As The Office stars mark 25 years since the landmark comedy series first aired, star Martin Freeman is setting the record straight.
The British actor, 54, played everyman Tim Canterbury in the iconic mockumentary co-created by Stephen Merchant and David Brent actor Ricky Gervais.
The series also featured Mackenzie Crook as Gareth Keenan, Lucy Davis as Dawn Tinsley and Ewen MacIntosh as Keith.
Mackenzie and Martin have reunited for a one-off retrospective special all about the career-launching show, sharing memories from the set, anecdotes about their co-stars and reflecting on its legacy.
And it isn’t without its confessions.
At one point, the Sherlock star got one particular gripe off his chest after years of the co-creators claiming that the show ‘wasn’t improvised’, despite fans claiming it to be so.
As Martin explained, there were, in fact, some improvised moments from the cast that Ricky and Stephen are erasing with their steadfast refusal.
He said: ‘It was all there on the page. However, my true feeling about it is that when it became the monster that it did and people would say it sounded improvised, then understandably, Ricky and Stephen went: “No, none of it’s improvised.” Which is not true.
‘What slightly annoyed me at the time is when the scripts were published, they weren’t the scripts. They were the transcriptions of what had been on television.
‘So that annoyed me a little bit because, well, anyone who knows any of us knows that that line came from you in that moment, that line came from me.’
The Marvel actor acknowledged that, of course, the scripting itself was also ‘brilliant’ if not ‘nicely loose’, giving the stars a playground on which to play.
He continued: ‘I can understand why there was a little bit of protection about that, because otherwise people would’ve gone: “Hey, you just rock up and you just make it all up,” which clearly was not the case.
‘The writing on it that they did was brilliant. But you only need to know us a little bit or know the process of it. We’re also in there, you know?
‘It doesn’t mean it’s a co-credit. Doesn’t mean it’s improvised, but it’s nicely loose.’
In 2005, Ricky told NPR: ‘ People think The Office was improvised, but it’s all on the page.
‘We do that because what we found is that in the early days of The Office, we went in with it sort of 80 percent scripted and we did some things and then we improv’d and we did–you know, and it gets a laugh on the floor because it’s the first time they’ve heard it.
‘But when you get back into the editing suite in the cold light of day, the written stuff is better.’
Still, if you want to hear Martin and Mackenzie’s thoughts on the show, there’s plenty more where that came from.
As the special’s synopsis reads: ‘It’s been more than 15 years since the pair last laid eyes on each other, but the groundbreaking comedy’s 25th anniversary has brought them together once again.’
[Mackenzie and Martin] will ‘share their memories of working – and laughing – alongside Ricky Gervais, co-writer Stephen Merchant, and fellow Wernham Hogg star Lucy Davis, who played Tim’s love interest, Dawn.’
The After Life star, 65, notably opted not to join the pair for the reunion special as well as Stephen, which a source shared was a ‘huge blow’ for the broadcaster.
Although the controversial comic’s reps made clear to Metro that there was no rift between him and the BBC.
Instead, Ricky will be marking the occasion with his own YouTube video special, which will also wrap in his new Netflix show, Alley Cats and stand-up tour, Legend.
Mackenzie Crook and Martin Freeman Remember… The Office airs tonight at 10pm on BBC Two and will be available to stream on BBC iPlayer.
Metro has reached out to Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant’s representatives for comment.