The Office 'Australia' remake: Stand-up Felicity Ward to become first female boss of the format

Australian stand-up Felicity Ward is all set to channel her inner David Brent as a new, female-led remake of The Office is set to get underway soon. 

According to Deadline, Ward will play the well-meaning but a tad self-deluded, 'cringe-inducing' manager in Prime Video Australia's upcoming remake of the show. The report adds that she will play the role of Hannah Howard and become the first female boss of the world of The Office, which has already been remade 12 times across the world including in the U.S.A (with Steve Carrell as Michael Scott) and India, with Mukul Chadda playing Jagdeep Chaddha, the bumbling manager of Wilkins Chawla Faridabad.

"When she gets news from Head Office that they will be shutting down her branch and making everyone work from home, she goes into survival mode, making promises she can’t keep in order to keep her ‘work family’ together," says the logline of the Australian edition of The Office, as stated in the same Deadline report. The series is set to be launched globally in 2024. 

42-year-old Felicity Ward is best known for her solo stand-up career and also the appearances she has made on Australian TV shows such as Spicks and Specks, Thank God You're Here and Good News Week.

Created by the duo of Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, The Office debuted on BBC in the UK in the year 2001. What was initially received as a one-of-a-kind sitcom that followed the mockumentary template focused on the employees of the large paper company (Wernham Hogg), the original UK version started off on a not-so-promising note but achieved cult status over the years. The show's tremendous success also propelled Gervais and Merchant into noticeable fame across the world and the duo, since then, has collaborated on other successful shows such as Extras, An Idiot Abroad and Life's Too Short. 

Gervais would play the main role of David Brent, the general manager of the Slough branch of Wernham Hogg paper merchants.

The U.S. remake of the show, too, would go on to have a similar cultural impact as the UK version, with Steve Carrell's version of David Brent, Michael Scott, becoming a prominent cult figure of modern-day American television.