David Brent (Gervais), forcibly made redundant at the end of the second series, is now a travelling salesman of cleaning supplies.

Tim Canterbury (Martin Freeman) and Gareth Keenan (Mackenzie Crook) are still working at the offices of Wernham Hogg, and former Wernham Hogg receptionist Dawn Tinsley (Lucy Davis), now living in Florida, is flown back to Britain by the documentary crew to reunite with her old colleagues.

After being made redundant from Wernham Hogg, David Brent (Ricky Gervais) is now a travelling salesman who, following a failed single release of a cover of "If You Don't Know Me By Now," leeches off what little fame he has in a series of demeaning nightclub appearances.

In the office, Gareth Keenan (Mackenzie Crook) is now the general manager and Tim Canterbury (Martin Freeman) is still trapped in a job he hates with an obnoxious, pregnant desk-mate Anne (Elizabeth Berrington).

When the programme makers offer to fly Dawn and Lee back for the office Christmas party, along with the appearance of David Brent, the scene is set for a reunion.

In the taxi, Dawn opens her "Secret Santa" present: an oil painting set from Tim with the words, "Never give up" written next to her sketch of him, which she had made earlier in the day.

In an interview published in Heat in May 2003, Gervais announced that he and Merchant had begun writing a two-part Christmas special.

[1] That November, a beauty technician from Saffron Walden called Joanne Hiley claimed to have been sent the scripts in the post by mistake.

[6] A "clerical error" at the BBC meant Gervais was initially omitted for consideration for a British Academy Television Award for Best Comedy Performance in 2004.

[7] A last-minute reprieve allowed Gervais to be included on the list, and he went on to win the BAFTA for Best Comedy Performance.

[9] The RTS jury commented "The problem of writing a final episode of a much-loved comedy was fully resolved.

In a preview in The Hollywood Reporter, Cynthia Littleton highlighted the scene where Brent tells Carol that the documentary crew edited his antics to make him look like a fool as being true to life, comparing it to the various real-life lawsuits filed by Survivor contestants against CBS.

[13] In The New York Times, Alessandra Stanley wrote that the specials are "as wickedly, painfully funny as the first two seasons and, in tiny, fleeting doses, as delicately tender".

[16] The episodes won in the Outstanding Achievement in Movies, Mini-series & Specials category at the American Television Critics Association Awards.

Extra features include an audio commentary on Part 2 by Merchant and Gervais, a retrospective documentary entitled The Office: Closed For Business, the full video for Brent's version of "If You Don't Know Me By Now", a featurette about the cast and crew collecting the Golden Globes, and a studio version of "Free Love Freeway"—Brent's song from Series 1, Episode 4.