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David Brent is a Fictional White-collar office middle-manager and one of the principal characters from BBC television comedy '' The Office '', played by co-writer and director Ricky Gervais . He is the general manager of the Slough branch of the Wernham-Hogg paper merchants, and the Boss to most of the other characters present in the series. Much of the comedy and pathos of the series centres around Brent's many idiosyncrasies, hypocrisies, self-delusions and shameless self-promoting (including, but not limited to, playing up to the 'documentary' cameras present in his workplace). Brent was adapted for the USA version of the show, and became Michael Scott , played by Steve Carell . He was later adapted to become Gilles Triquet in the French version; Bernd Stromberg in the German version, and David Gervais (an obvious amalgamation of the names David Brent and Ricky Gervais) in the French-Canadian version. CHARACTER David Brent is the type of boss who wants to be everyone's friend and Mentor . He imagines that everyone finds him very funny and loves being around him, yet still respects him and looks up to him as a boss and even a father figure. He is, of course, spectacularly wrong — his employees find him tolerable at best and often irritating. One of the key aspects of Brent's personality is his complete obliviousness to how other people actually see him, and he lashes out strongly whenever his carefully-built veil of ignorance is pierced. For example, Brent often asks people how old they think he is, only to react offended and dismayed when the age they guess -- even when accurate -- is older than he'd like it to be. He also has a need to be seen as a Renaissance Man who is exceptionally good at everything, including playing music, Drawing , writing Poetry and songs, being a Rock star, Managing a team, Dancing , and even Dating and Marriage . He especially believes himself to be a remarkably talented Stand-up Comedian , and rarely misses an opportunity to play up to the cameras; his 'material', however, is largely tedious and hackneyed, and mostly consists of impressions and second-hand comedy routines taken from British comedy shows such as '' Fawlty Towers '' and '' The Two Ronnies ''. He also revealed that he was in a rock band called Foregone Conclusion, and has claimed that they were once supported by Texas . Brent has a tendency to promote himself as a politically-correct modern man, but often demonstrates an unwittingly offensive attitude towards ethnic minorities, disabled people and women. However, his various attitudes and ''faux-pas'', cringeworthy and insulting though they may be, are largely not maliciously intended; they are more frequently the unfortunate result of remarkable ignorance and self-delusion combined with an unfortunate tendency to say the wrong thing at the wrong time, and then to make matters worse for himself when trying to backpedal. Similarly, while wanting to be regarded by his staff as "A friend first, and a boss second", he displays a chronic lack of regard for others' feelings. At the end of series 1, his boss offers him a dilemma, whereby he is offered a promotion to a corporate job, but in doing so, the Slough branch would close, and some staff lose their jobs as others transfer to the Swindon branch. Brent fails to see the dilemma, immediately accepts the job, and even expects those staff who will be made redundant to be pleased for him. However, he later fails the medical, and the plan for the branch merger is reworked, with Brent's Swindon counterpart moving to Slough as David's superior. In series two, Brent thus has to deal with the arrival of '' and MC Hammer shit"). However, Brent is not "the boss from Hell", as he is often labeled. Although Brent is depicted on-screen as incompetent, it is suggested that he has been successful in the past. In the first episode he lists achievements (e.g. raising profitability without losing staff), and in the second series, he is both interviewed for a trade magazine, and invited to be a motivational speaker, suggesting that his reputation is not as bad as viewers are led to expect. This is presumably done to counteract criticism that such an ineffective man would never be promoted to the role Brent has. In the Christmas specials, he is heard complaining that the “documentary” (which The Office supposedly is) made him look stupid. For all his many unlikeable and contemptible characteristics, he is not without redeeming merit, and is largely depicted as a tragic figure, and this is increasingly so as the show progresses: a lonely and sad man who places more value in his unrewarding job than he probably should. At several points, the audience is actually prompted to feel sympathetic towards Brent. This is especially true in the final episode of the second series, as he faces redundancy, and in parts of the Christmas special where he is struggling with life after losing his job and his fifteen minutes of fame (thus acknowledging that the supposed "documentary" filmed at Wernham-Hogg has been shown on television). These are the few times when we see David Brent actually face the bleak reality of his situation and try desperately to hold on. But things start to look up for David at the end of the Christmas special when he meets a woman who enjoys his company. In the final scene, Brent also succeeds in achieving what he has tried and failed for the whole series to do; he makes the staff laugh. It has been acknowledged that Brent's character was deliberately made more sympathetic as the show progressed. In the DVD commentary in the pilot US episode of '' The Office '', writer B.J. Novak recalls Gervais and Merchant saying that they deliberately altered Brent to become more of a "buffoon" in the second series, and thus more likable. It is said that the duo advised that Brent's US equivalent, Michael Scott be the same from the beginning. Scott's character loses much of Brent's nastier traits, and concentrates on his failed and often desperate attempts at humour. Also, more obvious emphasis is placed on Scott's loneliness. Also, while Brent is never shown to possess any business skills whatsoever, Scott is portrayed as a great salesman who was unwisely promoted and became a hopeless manager. Due to the popularity of the show, Brent's persona has entered British office-life culture as the epitome of the bad boss. He is frequently ranked alongside many of the classic characters of British comedy, including Basil Fawlty , Captain George Mainwaring and Alan Partridge . He arguably has a precursor in Gordon Brittas . APPEARANCES OUTSIDE OF ''THE OFFICE'' Microsoft UK and Ricky Gervais put together two videos entitled "the office values" where David Brent is brought in as a motivational speaker. These were leaked online during August 2006. Reportedly, those at Microsoft were unhappy about the leak, and Gervais hadn't wanted them publicly released because it would suggest he was bringing back the character on a longer-term basis. In Capcom 's video game '' Resident Evil 4 '', a character listed in the game's credits as "Manic Brent" appears in two scenes driving a truck. Ricky Gervais's laugh was recorded to be used in these scenes. On Wednesday, May 28 2006 , David Cameron described British Prime Minister Tony Blair as "the David Brent of Downing Street ". Unconfirmed Internet rumors have mentioned a possible cameo for David Brent on the American Version Of ''The Office'' where he will meet his counterpart, Michael Scott , played by Steve Carell . In of the future David Brent. Ricky Gervais and ''Spaced'' creators Simon Pegg , Edgar Wright and Jessica Stevenson have never commented on the cameo. At Wembley Stadium on the 1 July , 2007 , Ricky Gervais performed as David Brent at the Concert For Diana . Alongside Mackenzie Crook as Gareth, Gervais performed a rendition of the song " Freelove Freeway " from ''The Office''. REFERENCES EXTERNAL LINKS
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