How long does it take to watch The Office (UK)?

The British Office is one of the shortest famous sitcoms ever made — two series of six half-hours and a two-part special, and then Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant stopped. The entire run is shorter than a single season of most American sitcoms and can be watched in an afternoon. British episodes run around 29 minutes rather than 22 because the BBC carries no adverts, so a "half-hour" is nearly a half-hour. The American remake produced more material in its third season alone than the original produced in total.

The numbers

Total

7 hours 23 minutes

In hours

7.4 hours

Non-stop

0.3 days without sleeping

Covers

12 episodes and a two-part Christmas special

At a realistic pace

an episode a night

That works out as

about 16 days

What this assumes

12 regular episodes at about 29 minutes, plus Christmas specials of 45 and 50 minutes. BBC episodes have no advert breaks, so the slot length is close to the programme length.

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