Martin Freeman has disclosed he felt frustrated with Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant over their repeated assertions The Office contained no improvisation.
The 54-year-old actor, who portrayed Tim Canterbury in the groundbreaking BBC mockumentary, made the revelation during a reunion special alongside former co-star Mackenzie Crook to commemorate the show’s quarter-century milestone.
Speaking on the BBC Two programme Remember… The Office, Mr Freeman challenged the long-standing narrative maintained by the show’s co-creators.
“When it became the monster that it did, because it sounded improvised, understandably Ricky and Stephen went, ‘No, none of it is improvised,'” Mr Freeman said.
The workplace mockumentary became one of Britain’s most influential comedy series
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He continued: “Which is not true.”
The actor’s particular grievance centred on a published book of scripts from the series.
According to Mr Freeman, these were not the original written pages but rather transcriptions of what actually appeared on screen, incorporating the cast’s spontaneous contributions.
“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 telly,” he explained.
The actor said he felt frustrated by claims that The Office featured no improvisation
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“So that annoyed me a little bit because anyone who knows any of us knows that line came from you in that moment, that line came from me.”
Despite his frustration, Mr Freeman was careful to credit the quality of Mr Gervais and Mr Merchant’s work on the series.
“The writing on it was brilliant but you only need to know us a little bit or know the process of it, to know we’re also in there,” he stated.
“It doesn’t mean it’s a co-credit; it doesn’t mean it’s improvised; it’s nicely loose.”
The Office first aired on the BBC in 2001
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Mr Freeman said he understood why the show’s creators were reluctant to admit there had been any improvisation, as people might have wrongly assumed the cast simply turned up and made everything up on the spot.
Mr Gervais did not take part in the BBC’s 25th anniversary reunion special alongside Mr Freeman and Mr Crook.
A representative for the comedian said he “was not available” to appear in the programme and insisted there is “no rift” between Mr Gervais and the broadcaster.
Instead, the 65-year-old has chosen to mark the milestone with his own retrospective documentary.
The film is set to premiere on his YouTube channel to coincide with the 25th anniversary of The Office.
A trailer is also expected to be released ahead of the documentary.
Ricky Gervais co-created The Office with Stephen Merchant
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Meanwhile, the BBC’s Remember… The Office reunites Mr Freeman and Mr Crook to look back on the iconic sitcom.
Mr Merchant also does not appear in the BBC’s one-off anniversary programme.