The David Brents from The Office remakes across the world

From Saudi Arabia to Chile, Ricky Gervais' creation has gone global

Ricky Gervais as David Brent in The Office
Ricky Gervais co-created and played David Brent in The Office. (BBC)

When Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant sat down to put together a 20-minute short film entitled Seedy Bosses as part of Merchant's producer training at the BBC, it's unlikely they expected the end result to be a global franchise that has conquered the US and expanded to much of the rest of the world.

While The Office, starring Ricky Gervais as David Brent, started out as a uniquely British phenomenon that was somewhat anachronistic with its single camera set up and lack of laugh track, it is now one of the most revered sitcoms of all time.

Such is the success, the rights to the show have been bought my many countries around the world for their own versions. Some of these shows became hugely successful – Steve Carrell is probably still best known for his role in the American Office – while others are lesser known.

With an Australian version coming to Prime Video, we take a look at all of the different versions of David Brent that have adorned TV screens around the world over the last 20 years.

Ricky Gervais, Martin Freeman, Lucy Davis and Mackenzie Crook on the set of the Office
The original BBC show is one of the most revered sitcoms of all time. (BBC)

A Slough-based manager of an office that makes paper, Gervais's delusional hero is one of the most popular comic character of the last 20 years. Gervais himself has spent the time trying to replicate the success of his first role but has never gotten close.

Steve Carell as Michael Scott in The US Office
Steve Carell played Michael Scott, the US version of Brent. (NBC)

The US version of The Office ran for nine seasons with Carell leading a large ensemble for eight of them. The fact that the show was cancelled after one Carell-less season says everything you need to know about The Office trying to work without its David Brent figure.

Christoph Maria Herbst on the set of Stromberg Der Film
Christoph Maria Herbst led the cast of the German remake. (Getty)

The Germans were the first to adapt The Office with Stromberg, named after the lead character. Looser than other adaptations though maintaining the mockumentary format, Stromberg became one of the most popular shows in Central Europe and later produced a spin-off film and a bestselling book.

Aptly titled La Job, the Canadian version paid homage to Ricky Gervais by naming the character after him and also stayed very faithful to the UK original especially by keeping the failed rockstar elements. The show used the original British scripts rather than create their own as was the case with most of the adaptations.

Francois Berleand attends Valenciennes Cinema Festival 2017
Francois Berleand played the French David Brent in a short-lived remake. (Getty)

Played by The Transporter star Francois Berleand, France's version of David Brent only existed for six episodes before facing the axe. Like the Canadian adaptation, France adapted the original scripts from Gervais and Merchant to make them more French.

Luis Gnecco poses for a photo during the first day of filming for Confesiones
Chilean actor Luis Gnecco took on Gervais' role. (Getty)

While Chile never fully embraced The Office, their version of the show has gone on to become a cult success in the South American country. The Chilean version of David Brent is known for his peculiar sense of humour and xenophobia.

Like many of the other iterations of The Office, HaMisrad satirises the human conditions and relationships and stereotypes between different genders and races while also offering a take on contemporary politics in the Middle East by including Arabs, secular Jews and African immigrants among its cast. Running for 30 episodes, the show deviated from the original show the longer it went on.

A more recent adaptation saw The Office head to Sweden. The show had high expectations but suffered from poor reviews and controversy over a scene that saw a character doing an impression of a person with cerebral palsy. It was eventually cancelled after two seasons and dwindling viewing figures.

Vaclav Kopta has a knack of appearing in Czech adaptations of popular British shows. As well as appearing as the Czech version of David Brent, he also starred in an adaption of Doc Martin which proved to be more successful as The Office aired briefly in December 2014.

The Finnish version of The Office has been a hit with viewers if not critics. Reviewers have said the show's humour does not translate very well to Finnish while the performance of lead Sami Hedberg has also been criticised. Despite this, it has been popular with audiences and a third season is currently in the works.

Mukul Chadda on the red carpet during the 58th Chicago International Film Festival
Mukul Chadda was praised for his role in the Indian version of The Office. (Getty)

More of an adaptation of the US version than the Gervais original, the Indian version was criticised by local reviewers for losing the humour in translation but Mukul Chadda's performance was acclaimed with him receiving a number of awards nominations.

Poland: Michał Holc (Piotr Polak)

Poland's version of The Office is still airing with its third season released by Canal+ last year. The biggest change between this version and the original is the addition of a leading female character who wants to bring change to the working environment.

Felicity Ward in The Office Australia
Felicity Ward in The Office Australia. (BBCS/Bunya Entertainment)

Australian star Felicity Ward has been cast in Prime Video's new remake of The Office. "Ricky Gervais has approved a female lead, he's very excited about a female lead – just in case anyone is angry," she recently quipped.

The Office Australia will be released on Prime Video on 18 October