The Office Australia drops first trailer - and we don’t hate it

With a mix of anticipation and scepticism, the first trailer for the Australian version of The Office has finally landed ahead of its October 18 premiere.

The local iteration of the wildly popular comedy has gender-flipped the main character with actor Felicity Ward taking on the David Brent/Michael Scott role, renamed to be Hannah Howard.

The trailer is a collage of familiar scenarios, set in an office space that looks to be almost an exact replica of the franchise’s previous versions, right down to the aluminium venetian blinds that are an absolute crime in design.

Hannah introduces herself to the camera by saying, “People ask me ‘How can I become a great boss?’ and the answer is having happy staff that love you.” The staff clearly don’t, and Hannah is obviously cut from the same cloth of delusion as her onscreen predecessors.

As one character describes her, “Hannah is a riddle swallowed by an idiot and shat out by a moron”.

Ward said, “I’ve never been so excited to play an optimist incompetent trapped in her own delulu. Hannah Howard is every bit the disappointment of a boss we’d all hoped she’d be.”

Fans of The Office will recognise motifs such as the looks to camera, breaking the fourth wall, the uptight assistant to the manager and the chaos of a loose flying creature (in this case, a crow and not the bat of the American version).

In terms of tone, the show appears to be closer aligned to the goofiness of the American series than the paper dry wit of the British one but it’s hard to say for certain from a trailer.

Whether it will be distinctly Australian is also not yet clear, especially as one of its co-creators is New Zealand filmmaker Jackie van Beek and the cast includes Kiwi comedians.

The ensemble cast also includes Edith Poor, Shari Sebbens, Josh Thomson, Steen Raskopoulos, Susan Ling Young, John Brugh, Zoe Terakes, Pallavi Sharda and Johnny Brugh.

The story for the eight-episode season centres on news from head office the branch is destined to close and all staff sent to work from home, which Hannah is desperately trying to prevent.

The Office Australia was developed by van Beek and Julie De Fina. Van Beek was also its set-up director with Christiaan Van Vuuren and Jesse Griffin taking over the later episodes.

The series will be the 13th version of The Office which also includes the UK original, the well-known American show as well as spin-offs in Sweden, Poland, Canada, India and Saudi Arabia.

The American producers including Greg Daniels is also working on another spin-off which has been greenlit with actors Domhnall Gleeson and Sabrina Impacciatore and will move the action to a “dying” midwestern newspaper newsroom.

The Office Australia will debut on Amazon Prime Video on October 18.