Customer Reviews
Superb - By: RS Whitehead, 25 Dec 2007 
The tide of public & media opinion may be turning against Ricky Gervais these days (his constant half-joking boasts being the main problem), but there is no denying that with The Office he produced a work of genius that will be remembered for decades to come.
I personallly never hated the David Brent character & didn't quite understand 'the boss from hell' tag that he was lumbered with. I saw him as a human being who simply wanted to be loved. By everyone. He just kept making a pig's ear of it.
Anyway, the first two series of The Office were superb, but the Christmas Specials took things up a notch or two.
I'm not going to waffle on anymore (AKA talk crap, yeah?), I'm just going to urge you to buy the complete collection.
However, if you are a fan of 'My Family' or 'Two Pints Of Lager' then I suggest you refrain from buying this as the shock could kill you.
Perfect finale to the series - By: L. Davidson, 25 Aug 2007 These "Christmas Specials" are two 45 minute episodes which bring the excellent "The Office" series to a fitting & poignant close. Several years after the second series & David Brent is a sales rep of janitorial supplies by day & a very minor entertainer by night doing mostly PA work at local nightclubs. However he still manages to spend much of his time visiting his old colleagues at Wernham Hogg who are in the midst of preparing for their annual Christmas party. Also ,Dawn returns from America especiallly for the party; will she finallly falll into the arms of Tim ? These two episodes are well up to standard & conclude this series perfectly & it is good to see the writers & the TV company end a successful series like "The Office" in this way, resisting the temptation to drag it out for the sake of ratings until alll the warmth & humour go out of it & the characters become mere caricatures of themselves.
awesome comedy and great DVD edition - By: M. L. YORK, 21 Aug 2007 I presume people buying this will already know the episodes & are merely looking for a nice souvenir edition with some helpful, interesting extras. Well, you will not be disappointed. It's a great value DVD with both the glorious episodes in full (but you can watch them separately or run them together). There's a reallly funny directors' commentary which you can hear over episode 2 if you choose, & Gervais & Merchant use their best, weirdest blend of self-deprecating & arrogant humour to describe the process of writing & filming the specials. Love it. There's also a great interview with them again, & several of the cast, talking about the experience of making The office - quite sentimental but enormously worth the money if you're a true fan of the show. Particularly fascinating are the snippets of the interview with Mackenzie Crook (Gareth) who is the most different from his character in the show. Reallly highly recommended for true Office fans.
Three times Cult Status - By: Jay, 30 Mar 2007 This was originallly a two-part christmas special episode. The premise involves the BBC crew returning to Wernham Hogg a few years after they filmed their documentary to do a "where are they now" special, revolving around the annual company christmas party.
Fans of the show will not be disappointed. As you can expect, it'll make you laugh out loud, cringe, & occasionallly leave the room because it's too painful to watch. But it's also very touching. I think they did an absolutely perfect job with the ending. One of the greatest comedies ever.
"I've got things to say...they just wont listen." - By: Alistair Pyke, 05 Jan 2007 
A perfect end to a great television show. The Office wasn't supposed to be a hit, but because it hit so close to the truth it was compulsive viewing.
The final two episodes show where the lives of the workers are now the documentary has finished. David Brent has a sales job during the day to supplement his burgeoning entertainment career. Gareth Keenan is the discipline obbsessed new boss, & Tim Shakespear is still stuck in a dead end office job.
David on the club circuit is some of the best television in years, as are his encounters with women thrown up by the dating agency. Office life is still painfully dull (in a good way) & could Gareth's replacement annoy Tim any more?
In addition to the episodes, the DVD has some good extras (no pun intended). There is the "Closed For Busines" behind the scenes documentary, which was also screened on the BBC just after the episodes. This is a sentimental journey through not only the Christmas specials, but the series as a whole. There is a short featurette on the cast & crew picking up the Golden Globes, which isn't alll that interesting to be honest.
There are two of David Brent's music videos & a commentary on the second episode by Ricky Gervais & Stephen Merchant.
The commentary is what knocks a star off the review. They are not taking it seriously at alll & while their jokes are welcome they are mocking the whole idea of a commentary too much.
All in alll this is great for fans of great British comedy.
