It's been awhile since we've seen a dispatch from the original version of The Office, the supremely bleak, occasionally unbearable comedy that introduced the world to Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant, and Martin Freeman, amongst other major British character actors. At this point, most people think about the very funny American take on the same show when one mentions The Office, and to be honest, it's apples and oranges. (The American version began as an attempt to replicate the dark humor of the original, but quickly found its own sweetheart comedic rhythms.) But come 2016, we'll be getting an overdue dose of Gervais' aggressively awkward David Brent, the focus of the BBC's The Office, with Life on the Road, a feature-length mockumentary focused on Brent's attempt to get his old band, Foregone Conclusion, back together.
We've seen a few glimpses of what the new movie might look like already, but today Gervais took to Twitter to introduce audiences to a "new dawn," a reference to the jokes Brent made at the expense of Dawn (Lucy Davis), who ran the front desk in the office; the character is played by Jenna Fischer in the American version. The image shows Gervais in Brent garb next to Mandeep Dhillon, who presumably will play the latest woman to man the front desk in the office where Brent now works. There's no big revelation here, clearly, but any news about the return of the painfully unaware Brent is worth the time. Check out Gervais' Tweet right below.
Here's the official synopsis of Life on the Road:
Directed, written by and starring Ricky Gervais, LIFE ON THE ROAD sees a documentary crew catching up with Brent – former star of hit series The Office and now working as a travelling salesman – as he chases his dream of rock stardom by self-financing a UK tour with his band, “Foregone Conclusion.”
