High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The Office is a British sitcom that was originally broadcast by the BBC in the United Kingdom from 2001 to 2003. The television programme was created and written by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant; the former also played the main character, manager David Brent. The series is set in the Slough office of a fictional paper merchant, Wernham Hogg, and is presented in a mockumentary format depicting the everyday lives of its employees.