The Office Australia: Premiere Date and Plot Details Revealed

Prime Video have announced they will premiere all eight episodes of the Down Under version of the BBC comedy classic The Office on October 18.    

Comedian Felicity Ward is set to star in the role made famous by Ricky Gervais.

The 43-year-old Have You Been Paying Attention? regular will play the character of Hannah Howard, who frantically tries to keep her ‘team’ together amidst corporate turmoil.

And producers have now revealed more plot details about the local iteration.

The series centres around Managing Director of packaging firm Flinley Craddick, Hannah (Ward), as she sets out to stonewall attempts by head office to shut down her branch.

Wacky Hannah tries a series of outlandish plots to prevent her team transitioning to a work from home model, all while the employees face impossible deadlines.

Creators of the series have also released a first look image from the show which features Ward as Hannah in a black business skirt and sensible top posing in a corner office – with a view looking out onto an industrial park.

Also announced this week are Ward’s co-stars for the much anticipated series. 

Prime Video have announced that they will premiere all eight episodes of the Down Under version of the BBC comedy classic The Office on October 18. Pictured: Comedian Felicity Ward as she appears in the new series in the role made famous by Ricky Gervais

They include Lord of the Rings actor Edith Poor, 32, and Steen Raskopoulos, 37, best known for his appearances on Whose Line Is It Anyway? Australia.   

Shari Sebbens from the hit film The Sapphires also co-stars alongside Kiwi comedians Josh Thomson and Jonny Brugh.

Susan Ling Young (The Twelve), newcomer Raj Labade, Lucy Schmidt (The Pledge) and Talk to Me actor Zoe Terakes also feature as regulars.

Pallavi Sharda (The Twelve) and Claude Jabbour (Stateless) round out the cast.

The original BBC version of The Office, created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant debuted in 2001, and ultimately consisted of 12 episodes of two seasons. Pictured: Gervais as the cringe inducing boss David Brent

Stand up comedian Susie Youssef, Mr Inbetween actor Justin Rosniak, Thank God You’re Here star Carlo Ritchie, Home and Away’s Rick Donald will guest star alongside Special Olympics star Chris Bunton.

It comes after fans were assured that the local version would features the same famously naughty style as the original. 

In June last year the creators promised they would be giving the show a distinctive Aussie flavour.

‘Everyone loves the show and has an opinion about it, and then all of a sudden, here you are with the Australian version in your hands,’ said Kylie Washington, general manager and creative director of BBC Studios at the time.

‘You want to keep the DNA of the show that has made it so successful,’ Washington continued in an interview with Media Week.

‘It’s absolutely paying respects to that – we’re not throwing the baby out with the bath water and reinventing, that’s not what you do when you’re working with a format.’

Names as big as Isla Fisher and Magda Szubanski have been rumoured to take on the lead role made famous by Ricky Gervais in the iconic BBC sitcom over the years.

A popular Emmy award-winning U.S. version of the show starring Steve Carrell ran 9 seasons, after debuting in 2005. (Pictured)

Daily Mail Australia revealed exclusively last year that Ward was set to claim the role of the office boss in the Aussie remake.

The Office Australia is being produced by BBC Studios ANZ and Bunya Entertainment for Prime Video.

The original BBC version of The Office, created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant debuted in 2001, and ultimately consisted of 12 episodes of two seasons.

In 2003 Merchant and Gervais re-united with the original cast to produce a critically acclaimed and hugely popular two-part Christmas Special.

A popular U.S. version of the show starring Steve Carrell ran 9 seasons, after debuting in 2005.

Versions of the show have been produced in Sweden, France, Israel, Canada, Brazil and India.

Names as big as Isla Fisher and Magda Szubanski have been rumoured to take on the lead role made famous by Ricky Gervais in the iconic BBC sitcom over the years