‘There’s our version and this brilliant cover version’

Twenty years ago today, The Office’ debuted in the US asa remake of the British hit co-created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. The pair speak to Simon Bland about going out on a limb and taking their Slough series Stateside

- Simon Bland

“People loved The Office, which was a big problem,” says Ricky Gervais in an exclusive interview with The Independent, recalling the unusual but flattering issue facing its much-loved American counterpart, which turns 20 today. “All of the people who knew The Office loved The Office, and they were the industry. People were assuming [the remake] was going to be hated.”

When it comes to bringing British telly to the US, the track record hasn’t been great. Blighty classics such as Spaced, The Vicar of Dibley, This Country and even Taskmaster have each had a punt at Stateside success; all were swiftly and unceremoniously cancelled. So when Gervais and The Office cocreator Stephen Merchant got a call from TV producer Ben Silverman saying he wanted to adapt their drab workplace mockumentary for an American crowd, expectations were immediately low.

“I’d seen 30 years of every single remake failing,” says Gervais. “Some were pulled after the first episode because advertising was so important. They’d just kill it. [But] I thought ‘Why not?’ I’ve got nothing to lose, nothing to beat. It’ll be fun.’”

Merchant, a longtime mega-fan of the all-American sitcom, had a similar attitude. “The idea of an American version always seemed exciting to me,” he tells me, highlighting his love of US classics like M.A.S.H, Roseanne and Cheers. “But when it first got mooted, there had been such a lack of success in remaking British shows that I was a little circumspect about what our chances were, but at the same time, I was enthusiastic.”