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The Office Watch Order

By the Bingerun team · How we choose the order →

The Office universe is 14 entries across three continuities: the UK original (Series 1, Series 2 and the essential 2003 Christmas Special), the US series (9 seasons, 2005-2013) and The Paper (Season 1 in 2025, with Season 2 arriving 9 September 2026). Release order handles all of it, and you can start at any of the three branches.

0 / 14 done
  1. The Office (UK) Series 1 2001

    The Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant original at Wernham Hogg in Slough; 6 episodes on BBC Two, and one of two valid franchise entry points, not required homework for the US show or The Paper

  2. The Office (UK) Series 2 2002

    Direct continuation (the Swindon merger, Brent's decline); its ending is deliberately unresolved, so it must be followed by the Christmas Special

  3. The Office (UK) Christmas Special 2003

    The true UK finale: a two-part special set three years after the documentary aired in-world, resolving Tim, Dawn and Brent; skipping it is the most common UK-branch mistake

  4. RemakeThe Office (US) Season 1 2005

    Start of a separate American continuity, its pilot adapting the UK script nearly beat for beat; famously the weakest season, but only 6 episodes and it seeds every major relationship

  5. The Office (US) Season 2 2005

    Where the US show finds its own warmer voice and Michael becomes his own character rather than a Brent copy; the season most often cited as the real hook

  6. The Office (US) Season 3 2006

    The Scranton and Stamford branch merger season, introducing Andy Bernard, who ends up mattering through the series finale

  7. The Office (US) Season 4 2007

    Strike-shortened season with several hour-long episodes (why alternate episode counts circulate); Jim and Pam together, the Michael and Jan implosion in Dinner Party, and Holly Flax introduced in the finale Goodbye, Toby

  8. The Office (US) Season 5 2008

    Contains the Michael Scott Paper Company arc, widely considered a series high point, plus Holly's continuing arc with Michael, setup that pays off in Season 7's ending

  9. The Office (US) Season 6 2009

    Jim and Pam's wedding in Niagara, plus the Sabre acquisition that reshapes the office's corporate structure for the remaining seasons

  10. The Office (US) Season 7 2010

    Steve Carell's final season, ending with Michael's departure in Goodbye, Michael; the emotional hinge of the whole US run

  11. The Office (US) Season 8 2011

    First season without Carell (Andy as manager, James Spader's Robert California as CEO); generally ranked the weakest post-Carell stretch, but continuous story, not skippable filler

  12. The Office (US) Season 9 2012

    Final season, in which the in-world documentary finally airs, the exact premise The Paper picks up; the US show totals 201 official episodes across 9 seasons

  13. The Paper Season 1 2025

    Same-universe spinoff, not a remake: the documentary crew from Dunder Mifflin now films the Toledo Truth Teller newspaper; created by Greg Daniels and Michael Koman, with Oscar Nunez reprising Oscar Martinez; designed as a standalone entry point, all 10 episodes released at once on Peacock

  14. The Paper Season 2 2026

    Releases 2026-09-09 on Peacock, all episodes at once (episode count TBA at publication); renewed in September 2025 before Season 1 even premiered, and picks up after the Truth Teller's Ohio Journalism Awards win

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Why this order?

This is one of the rare franchises where release order does all the structural work for you. The UK branch finished in December 2003, before the US show began in March 2005, and the US show finished in May 2013, long before The Paper arrived in September 2025. So a single release-order list gives you three clean, uninterleaved blocks, each strictly linear inside itself. There is no genuinely different chronological order to publish.

What matters instead is where you enter. Lane one: if you just want The Paper, start at The Paper. It is designed and marketed as a standalone entry point, and no prior Office viewing is required. The connections, the same in-world documentary crew that filmed Dunder Mifflin and Oscar Nunez reprising Oscar Martinez, are rewards for veterans, not prerequisites. Lane two: the US show. Watch Seasons 1 through 9, then The Paper, which picks up the in-world premise directly, since the US finale is where the documentary finally airs and the crew goes looking for a new subject. Do not judge the show by Season 1, which hews closest to the bleaker UK tone and is widely considered the weakest run, but do not skip it either: it is only 6 episodes and seeds Jim, Pam, Dwight and Michael. Lane three: the completionist path, which is also exact release order. The UK original is a tight, self-contained 14-episode story: Series 1, Series 2, then the two-part 2003 Christmas Special, which is the actual finale. Streaming menus often shelve the special separately, and stopping at Series 2 is the classic UK-branch mistake, because Series 2 ends deliberately unresolved.

