By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
Published: | Updated:
Lowkey and warm-hearted sitcom set in a workplace before the smoking ban
Year: 2004-2005
Certificate: 15
This Bafta-winning workplace comedy had a very special place in the hearts of British viewers, celebrated for its downbeat, lowkey humour. Before vaping and smoking bans, cigarette breaks were how office workers punctuated their days and this sitcom was set exclusively inside the drab designated area where they congregated.
It’s similar to The Office in the way it focuses on the mundane hum of working life within a core group of characters but there’s none of the cringe-based humour that made Ricky Gervais’s show so distinctive. Instead, it’s warm and understated, with a cast of familiar faces – including Ted Lasso’s Jeremy Swift, Two Doors Down’s Siobhan Redmond and comedy veteran Paul Wilcox – puffing away in close quarters while putting the world to rights. The standout star, though, is Robert Webb, whose Robin was the emotional centre of the show, a sensitive soul who strives to fit in while pining after his unseen crush. (Two series)
