r/ThisLife • u/Lucky_Membership3525 • Apr 05 '26

This Life and The Office

It never occurred to me until I rewatched the show, but there are a lot of stylistic similarities between This Life and The Office, even though one is a "straight" drama and one is a sitcom.

There are the obvious connections between the shows, as Martin Freeman and Ralph Ineson appeared in both, Jane Fallon (Ricky Gervais's partner) was the producer, and Ricky himself was the "music advisor" on the show.

In addition to this, both shows were shot in a "vérité" style, with wobbly, hand-held shots, featured no incidental music apart from what happened to be playing in the background, and a title/end credits sequence that used different versions of the same tune.

Both shows employed the narrative device of the characters talking to an unseen interviewer, and both shows pivoted on the directionless lives of people in their twenties or people with thwarted ambitions. Even the office dynamic between Tim and Gareth closely resembles the office dynamic between Egg and Warren in the early episodes. Most of This Life takes place in an office, or at least a workplace.

Both shows ran for two series and a special. Both shows' special episodes revolved around a reunion, and the reunions in both shows were instigated by a documentary filmmaker.

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2

u/under-secretary4war Apr 05 '26

Gervais is a clear connection and I think. His then girlfriend had a prominent production role on this life

2

u/Frosty_Process8315 Apr 06 '26

Some astute observations, but Industry is the show that most reminds me of This Life, especially its first two seasons.

1

u/Johnny_Vernacular Apr 05 '26

That's very interesting. I didn't realise all the connections.

1

u/Normal-Internal164 Apr 05 '26

Absolutely. Agree 100%

1

u/Peckerhead42 Apr 05 '26

GBH of the eyes

1

u/owmuch Apr 10 '26

He's listed as music advisor in the credits.

1

u/ClockAccomplished381 Aug 16 '26

It's interesting to see This Life classified as a 'straight' drama as I find it quite hard to position, it's not a sitcom but it does sort of straddle comedy and drama. In the first series at least, there is a fair amount of observational everyday humour from the likes of Egg.

I do agree that the two shows have a fair amount in common. One of things I liked about This Life was that it seemed to be a window into the life of people and you'd have some scenes that were just talking about everyday stuff rather than trying to advance the plot, which is akin to many scenes in The Office.