Season synopsis
Contains spoilers for this season and earlier seasons.
A documentary crew arrives at the Slough branch of paper company Wernham Hogg as management considers closing either Slough or Swindon. Branch manager David Brent assures his staff that their jobs are safe, then spends much of his time trying to look entertaining and indispensable on camera. Gareth Keenan treats his unofficial position as assistant to the regional manager as real authority. Salesman Tim Canterbury, bored with the work and still living with his parents, responds with practical jokes, including putting Gareth’s stapler in jelly.
Tim grows closer to receptionist Dawn Tinsley, who is engaged to warehouse worker Lee. When Dawn cries during a training day, Tim mistakes her distress for a breakup and asks her out; she tells him she is still with Lee. Brent disrupts the same training session, turning a business exercise into a performance with his guitar. His competitive friendship with Chris Finch also dominates the office quiz, where losing to younger employee Ricky becomes an argument over the rules rather than a simple defeat.
Brent accepts an offer to replace his promoted boss Jennifer, although doing so would mean Slough closes and staff lose their jobs. He later announces that he has turned it down to save them. A question about his failed medical examination complicates that heroic account, which he refuses to explain directly. Tim, meanwhile, intends to leave and study psychology. Brent persuades him to stay with a promotion, disappointing Dawn, who recognizes the compromise from her own abandoned ambition to illustrate children’s books.