Prime Video Orders Australian Version of The Office

An Australian version of the hit comedy The Office is in the works for Prime Video, with Felicity Ward (Wakefield, The Inbetweeners 2) as the format’s first-ever female lead.

The Office Australia will exclusively launch in 2024 on Prime Video globally (excluding the U.S.) in more than 240 countries and territories and will be available in the Prime membership. Production on the eight-episode season will kick off next month.

The Office Australia is co-produced by BBC Studios Australia and New Zealand, Bunya Entertainment and Amazon Studios and is based on a BBC Studios format.

In the series, 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.

Ricky Gervais, co-creator, co-writer and star of The Office, said, “I’m very excited about Australia remaking my little show from the turn of the century. Office politics have changed a bit in 20 years, so can’t wait to see how they navigate a modern-day David Brent.”

“We are thrilled to be bringing one of the biggest comedy franchises ever made to Prime Video customers in Australia and around the world,” said Sarah Christie, senior development executive at Prime Video Australia. “It is an honour to continue the international comedy legacy of The Office locally while introducing new, quintessentially Australian characters. We can’t wait for audiences to meet Hannah Howard, the first female boss The Office format has explored.”

“The Office has connected with audiences around the world because everyone recognizes their own David Brent, and now it’s Australia’s turn,” said Kylie Washington, general manager and creative director for production at BBC Studios ANZ. “We figured the world is ready for a lovable, flawed, lady boss, ruling over her packaging empire in The Office Australia. This is the first scripted project from BBC Studios ANZ, and I’m excited to partner with Bunya Entertainment and Prime Video to reimagine such an iconic show with some very Aussie characters.”

Sophia Zachariou, producer and co-managing director of Bunya Entertainment, said, “To me, Wernham Hogg’s David Brent was a leading light in comedy. The Office U.K. made the mockumentary form available to a wide audience, and that was its sheer brilliance. I can only hope that global audiences find our Aussie take on The Office as funny, self-deprecating and believable as those that have gone before it.”