The Office-Series 2 (2001)

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General		Extras
Category	Comedy	Main Menu Audio Menu Audio Deleted Scenes Outtakes Featurette-Making Of-Video Diary
Rating
Year Of Production	2001
Running Time	175:20
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	Ricky Gervais Stephen Merchant
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Ricky Gervais Martin Freeman Mackenzie Crook Lucy Davis Ralph Ineson Patrick Baladi Stacey Roca Ewan Macintosh Stirling Gallacher Joel Beckett
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI	$39.95	Music	Mike d'Abo

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.78:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English for the Hearing Impaired	Smoking	Yes, occasional
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    The Office is a truly novel warts-and-all depiction of life in a nondescript office, like many thousands of others. It is not the funniest show I have seen come out of the BBC in recent years (that honour goes to The League of Gentlemen), but it doesn't lag too far behind in terms of strength of writing and the outstanding performances put in by the lead actors. Before moving to Australia in 1995, I spent a couple of years working in Slough, on the very trading estate which is shown in the opening credits for The Office. I have to apologise to residents of that town - not for Sir John Betjeman's damning poetry - but just because I am sorry that you have to live there.

    This is the second series of the show, and for those of you who missed the first, the review of the Series 1 DVD can be found here. In a nutshell, the series is a spoof "fly on the wall" documentary, exploring the working lives of a group of office workers in 2002 England. The denizens of Wernham Hogg (paper merchants) are filmed throughout their working lives, and most of them seem to cope admirably - almost forgetting the cameras are present in the main. Unfortunately for all concerned (except us viewers), the office manager, David Brent (Ricky Gervais) is all too aware of the cameras and makes it his goal to appear on them as often as possible. He believes he is loved by his staff, due in large part to his innate (imagined) leadership skills and his (self-perceived) immense talent as an entertainer. He thinks his sole purpose in life is to have fun...unfortunately his managers disagree.

    This series begins as the "new lot" of employees from the now-closed Swindon branch try to adjust to life in the Slough office. All the old favourites make a welcome return, too - the obsequious and terminally insensitive Gareth (Mackenzie Crook), newly-promoted senior sales rep Tim (Martin Freeman) and the secret love of his life, receptionist Dawn (Lucy Davis). Unfortunately for David, he has a new boss Neil (Patrick Baladi) from the Swindon office, and this chap has a secret weapon - true management ability!

    This DVD presents all six episodes from the second series, as follows:

• Episode 1 - (29:18): David steadfastly refuses to acknowledge that Neil is actually his boss. His attempts to entertain the new staff fall hilariously flat, despite his incredible Colombo and Basil Fawlty impressions and his Royal Family joke. Tim, Keith and Gareth all have eyes for new girl Rachel.



• Episode 2 - (29:26): David makes time to carry out staff appraisals. Accountant Keith reveals that his strength is "accounts" and his weakness is "eczema on his feet". Tim begins a more than platonic relationship with Rachel, whilst Dawn realises that David is a major role-model for her (after only half a dozen subtle prompts...from David). David treats the Swindon mob to a pub lunch to demonstrate just how much more fun he is than Neil.



• Episode 3 - (29:10): David realises that to beat Neil, copying his clothes and sucking-up to his former staff just won't do the job. When he is invited to participate in some freelance corporate motivational coaching, his chance to outshine Neil finally appears to have arrived. Tim and Rachel stir up a spate of practical jokes, whilst Dawn starts to become a little jealous of their blooming relationship.



• Episode 4 - (29:17): Tim and Rachel are getting rather hot and heavy - perhaps a little too much for Tim's liking? Gareth and the local computer geek compare war stories and deeds of derring-do. David is becoming totally obsessed with his extra-curricular consulting activities, as his five minutes of fame finally arrive. His audience have never seen anything like David's unique brand of motivational diatribe!



• Episode 5 - (29:02): It's Red Nose Day, and Wernham Hogg is getting fully into the swing of it. David once again refuses to be outshone by Neil's (truly) excellent John Travolta dance routine. Gareth explains his strategy for testing whether "cripples" are faking it to claim disability benefits unfairly. Keith gives Dawn some sage advice on her impending six-month trip to the USA. When David neglects an important report, Neil is finally forced to take dramatic steps to correct his behaviour.



• Episode 6 - (29:07): The final episode is a poignant one, which leaves the possibility of a third series tantalisingly open. David is interviewed by "Inside Paper" - an industry journal that true fans will realise he has appeared in before. Tim finally calls it quits with Rachel and makes a last ditch attempt to express his true feelings for Dawn. Gareth meanwhile is offered the opportunity of his lifetime!

