Paul Vela (played by Donald Ageman) thought his troubles would be over when he died. The last thing he expected to hear upon arrival in the afterlife was “Get up, your shift begins in 5 minutes”.
To his horror he finds that the after life is a vast office and he has an administration job that will never end.
This thought provoking series first broadcast in 2005 walked a thin line between comedy and drama. Paul found his job dull, especially as it would apparently never end. The only thing that kept him sane were his friendly work colleagues.
Doreen Milksop (played by Caroline Zonala) was a British spy who met her demise during the Second World War. She had learnt the ropes and showed Paul how to make the most of his coffee breaks. While Paul had a small crush on her Doreen made it quite clear she had no interest in a man she could have been the grand mother of.
Ugg (played by Barry Stein) was the cave man, assigned to carry large boxes of files from one department to the next. A man of few words he followed his instincts and showed Paul the art of surfing trolleys down the offices endless corridors.
The perpetual centre of attention was Helena Green (played by Susan Tails), 1960s ‘IT’ girl, now working on the call centre. The question of who exactly was calling the office was left in the air as Helena refused to talk about work and would only gossip with Paul about who was seeing who in the office.
A constant thorn in Paul’s side was his team manager Vincent Resalou (played by Hugo Weavton), formerly a member of the Spanish Inquisition. Vincent looked for any opportunity to send Paul for personality readjustment.
The office itself was an eerie sight, corridors that stretched into the distance, identical cubical after identical cubical filling vast stretches, the sound of keys being pressed almost deafening. All of this bathed under yellow, florescent lights, only blackness could be seen out the windows.
During the course of the three seasons storylines mixed religious and office politics as Paul learnt more about the office and attempted to meet the big ‘boss’. In the third season Paul found out that the universe scheduled to end in three months. In the last episode he revealed that this was an administration error and with doomsday averted he received a promotion. Sadly the series was not picked up for another year so we may never know just what was in the team manager’s lounge.
SELECTED EPISODES:
TEAM SPIRIT
Vincent insists that the team practice for the inter department football match but Paul is distracted. He has just learnt from Doreen that a door exists within the building that allows people to temporary return to the mortal world. Can he find it before Vincent finds out what he’s planning?
Vincent insists that the team practice for the inter department football match but Paul is distracted. He has just learnt from Doreen that a door exists within the building that allows people to temporary return to the mortal world. Can he find it before Vincent finds out what he’s planning?
PERFORMANCE REVIEW
Paul finds that his personal review has some rather nasty comments on it from people he knew when growing up. Something that will affect his upcoming performance review. In order to amend his file he must track down the people he knew in his youth and get them to amend his records.
Meanwhile Ugg declares war on a vending machine that refuses to give him chocolate.
Paul finds that his personal review has some rather nasty comments on it from people he knew when growing up. Something that will affect his upcoming performance review. In order to amend his file he must track down the people he knew in his youth and get them to amend his records.
Meanwhile Ugg declares war on a vending machine that refuses to give him chocolate.
NO ACCOUNTING FOR TASTE
Paul is jealous when Doreen begins a romance with a dashing RAF pilot, now working in the accounts department. While spying on them he accidentally knocks over a computer, amending the office records, showing that there four Paul Vela’s working in the office.
Before he knows it he has several doubles. He has to correct his mistakes without anyone finding out but the other Paul’s have the same plan. He must act quickly before he is deleted from the system.
Paul is jealous when Doreen begins a romance with a dashing RAF pilot, now working in the accounts department. While spying on them he accidentally knocks over a computer, amending the office records, showing that there four Paul Vela’s working in the office.
Before he knows it he has several doubles. He has to correct his mistakes without anyone finding out but the other Paul’s have the same plan. He must act quickly before he is deleted from the system.
TRIVIA:
Many questioned the producers whether the office represented heaven or hell. The only reply given was “yes”.
Few clues were given about what the office actually did. The general impression given was that the office maintained the running of the universe, balancing figures and making sure records were kept up to date.
The series won an special effects award for the episode ‘The Merger’ where a rival office, containing duplicates of the main cast, were encountered. This required multiple versions of the same character to be on the screen at the same time and interact.
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