20 Funniest Moments In British Comedy

3. The Dance - The Office

The Show: In years to come, it's likely that all the most successful modern comedy will trace its routes back to The Office. Looking at the current generation of full-time, £22k a year, urban workers and realising that there was incredible humour to find within, Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant tapped into something that changed the landscape forever. Your boss is an !*$% who thinks he's hilarious, your co-workers are all caricatures of the people you swore not to turn into - about 90% of the country tuned in every week merely to relate.

The Setup: The staff are having an impromptu talent show of sorts, and David Brent (Gervais) simply has to be the centre of attention. Replace the talent show with almost any other setting, and this was the formula (combined with the faux-documentary filming style) that made the show the unprecedented success it still is.