The Office Australia: Review

Despite numerous spinoffs, there has never been a female boss in charge of The Office.

That's changed now with the gender-flipped Australian version of the popular Ricky Gervais show - and it comes in the form of Felicity Ward, who plays packaging company Flinley Craddick boss Hannah Howard.

And it's to her credit - and the writers - that her femininity plays no part in how the show's perceived.

When the bosses at Flinley Craddick realise they've been overspending on rent for premise that their Work-From-Home employees are not using, Hannah is told her local branch will be closed down to save money - and all the workers will have to stay home to work.

But unimpressed with the plan for closure, Hannah commits to the opposite - and brings in all the employees and promises to meet OTT performance targets.

The back story of The Office Australia is not really as relevant as you'd expect - though the timely decision to drag employees back to their offices after it's been realised a pandemic-fuelled WFH is destroying CBDs and shops in Australia is a zeitgeist element the show's creators have stumbled upon.

More akin to the much-loved US version of The Office, it's the dynamics within the team that make this show watchable - and funny. From the Dwight Schrute-like Lizzie (Edith Poor) to the put upon HR manager (Josh Thomson), to the Jim and Pam-esque romance, there's much that will ring familiar to many who've binged various seasons.

And while initially that becomes a distraction in the first episode, by the time the soon-to-be-classic second episode The Wake arrives, those all become forgotten about.

There's a warmth here and some genuinely laugh-out-loud moments that may surprise the detractors of the show. From Hannah's misplaced belief that her staff won't need to be forced to return as she'll just ask them, Ward makes Howard a relatable and seemingly inept boss that many of us will recognise. The fact she's a woman is secondary to proceedings, largely due to the fact her type of management is very familiar to many. But she also leans into the semi-tragedy of her life well.

Smartly, the writers and directors don't lean too far into the quirky and annoying edges of the workers, and all of the cast emerge as rounded and grounded characters, the likes of which many of us will have encountered in our daily lives.

There may be familiar dynamics at play among the cast in the show, but there's a uniqueness to this latest that makes it become its own beast. You may be surprised how quickly you will adapt to this iteration of the show - and  given the run of episodes offer the same level of quality as is demonstrated earlier on, any future seasons can't come quick enough.

All episodes of The Office Australia were reviewed for the purpose of this article.

All eight episodes of The Office Australia are released on Prime Video on October 18.