Season 1
The Office Christmas Special is a British mockumentary-style two-part comedy special created, written and directed by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant to conclude the series The Office, which revisits the day-to-day lives of office employees in the Slough, Berkshire branch of the fictitious Wernham-Hogg Paper Company three years after the conclusion of the series.
Although fictional and scripted, the specials take the form of a documentary (a fictional documentary, i.e. a mockumentary), with the presence of the camera often acknowledged.
The Office Christmas Special premiered in South Africa on TopTV's Fox FX channel on 14 June 2012, at 21h40 (Part 1). Part 2 aired on Fox FX on 21 June 2012, at 22h00. There are two parts to the special; each is 50 minutes long.
Part 1
It's been three years since the BBC documentary crew first turned up at the office. Back for one last visit, they find Gareth Keenan now in charge and as the staff of Wernham Hogg know all too well, he runs the office with a military precision.
Since we last saw David Brent he has become a sales rep for a cleaning products company, released his own pop single and has acquired a showbiz agent to look after his celebrity appearances.
He visits his old place of work regularly, despite him successfully suing Wernham Hogg for unfair dismissal.
The big news as far as Tim is concerned is the imminent arrival of Dawn.
The documentary crew has kindly offered to fly Dawn and boyfriend Lee from Florida back to Slough for the office Christmas party - an event that may well have a wet T-shirt competition if Keith has anything to do with it.
Part 2
Tim's world is rocked when Dawn turns up at the office to say hello. Despite a stern warning from Gareth and wise words from Keith in Accounts, Tim can't help but get his hopes up again.
Meanwhile, David Brent secures the services of a dating agency and, in between making celebrity appearances in nightclubs for £500 a go, he meets up for drinks with a rather disappointing selection of single women.
The office Christmas party kicks off like any other but there are a few surprises in store.
The first is the arrival of David Brent's date, who turns out to be a very attractive and intelligent woman (almost as intelligent as David).
The second involves Dawn, who had left early with boyfriend Lee, but who later returns alone, marching straight into the arms of Tim.
Seasons
Season 1 (6 episodes)
Channel: SABC3 | Premiere: 1 Apr 2003 | Finale: 6 May 2003 | Tuesdays, 22h00
Channel: BBC Prime | Premiere: 16 Mar 2004 | Finale: 23 Mar 2004 | Tuesdays, 22h00
Channel: Fox FX | Premiere: 28 Apr 2012 | Finale: 29 Apr 2012 | Daily, 21h15
Season 2 (6 episodes)
Channel: SABC3 | Premiere: 13 May 2003 | Finale: 17 Jun 2003 | Tuesdays, 22h00
Channel: BBC Prime | Premiere: 30 Mar 2004 | Finale: 6 Apr 2004 | Tuesdays, 22h00
Channel: Fox FX | Premiere: 3 May 2012 | Finale: 7 Jun 2012 | Thursdays, 21h35
Christmas Special (2 episodes)
Channel: Fox FX | Premiere: 14 Jun 2012 | Finale: 21 Jun 2012 | Thursdays, 21h40/22h00