also been remade in France, India and Saudi Arabia, among other countries). The most successful remake is undoubtedly the US version, starring Steve Carell, which ran for nine seasons.

The Australian version is the first to feature a woman in the lead role, with Felicity Ward starring as Hannah Howard, the “charming yet pretty inept, and definitely not self-aware” managing director of a Sydney packaging company.

Intent on keeping her “work family” together after a directive from head office to make everyone work from home, Ward’s character draws heavily on Carell’s Michael Scott, a more kind-hearted (and eventually beloved) boss than Ricky Gervais’ David Brent.

The Gareth/Dwight character is also played by a woman, Kiwi actor Edith Poor (The Power of the Dog, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power). The cast also includes Shari Sebbens (The Sapphires), as well as comedians Steen Raskopoulos, Josh Thomson and Jonny Brugh.

Felicity Ward (Hannah Howard, left) and Edith Poor (Lizzie Moyle) star in the Amazon Prime version of The Office Australia

The show tackles modern workplace issues including the right to work from home, and Australian cultural phenomena such as the Melbourne Cup.

Why Are Fans Divided?

So why are people so turned off by the prospect?

While some sexist comments take issue with the gender-flipped casting, most of the complaints focus on the overly familiar humour (which some read as “cheesy”) and retread of the concept. In a world of endless sequels and remakes, it was always going to be tough to sell yet another iteration of The Office, 23 years after the original – especially in a streaming environment where you can always just watch the old versions.

Adding an Australian edge could give it interest and relevance but, as one YouTube commenter wrote, “we already have Utopia”.

In announcing their project, executive producers and writers Julie De Fina (co-creator of the Australian comedy series Aftertaste) and Jackie van Beek (who co-wrote, co-directed and co-starred in The Breaker Upperers with Deadloch star and fellow Kiwi Madeleine Sami) said: “Office environments have changed so much, so we felt like it was perfect timing to investigate what the office means to us and how our work families – good or bad – affect our lives.”

Hannah's Relatable (If Slightly Irritating) Quest to Keep Her Team Together

The comedy series is the thirteenth version of the global hit and has the first-ever female led in Felicity Ward (Time Bandits, Wakefield, The Inbetweeners 2).

Hannah Howard (Ward) is the managing director of packaging company Flinley Craddick. When she gets news from Head Office that they will be shutting down her branch and making everyone work from home, she goes into survival mode, making promises she can’t keep in order to keep her “work family” together. 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.

The cast also includes Edith Poor (The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, The Power of the Dog), Steen Raskopoulos (The Duchess, Feel Good), Shari Sebbens (The Sapphires, Thor: Love and Thunder), Josh Thomson (How to Please a Woman, Young Rock), Jonny Brugh (Thor: Love and Thunder, What We Do in the Shadows), Susan Ling Young (Reckoning, Hungry Ghosts), Raj Labade (Appetite), Lucy Schmidt (The Pledge), Zoe Terakes (Talk To Me, Nine Perfect Strangers), Pallavi Sharda (The Twelve), Claude Jabbour (Last King of the Cross, Stateless) with Susie Youssef (Deadloch, Rosehaven), Justin Rosniiak (Mr Inbetween, Last King of the Cross), Carlo Ritchie (Mikki vs the World), Rick Donald (Population 11, Wentworth), and Chris Bunton (Relic, Wolf Like Me) in guest roles.

The Office: A Global Phenomenon

It was over 20 years ago that the world was introduced to the wonderfully bleak mockumentary world of The Office, created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. While many aspects of the workplace have changed since then, especially post 2020, the physical office is a timeless precinct for comedy, and one that will never tire an audience as long as the characters are authentic, familiar, faced with relatable dilemmas, and, most importantly, entertaining and hilarious. This universal appeal has seen the BAFTA- and Golden Globe-winning cult comedy remade for audiences around the world, including France, Canada, Chile, Israel, India, the Middle East, and Poland, where a third season has just been announced. This Australian version is the thirteenth adaptation.

The eight-part Australian Amazon Original series The Office is co-produced by BBC Studios Australia & New Zealand, Bunya Entertainment, and Amazon MGM Studios, and is based on a BBC Studios format. The Office was developed for Australia by writers Julie De Fina (Aftertaste) and Jackie van Beek (The Breaker Upperers, Nude Tuesday) with the pair also serving as executive producers. Kylie Washington (Return to Paradise) is executive producer with lead producer Sophia Zachariou (Ladies in Black, The Moth Effect) and producer Linda Micsko (The Letdown, Laid). Van Beek also serves as set-up director (Time Bandits, What We Do in the Shadows, Wellington Paranormal) alongside directors Christiaan Van Vuuren (Bondi Hipsters, A Sunburnt Christmas) and Jesse Griffin (Educators) who is also a writer on the series.

What The Critics Are Saying

The show streams in full from October 18. Until then, it might be worth keeping an open mind. After all, fans initially thought the US remake was a terrible idea too.

The trailer has received mixed reactions from fans and critics alike. Some are excited for a new take on the beloved series, while others are skeptical about whether the show can live up to the original.

The show’s creators have said that they are aiming to create a new and fresh take on The Office, while still staying true to the original spirit of the show. Only time will tell whether they have succeeded.

Here are some of the reactions to the trailer:

“It’s been slammed on social, I was hoping for better here.”

“It is a 2 minute trailer and everyone just wants to slam it.”

“I actually think it looks half decent and will defo give it a go. The Melbourne Cup episode could be extremely funny!!”

“Lame, as expected. It looks like any run-of-the-mill workplace sitcom, and those are a dime a dozen these days.”

“What elevated the original series was its mundane tone where the actors played it “straight”, and one could even be fooled into thinking that they were watching an actual documentary.”

“This looks even more obnoxiously farcical than the otherwise (mostly?) tolerable US version. I’m almost surprised that they didn’t throw in canned laughter by how over-the-top all of the performances were. I guess they weren’t confident that their scripts were clever enough to perform without the boisterous histrionics.”

“There’s potential – but I almost wish it wasn’t call “The Office”

“Whether you prefer British Gervais version, or the American Carrell version, our version with Ward has massive shoes to fill to live up to The Office name.”

“Looks awful, I wont bother.”

“The answer is why and why hire such a weak lead. This show depends on the strength of the leads comedic and dramatic talents.”

“the first-ever female led in Felicity Ward” – I never watched, but didn’t Catherine Tate star in the USA version at some stage, replacing Steve Carell when he left the show?

“I believe she started as a new secondary character.”

“After Carell left, there wasn’t really a replacement in terms of lead – it became more of an ensemble show. Ed Helmes/Andy became the manager for the branch for some of the final seasons, but he wasn’t the Center of the story like Carell/Micheal was.”

“She joined the cast permanently halfway through the penultimate season and stuck it out to the end, but she was only a regular, not one of the leads (she wasn’t in the opening credit sequence). Which was disappointing, because I think she would have been a good fit as a lead, and perhaps ironically so given the show’s British roots.”

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The Verdict

Only time will tell whether The Office Australia can live up to the hype. But one thing is for sure: the show is sure to generate a lot of conversation.

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