| MUMBAI:
Global demand for The Office continues to grow as BBC Worldwide has announced
Russia is the latest country to make a local version of the comedy. Channel
One in Russia will make 24 episodes of 30 minutes with their affiliated production
company Red Square. Under the editorial supervision of BBC Worldwide executive
producer Duncan Cooper, the broadcaster has the rights to develop new story lines
around the local office characters, beyond the original 13 scripts, in order to
make a longer running series. BBC
Worldwide head of sales for Russia Ben Donald said, "This is the first scripted
format we have licensed to Russia and marks another breakthrough for our business
in the country. Russia is an important territory for us; we've had much success
with other formats such as Dancing with the Stars, Junior Mastermind and most
recently Great Russians which is currently causing huge debate in the media." BBC
Worldwide has also licensed local versions of The Office to France and Canada.
The most recent is set to air in Chile next month with Manuel, a Latino David
Brent, at the helm. Chile's Channel 13 asked viewers to post stories of their
most terrible bosses onto their website and were flooded with 7000 postings. The
original version of Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant's series has sold to over
70 countries around the world, cementing its position as one of the most popular
comedies to come out of the UK. | 
