The Office is getting yet another remake, but the thirteenth iteration of the show will be unlike all the others. When the Australian versions gets to work down under, the phrase “that’s what she said” will mean something very different. The latest adaptation of the hit series will be the first with a woman as the boss.
Prime Video Australia has ordered the first woman-led take on The Office to series. The show (which we first learned about at Deadline) will star comedian Felicity Ward in the role originally filled by series co-creator Ricky Gervais. He played David Brent, who was the basis for Steve Carrell’s Michael Scott on the U.S. version of the show. Until now every country’s version of The Office has also had a man in charge.
That will all change with Ward. She will play Hannah Howard, who will lead the fictional packing company Flinley Craddick. The Australian version will also have a modern day twist for her to deal with. It’s one that would have melted Michael Scott’s brain. Here’s what Australia Prime Video revealed about Howard and her post-COVID predicament:
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.
As if that wasn’t enough, Gervais himself made clear Ward’s character and approach to work will remain true to the Brent/Scott dynamic. “I’m very excited about Australia remaking my little show from the turn of the century,” said Gervais in a statement. “Office politics have changed a bit in 20 years, so can’t wait to see how they navigate a modern-day David Brent.”
The rest of the cast includes Edith Poor (The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power), Steen Raskopoulos (The Duchess), Shari Sebbens (Thor: Love and Thunder), Josh Thomson (Young Rock), Jonny Brugh (What We Do in the Shadows), Pallavi Sharda (The Twelve), Susan Ling Young (Reckoning), Raj Labade, Lucy Schmit, and Firass Dirani (Underbelly, House Husbands).
The eight-part series will begin filming this June in Sydney. With the exception of the US it will arrive on Prime Video around the world in 2024. It probably won’t appear in the United States until Hannah Howard forces the issue. That’s just what all bosses, man or woman, on The Office do.