Two scoping notes. First, UK versus US is a continuity fork, not a sequence: the US pilot re-adapts the UK pilot script, and neither show requires the other. Treating the UK run as season zero of the US show is a mistake. The roughly dozen international remakes (Stromberg in Germany, Le Bureau in France, versions in India, Israel, Poland, Saudi Arabia, the 2024 Australian series and more) are separate national adaptations and are deliberately excluded here. Second, David Brent: Life on the Road (2016) and the 2013 Comic Relief short exist on the UK branch as optional Brent epilogues after the Christmas Special; they are not part of the 14 core entries.

Timeline 2001-2026

Every entry by release year: rows that share a year are a cluster, and the long droughts are called out on the rail.

  1. 2001 (UK) Series 1
  2. 2002 (UK) Series 2
  3. 2003 (UK) Christmas Special
  4. 2005 (US) Season 1(US) Season 2
  5. 2006 (US) Season 3
  6. 2007 (US) Season 4
  7. 2008 (US) Season 5
  8. 2009 (US) Season 6
  9. 2010 (US) Season 7
  10. 2011 (US) Season 8
  11. 2012 (US) Season 9
  12. 13-year gap
  13. 2025 Paper Season 1
  14. 2026 Paper Season 2

Where to play it today

  • US: The Office (US) streams in full on Peacock, its official home, including Superfan extended cuts of many episodes; The Office (UK) is on Hulu and Peacock; The Paper is a Peacock original
  • UK: The Office (UK) is free on BBC iPlayer; The Office (US) is on Netflix UK; The Paper is a Sky exclusive on Sky Max and NOW
  • Availability shifts often and varies elsewhere; verified as of publication, so check JustWatch for your region

Availability changes often and varies by region - links search each platform for The Office.

Frequently asked questions

How many entries are there in The Office universe?

14 in this guide: The Office UK (Series 1, Series 2 and the two-part 2003 Christmas Special, 14 episodes total), The Office US (9 seasons, 201 episodes, 2005-2013) and The Paper (Season 1's 10 episodes in 2025, with Season 2 arriving 9 September 2026). Roughly a dozen international remakes exist but are separate national adaptations, not part of the watch order.

Do I need to watch The Office before The Paper?

No. The Paper is designed as a standalone entry point. The connections, the same in-world documentary crew that filmed Dunder Mifflin and Oscar Nunez returning as Oscar Martinez, are easter-egg-level bonuses, not prerequisites.

Should I watch the UK or US version first?

Either works; they are separate continuities adapting the same premise. The UK original is a tight 14-episode complete story with a bleaker tone; the US version is the long character-driven run that The Paper spun off from. If your goal is The Paper, the US show is the relevant branch, and even that is optional.

How many episodes is The Office US?

Officially 201 across 9 seasons (2005-2013). Some platforms count up to 203 because hour-long episodes get split in reruns and syndication.

Is anyone from The Office in The Paper?

Oscar Nunez is the only series regular who carries over, reprising accountant Oscar Martinez, formerly of Dunder Mifflin Scranton, and Robert R. Shafer guest-stars reprising Bob Vance. The framing carryover is the documentary crew itself, which in-universe went looking for a new subject after the Office documentary aired.

When is The Paper Season 2 out?

Wednesday 9 September 2026 on Peacock, with all episodes released at once (the same binge-drop model as Season 1's 10 episodes); the episode count has not been officially announced. It was renewed in September 2025, before Season 1 even premiered. In the UK it airs on Sky Max and NOW.

Does the UK Office really end after two series?

No. The two series are followed by the essential two-part Christmas Special (BBC One, December 2003), which is the actual finale and resolves the whole story. Streaming menus often shelve it separately, so don't stop at Series 2.

Where does David Brent: Life on the Road fit?

It is a 2016 spin-off film following Gervais's Brent years later, on the UK branch only. It and the 2013 Comic Relief short are optional epilogues, watched after the Christmas Special if at all; they are not counted among the 14 core entries.

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Last verified · Sources: en.wikipedia.org, hollywoodreporter.com, tvinsider.com, tvline.com, whattowatch.com, peacocktv.com, hulu.com, api.tvmaze.com

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