If there was ever a task to make any writer feel the pressure of living up to past glories then writing "The Office" Christmas special was it.  Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant must have felt a certain sense of Deja-Vu as they have indeed been here before.  The first series of "The Office " was almost instantly heralded as THE classic comedy of our generation, destined for a place alongside the likes of "Fawlty Towers" in the annals of comedy history.  The news of a second series was met with excitement, but also skepticism from those who believed it could never live up to the original. 

When the equally brilliant second series was screened however, the heathens were swiftly proved wrong and condemned to humility and pride swallowing with a side-order of bashfulness.  And yet, despite the embarrassment of being so terribly wrong last time, the announcement of a feature length Christmas special brought them straight back out of their skeptical, pessimistic woodwork, recycling the same old arguments.

Happily these doubters (infidels, heretics, unbelievers, pagans, call them what you will) have again been proved wrong and thus are doomed to metaphorically fan Gervais and Merchant with metaphorical palm leaves in their metaphorical Roman palace of comedy, metaphorically.  The two part special effortlessly meets, and perhaps exceeds, even the highest of expectations it inspired, providing us with everything that made the series so good, but in bigger, Christmas-size helpings.

All the ingredients that make "The Office " great; the embarrassment, the inappropriateness, the poignancy and, of course, the comedy; were present in perfect measures.

(If you haven't seen it yet, and don't want to know what happens, stop reading now!)

Set about a year after the "Documentary" was shown, we catch up with the major characters in the few days running up to the office Christmas party.  Most are, predictably, still stuck in their dead end jobs at paper merchants "Wernham Hogg".  Gareth has become office manager, a few new faces have joined the team and Tim generally appears to be nearing the point of despair. Receptionist Dawn, and fiancé Lee, have relocated to Florida but are being flown over specially by the documentary makers for the party, while ex-boss David Brent has blown his redundancy money on releasing a single and now makes his money selling office cleaning products door-to-door and making z-list celebrity appearances, at least when he isn't dropping in unannounced at "Wernham Hogg".

One of the greatest strengths of "The Office" has always been it's ability to be more than "just a sitcom" while remaining too funny to fall into the trap of being labeled a "comedy-drama".  If the comedy-drama genre had not been saturated with what are basically sitcoms that forgot to put enough jokes in then perhaps "The Office " would be one of the very few shows that would truly live up to the moniker.  You genuinely feel for the characters, share their embarrassment, sympathise with their sadness and delight in their happiness.

It's a happy ending all round, particularly as Tim and Dawn finally get together, but on a more subtle level you also feel that David Brent himself has reached a turning point in his life, with a chance of happiness on the horizon and the realization that he doesn't have to go along with the crowd.  No doubt many viewers will have felt the urge to cheer when the odious Chris Finch is finally told to "F*ck off!".

Ricky Gervais has gone on the record as saying this will definitely be the last outing for "The Office" and the change in David Brent seems to reinforce this, almost like an insurance policy against the big money lures that are likely to come his and Stephen Merchants way, as TV executives will no doubt be begging for more.  We will of course be excited and optimistic if the team ever does return in the future, but, begrudging as it is to admit, stopping now, on such a high, will assure "The Office " it's place in comedy history.

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(Watch the Clip on the BBCi Website - Requires RealPlayer)
In this scene Gareth Keenan chairs an important meeting about what
should be included at the forthcoming Christmas party.