Season one of the Australian version of The Office debuted on 10 October last year, but Prime Video has been very quiet on a renewal for the show.
The local version of The Office was based on the original UK version of the format, created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, but it borrowed liberally from the US version of the show. It was the 13th adaptation of The Office, but only the third English-language version.
Felcity Ward led the cast of the show, in a role not dissimilar to Steve Carell’s Michael Scott or Ricky Gervais’ David Brent. The ensemble cast included Edith Poor, Steen Raskopoulos, and Shari Sebbens. New Zealand’s multi-hyphenate director-writer-actor Jackie van Beek was the lead creative on the show, co-creating the local version with Julie de Fina.
The ensemble cast of the Australian version of The Office
At launch, Prime Video reported it was the most successful Prime Video Australian original, reaching #1 in four countries.
Reviews for The Office were, to be polite, fairly mixed. The show has an audience rating of 4.6 out of 10 on the IMDB, a 71% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes with a 40% audience rating, and Google offers a 2.6 out of five star favourability.
TV critic for The Guardian Luke Buckmaster was savage in his one star review: “The cast do their best but look a bit dazed and glassy-eyed, like fish nearing their last breath.”
Waiting a year or more can be common when commissioning follow up seasons of shows for streaming services. Prime Video took over a year, for example, to renew its popular comedy Deadloch. That show debuted on 2 June 2023 and it wasn’t until July 2024 that the show was officially renewed for a second season.
In a conversation with Prime Video Australia and New Zealand chief Hwei Loke, it was clear that the show could still come back, but one shouldn’t be too optimistic.
“We were so pleased with the global reception for The Office. And at the moment, that’s where we’re kind of leaving it,” Loke said. “We’re still considering things and we haven’t made a decision.”
For those wanting more The Office, a spin-off from the US version of the show is set to debut on streaming service Peacock. The Paper is from the original creator of the US The Office Greg Daniels and will be set in the office of a small newspaper in Ohio. It will star Domhnall Gleeson (About Time) and Sabrina Impacciatore (The White Lotus), with Oscar Nuñez reprising his role from The Office as Oscar Martinez.
A local release has not yet been confirmed.