    The series is genuinely very, very funny. It is also incredibly cringe worthy - Gervais is magnificent as the boss from hell. He veers uncontrollably between nauseatingly un-funny, political incorrectness and petulant vindictiveness, all the while seemingly oblivious to how monstrously he treats his staff and the ever-present television crew. This is very highly recommended, and will ring very true to almost anyone who has ever worked in an incestuous office environment. Darn close to classic television - very highly recommended indeed (although be warned, the M15+ rating is totally warranted).

Video

    The overall video transfer of this disc, for a television series, is very good indeed.

    The series is presented in its original televised aspect ratio of 1.78:1 and it has been 16x9 enhanced.

    The transfer, as might be expected for such recent material, is essentially flawless. There is a touch of softness occasionally, along with some deliberate loss of focus (to support the fly-on-the-wall feel), but it is generally as sharp as any Australian digital television broadcast. There is some noticeable grain/pixelization present during the opening title shots of Slough, but otherwise the transfer is very solid.

    Shadow detail and black levels are not heavily tested as almost all of the series is shot in bright conditions. Colours are very realistic and well rendered, with a fairly subdued and minimalist palette as befits offices in general, and Slough in particular. Skin tones are totally natural throughout.

    The transfer is free from MPEG artefacts. Aliasing is mildly evident (for example as a shimmer in Venetian blinds), but on my set-up was never distracting. When viewed on an interlaced player, the aliasing is more pronounced, but again is not problematic. There was no noticeable edge enhancement. There are no significant film (video) artefacts in the way of scratches or specks.

    There is an English for the Hard of Hearing subtitle track present, which follows the dialogue fairly well, giving relevant audio cues, but it does paraphrase some of the dialogue for the sake of brevity.

    This series comes on a single RSDL disc. I was unable to locate the layer change, so I assume that it is wisely placed between episodes.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The overall audio quality of this disc is perfectly fine for a television series. I could identify no significant defects at all.

    The audio track is in English Dolby Digital 2.0 encoded at a bitrate of 192 kbps.

    Dialogue was always crystal clear and audio sync was fine.

    The title music is arranged by Big George and is a very nice cover version of Handbags and Gladrags (written by Mike D'Abo, of Manfred Mann fame). Other than during the titles, music is pretty well unused in the series. In Episode 5, the Bee Gees tracks sound fine - albeit they are being played from a portable CD player in a noisy office!

    The soundstage is obviously heavily frontal in nature, but perfectly satisfactory and totally suited to the pseudo-documentary nature of the series. With Pro Logic enabled some sound is redirected to the surround speakers, but this generally adds little to the audio experience. Possibly the most striking audio feature is the refreshing lack of canned laughter. This adds immensely to the documentary feeling of the series, and makes a welcome change from the laughter which is often heavily overdone on television comedies.

    The subwoofer is (unsurprisingly) unused.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

    There are a few reasonably good extras on the disc.

Menu

    The menu is a minimalist photograph of a potted plant, accompanied by ambient office noises. It allows the selection of individual episodes (each with five chapter stops), the option to play all episodes in sequence, chapter and subtitle selection or the following extras (all available with subtitles).

Deleted Scenes

    Running for a healthy 13:08, these are all high quality, very funny scenes, presented at 1.78:1 with a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack encoded at 192 kbps.

Outtakes

    Running for 7:43, these scenes are all fairly typical bloopers which will definitely raise a smile nonetheless. They are presented at 1.78:1 with a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack encoded at 192 kbps.

Video Diary

    Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant (co-writers) presented a behind the scenes look at the creation of the show. This crazy feature provides an insight into the japes and general backstage nonsense of the writers and runs for a commendable 20:11. It is once again presented at 1.78:1, with slightly inferior video quality and a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack encoded at 192 kbps.

    Whilst the first series has now been released on DVD in Region 1, the second series does not yet appear to be available. The Region 2 disc appears to be identical to the Region 4 release.

    The Office - Series 2 is a rare treat. The humour is sometimes embarrassingly crass - but no matter how politically incorrect, it always manages to raise an embarrassed laugh. Ricky Gervais has produced what many consider a classic character in David Brent, and a marvellously funny roll call of supporting straight men. When Matt Groening (The Simpsons) proclaims this to be "One of the funniest comedies I've seen in years", who could deny that this is classic British humour at its best. Outrageous, embarrassing and sterling stuff. Utterly recommended.

    The video quality is very good for a television series.

    The audio quality is perfectly fine for a dialogue-driven, pseudo documentary television comedy.

    The extras are fairly few, but of good quality and appreciated nevertheless.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall