TV Series Review: The Office - Australia (Prime Video) (2024) *No Spoilers*

While I'm a late comer fan of The Office, only watching after the original and USA versions were both available on streaming services, I did watch them in the order of release i.e. I watched the U.K. version first.

Now, with the release of the Australian version of The Office on Prime Video, I think it's best to approach watching this new version understanding that it is not those shows.

More importantly, remembering the US version was not well received or as popular as it has become since streaming became a thing. I personally remember people often saying the original version was better, back in the day.

Of course, the Australian version has analogues for all the same characters you're familiar with from the previous versions, with their characteristics, so you can easily see who is the Aussie version of each character.

While there are actually 13 different adaptations of the series worldwide, I was surprised to learn this is the first time the boss has been female. No doubt there will be a fringe minority suggesting the Aussie's went 'woke' with this choice but it's really inconsequential since the character still isn't aspirational.

Plot wise, the show starts with Hannah Howard (Felicity Ward), managing director of Packaging Supplier, Flinley Craddick, learns that her branch will be shut down to work remotely, she goes into survival mode, making promises she can't keep in order to keep her "work family" together.

Over eight episodes this bookends the series with other subplots featuring episode to episode.

Like previous versions the show is shot, mockumentary style, giving a heightened realism to the show despite some of the more outlandish setups.

As with any new show the first episode will always be under pressure to deliver. While I didn't think it was laugh out loud funny, I definitely felt there was potential for this to find its feet, if given the chance, as later episodes are stronger, with more story of the supporting cast coming into play.

I feel the show is well cast, with believable acting given the scenarios the cast have to work with. Steve Carell (Michael Scott - US Office) is on record as saying The Office wouldn't work if launched in today's environment, and looking at the Aussie series, it's really stretching the limits of what would be acceptable in modern office environments.

Despite that, it's still fun, and a lot less 'brown' than its predecessors. That is, the Aussie office is a much brighter space... not so much brown decor.

Felicity Ward's Hannah is a little jarring at first because it is hard to see how someone that out going and gregarious ever made it to managing director of an office. However her antics do level out to be a little less over the top while still being eye raising and actually being shown as HR issues that do get addressed from time to time.

As I said, the show does have potential to be a unique, Aussie take on a classic show. Now the writers can properly visualise this cast and what they bring to their roles there's certainly an opportunity to let this one be it's own thing in as much as a series based upon a series, that is based upon a series can.

Don't let anyone tell you this is bad. It's not. It's just new, and unfortunately has to try to live up to at least two versions of the series that have become beloved world wide.

Give it a chance and it could be your new office fix instead of watching reruns and hoping for a reunion.