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Martin Freeman shared his memories of creating the popular show Office differs from creators Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant.
Gervais and Merchant had long been adamant that the pioneering BBC sitcom was entirely scripted, but Freeman, who played the self-deprecating Tim Canterbury, has a different memory, saying it was “freer” than they had imagined.
Freeman said he was especially upset when a playbook of the show’s scripts was released, filled with transcriptions of lines included in the final episode, including his own improvisations.
Martin Freeman says his memories of The Office being entirely scripted don’t match his own memories. (Getty Images)
The actor spoke to Mackenzie Crook, who plays Gareth, in the BBC Two special. Remember… Officeto celebrate the show’s 25th anniversary. In one episode, Crook told Freeman, “People always ask you how much was improvised—very little because it was all on the page.”
Freeman replied: “This was everything is on the page. However, I think my true feeling about it is that when he became the monster that he became, because it sounded like it was improvised, Ricky and Steven understandably said, “No, none of this was improvised.”
“What irritated me a little at the time, but only a little then, was that when the scripts were published, they weren’t scripts, they were transcriptions of what was on TV, and that irritated me a little, because anyone who knows any of us knows that that line came from you at that moment, that line came from me.”
He continued: “It was free, and that’s a credit to Ricky and Steven, because the writing was just brilliant. It wasn’t improvised, but it was what I would call free.”
Freeman argued that he “can understand why it was a little defensive, because otherwise people would have said, ‘Hey, you’re just spinning around and just making this stuff up,’ which is clearly not the case.”
Martin Freeman played the self-deprecating Tim in the BBC sitcom The Office. (BBC)
“The writing was brilliant, but you just have to know us a little bit or know the process to know we’re there too. It doesn’t mean it’s co-written, it doesn’t mean it’s improvised; it’s pretty loose.”
Independent Gervais and Merchant have been contacted for comment.
Gervais, 65, was invited to take part in the BBC reunion episode but said: Independent that he was “not available.” He said that, nevertheless, he maintains contact with the television company “all the time about Office“
The popular workplace mockumentary debuted in 2001 and ran for two six-part series, as well as two extra Christmas specials.
Additionally And After life creator Gervais announced that he will be celebrating the 25th anniversary Office with his own documentary debuting on his YouTube channel.
While Gervais is keeping the full plan under wraps, he confirmed in his weekly livestream that the film will appear on his YouTube channel around the film’s exact release date. Officeanniversary, which falls on Thursday (July 9).
Remember… Office airs on BBC Two and iPlayer on Wednesday 8 July.