The Office: 10 Best Characters Who Appeared After Season One
The new hires who set Dunder Mifflin alight.
The UK Office enjoyed a legendary 14 episode run. With typical British brevity it came and went in a flash, and though there were a few additions in season two, the characters we start off with are basically your lot.
The US adaptation, though, had loftier ambitions, stretching the concept across nine seasons. And while the quality did eventually drop, it kept up the goods for a remarkably long while, bringing in great characters for pretty much the entirety of the show’s run.
While the core cast will always be the most memorable - Michael, Dwight, Jim, Pam - it’s fair to say the US Office took a little while to find its feet and tone, and accordingly some of the best characters only came along once the writers and producers were clear on the types of stories and jokes they wanted to tell.
Some of these characters became part of the furniture right away; others had fleeting but memorable appearances, took time to develop, or went from simple jokes to far more complex creations. These are the best Office characters who weren’t around from the off, but made their mark.
10. Andy Bernard
Had The Office finished somewhere around the season seven mark (as it probably should), Andy would likely be higher up this list. A character who was given room to grow, he started off as a Connecticut Dwight, a foil who Jim could prank and wind up in the knowledge he probably deserved it.
Landing in Scranton, though, he quickly softened and gained levels to his character that were both funny and humanising. He was a blue blood who his parents never really cared for (he was originally given the family forename “Walter” until his parents decided it better suited his younger brother), still daft and annoying but with a loveable soft side.
His relationship with Erin even gave fans something to root for, even if it was never fleshed out like Jim/Pam or even Dwight/Angela.
It all goes wrong when Andy’s made manager in season eight. His character shifts dramatically, then shifts again, and again. Eventually he’s given a full heel turn, embarking on a boat trip to write him off TV due to movie commitments, and when he comes back, no one has a clue what to do with him. It severely damages an otherwise good character.