New Office, New Boss In Australian Original The Office

AUCKLAND —August 19, 2024—New office. New Aussie boss. Today, Prime Video announced that hotly-anticipated Australian Original The Office will premiere October 18. The comedy series is the thirteenth version of the global hit juggernaut franchise and has the first-ever female lead in the iconic role, comedian and actor Felicity Ward (Time Bandits, Wakefield, The Inbetweeners 2) who plays Hannah Howard, Managing Director of Flinley Craddick. All eight episodes of The Office will be available October 18 exclusively on Prime Video in 240 countries and territories worldwide (excluding the U.S.).

Prime Video also released a first-look image from the series which features an ensemble of Australian and New Zealand comedy talent. Starring alongside Felicity Ward is 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.

In The Office, Hannah Howard 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.

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.

Since 2019, Prime Video has commissioned 30 Australian Original series and features in Australia—The Test Season One-Three, Making Their Mark, LOL: Last One Laughing Australia with Rebel Wilson, Back to the Rafters, Luxe Listings Sydney Season One-Three, award-winning feature-length documentary Burning, The Moth Effect, Head Above Water, Kick Like Tayla, Warriors On The Field, Class of ’07, Deadloch Season One & Two, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart, Dance Life, the lifestyle special Hugh van Cuylenburg: G.E.M, a series of ten stand-up comedy specials, Neighbours, Hot Potato: The Story of the Wiggles, Five Blind Dates, The Office and the upcoming The Narrow Road to the Deep North and Top End Bub.

Prime members will be able to watch all episodes of The Office anywhere and anytime on the Prime Video app for smart TVs, mobile devices, Fire TV, Fire TV stick, Fire tablets, Apple TV and stream online. In the Prime Video app, Prime members can download episodes on their mobile devices and tablets and watch anywhere offline at no additional cost.

About Prime Video
Prime Video is a one-stop entertainment destination offering customers a vast collection of premium programming in one application available across thousands of devices. On Prime Video, customers can find their favourite movies, series, documentaries and sports – including Amazon MGM Studios-produced series and movies Saltburn, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, Reacher, The Boys, and AIR; licensed fan favourites 1882, 1923 and Lioness. Customers can also go behind the scenes of their favourite movies and series with exclusive X-Ray access. 

About BBC Studios ANZ 
BBC Studios, a global content company with British creativity at its heart, is a commercial subsidiary of the BBC Group. BBC Studios Productions Australia produces BBC formats for the local market and international streamers including Top Gear Australia, The Office Australia, Dancing with the Stars, award-winning The Great Australian Bake Off, The 1% Club and Mastermind and produces original series including Return to Paradise and Ray Martin: The Last Goodbye. BBC Studios Productions Australia owns independent production label Werner Film Productions. The BBC Studios business in Australia and New Zealand has nine channels: BBC UKTV on Foxtel and Fetch TV and BBC Earth, BBC Drama, BBC News, CBeebies, BBC Kids and BBC Brit on Fetch TV in Australia; and BBC UKTV, BBC Earth, BBC News, BBC First and CBeebies on Sky TV in New Zealand. BBC News is available to livestream via bbc.com and the BBC app. It operates SVOD BritBox and distributes great British content from the BBC and other British producers to free-to-air, subscription channels and SVOD platforms and works with partners to bring BBC Studios consumer products, home entertainment and live events to the local market, including for the global Aussie hit, Bluey. Our ANZ Ad Sales team offers domestic and international commercial opportunities across our broadcast and digital portfolio, including BBC.com.

About BBC Studios
BBC Studios is a commercial subsidiary of the BBC Group with sales of £2.1 billion (2021/22: £1,630 million). Able to take an idea seamlessly from thought to screen and beyond, the business is built on two operating areas: the global Content Studio, which produces, invests and distributes content globally and Channels & Streaming, with BBC branded channels, services and joint ventures in the UK and internationally. Around 2,500 hours of award-winning British programmes are made by the business every year, with over 80% of total BBC Studios revenues coming from non-BBC customers including Discovery, Apple and Netflix. Its content is internationally recognised across a broad range of genres and specialisms, with brands like Strictly Come Dancing/Dancing with the Stars, Top Gear, the Planet series, Bluey and Doctor Who. BBC.com is BBC Studios’ global digital news platform, offering up-to-the-minute international news, in-depth analysis and features.

About Bunya Entertainment 
Bunya Entertainment is a dynamic, internationally focussed Australian drama and comedy production company. The company is part of the Bunya Media Group and was set up by Sophia Zachariou, Greer Simpkin and David Jowsey as Co-Managing Directors to focus on commercially driven screen projects for a global audience. Bunya Entertainment recently produced the six-part one hour drama series Ladies in Black for the ABC and the 2021 six-part comedy series The Moth Effect for Amazon MGM Studios. The series was nominated for best comedy at the 2021 AACTA awards. The Office Australia is the second commission with Amazon MGM Studios and will screen on Prime Video.

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