Ricky Gervais discovers old notebook with first mention of iconic Office character that changed his life

Ricky Gervais has shared his old notebook and the early scribbles that would one day lead to The Office.

You know The Office, it's the show that catapulted Gervais to major stardom and is widely regarded as one of the best comedies of all time.

There's also that American remake which some people spend all of their free time watching over and over again on Netflix.

While plenty of fans of The Office were captivated by the budding workplace romance and general 'will they, won't they' situation brewing between Tim (Martin Freeman) and Dawn (Lucy Davis), the heart of the show is office manager David Brent (Gervais).

Brent would describe himself as a 'friend first, boss second, probably entertainer third', while others would have more choice descriptions for the character.

One of the best ways to sum up David Brent comes from the pen of Gervais himself, who recently posted a page from an old notebook he told social media he found while 'unpacking the new house'.

Gervais has previously described David Brent as 'like a Frankenstein of all the people I'd met in my adult life', but in this 30-year-old notebook is a description which the comedian and actor said was 'what I assume is the earliest mention of a character that would become David Brent'.

The character, mentioned in the notebook as 'the boss', is described thusly: "35-year-old middle manager, always trying to impress younger staff by being 'cool' & PC."

Yeah, that sounds a lot like David Brent.

As well as calling Brent 'like a Frankenstein', Gervais had also said the man was 'was just a guy who wanted to be loved'.

When I was unpacking in the new house I found an old notebook from 1994 with what I assume is the earliest mention of a character that would become David Brent. pic.twitter.com/GmsFZkOm8p

— Ricky Gervais (@rickygervais) December 23, 2024

As much as The Office provided plenty of opportunities to laugh at Brent, it still hurt like hell to see him begging not to be made redundant.

This little glimpse into the earliest idea for Brent prompted Ben Stiller (yes, that one) replied to say that 'comedy was never the same' after this point, which Gervais said was 'too kind'.

Some fans of The Office were a bit surprised to learn the first words that would grow into David Brent were written 30 frigging years ago, but it's been over 20 years since the show was actually on.

If you want to feel old, that glorious Christmas special that wrapped things up was shown at the end of 2003.

Others said that the description of Brent was 'a simple idea' but it 'led to something so impactful', and plenty more followed Ben Stiller's lead in saying how much The Office had impacted comedies that followed.

As for what's in Gervais' notebooks these days, the comedian said that it was mostly ideas for his stand-up.