After doing my annual rewatch this year, I’ve come to the conclusion that The Office UK’s Christmas special is probably my favourite of all TV Christmas specials. It is a brilliant finale to one of the most influential sit-coms of the 21st century, and gives a fitting send-off to many of its main characters. As a word of warning, the following article does contain spoilers for both Season 2 and the two-part Christmas special, so if you haven’t seen either of them be sure to do so before reading this.
The first part begins with David Brent (played by the show’s co-creator, co-writer and co-director Ricky Gervais) complaining about the airing of The Office and referring to it as “a stitch-up”. As well as being brilliantly meta, the fact that Brent still refers to himself as “a good guy” and “a motivator, an entertainer” is absolutely hilarious. Brent has become a travelling salesman (while strenuously denying it) for cleaning products, after spending the money he earned as compensation for being fired on his new single ‘If You Don’t Know Me By Now’. The music video for this is one of my favourite things about the Christmas special, as it shows how ridiculous the situation that Brent has got himself into is, as well as being a great parody of early noughties R’n’B videos. Similarly, the shots of him driving up and down motorways in both parts of the Christmas special is one of my favourite aspects of it, as Gervais manages to look increasingly miserable each time it occurs. Also, the continuous idea throughout the specials of Brent now being “famous” is fantastic, as it is just another way that the character deludes himself into thinking that he is better than he is.
We also learn that Gareth has become the boss after Brent was fired. This is totally in-keeping with the character, as he was always presented as an annoying rule-follower (in contrast to Tim and Dawn). When Tim takes Gareth’s keys and locks him inside his own office, we get the sense that something is truly missing now, as the new receptionist immediately takes the keys away from Tim and lets Gareth out, something Dawn would never do. The “he’s locked me in again” line is hilarious. Brent’s continued returns to the office shows how increasingly desperate he is for the affection of his former colleagues, and his awkward interactions with Gareth while doing this are great. During one of his several visits, a key plot point is introduced: Brent wanting to prove that he’s equal to Neal and get a date for the Christmas party. The sheer pettiness of this is absolutely in-keeping with the character that was established over the course of the two seasons of the show, while also leading to some great comedic moments on his failed dates with people he’s found from the agency he’s using. In fact, one of them doesn’t even make it to a date, as Brent is offended by the woman referring to him as “that horrible boss” when he talks about the airing of The Office.
Martin Freeman as Tim is a consistent highlight of the special. In his first piece to camera, he expresses his regret and suggests a longing for Dawn through his performance. Indeed, this is the emotional heart of the special, as well as the series, and the fact that their attraction to one another has never worked out up to this point makes the special gripping, as fans of the show want them to finally end up together. It would be remiss of me not to commend Lucy Davis’ performance as the aforementioned Dawn, which is great throughout both parts of the special. Although her return to Slough from Florida at the end of the first part is slightly contrived, it nonetheless works within the ‘follow-up documentary’ conceit that Gervais and his co-creator, writer and director Steven Merchant use, as such things as this do happen within these. Indeed, Merchant and Gervais deserve credit for how they increase the tension between Dawn and her fiancee Lee (which had already begun building towards the end of Season 2) across the two parts, as Lee continues to dismiss Dawn’s dream of being an illustrator as something ridiculous.
The second part of the special includes my favourite of the visits to the office by Brent. This is when he buys a dog specifically for the visit, only to be banned by Neal. Gervais’ performance is brilliant throughout this part of the episode, and the humour is exponentially heightened when he offers the whole office out for drinks, only to get absolutely no response. The sequence that follows – a confrontation between Brent and his manager – is also great, with Brent’s self-delusion leading him to suggest that he should appear on Parkinson because he “has something to say”.
After this, the culmination of both parts of the special begins: the office Christmas party. This part is brilliantly written and directed, with subtle things, such as an office romance between two minor characters not working out, making it feel real for the viewer. Brent gets his happy ending, as he finally meets someone who believes his own ideas about himself and the airing of The Office, in that it was “a stitch-up”. He even gets to complete a character arc of sorts, dis-owning Chris Finch (Brent’s “friend” who appears throughout both parts), who has been getting progressively closer to Neal. More significantly, however, is the happy ending for Dawn and Tim. The use of set-up and payoff works very effectively, as the thing that convinces Dawn to go with Tim rather than Lee is the former’s gifting of paint brushes to her in the Secret Santa, as well as a drawing she did of him in the first part with “never give up written on it”. This is genuinely touching, and it shows us that Tim’s affection for Dawn is real, rather than the stereotype of an “office fling”.
The special closes with an all-too-real piece to camera by Gervais. I write Gervais here, rather than Brent, to illustrate that this to me seems his real feelings. He opines that he would like to be remembered as “the man that put a smile on the face of all he met”, while a photo is taken of all of the staff of the office, except Neal of course. This final part of the episode sees Brent finally get a laugh from everyone, doing his imitation of Frank Spencer.
This Christmas special is a genuinely brilliant end to the show. It concludes the arcs of the major characters that were left unresolved at the end of Season Two, with Gervais and Merchant recognising that the real heart of The Office was the relationship between Dawn and Tim. I referenced “the annual rewatch” in the introduction, and that’s because I really do think that this is absolutely essential viewing for everyone during this time of the year, and is as perfect a Christmas special as I can think of.