I really wasn’t expecting The Paper to be any good. A spin off sequel from the US version of The Office, it felt like another one of those projects that nobody asked for and wasn’t needed. Well I couldn’t have been more wrong. I was tempted in to watching it by the fact that Tim Key’s in it, and he’s brilliant, but there’s so much else to love as well.

The story goes that twenty years on from the documentary crew following Dunder Mifflin’s employees around, the same crew are dispatched to film a follow up. Except the company doesn’t exist anymore, it was sold to a different paper company in Toledo, Ohio. This company sells toilet roll and produces a crappy newspaper in the same building, which is odd, but then a new editor-in-chief starts wanting to make the newspaper a more credible offering. The documentary crew stick around to see what happens.

It’s a bit weird, but you just go with it. There are a handful of references to the previous show, and the lovely Oscar is an accountant at this new firm which gives us a link to the past, but really it’s a whole new thing. You don’t need to have seen anything of previous Office series’ to enjoy this.

It has the same vibe as the Office, in that gentle storytelling of human emotions - jealousy and greed, but love and respect at the same time. There’s a slow-burn love story at the heart of it, but there’s also lots of people doing silly things and getting up to mischief. What’s great about it is that things that might not have aged well from the original series (I can’t watch the OG UK series anymore as it’s just too cruel and too much), they’re all stripped out from this. It’s nice people doing funny things and quite often getting it wrong.

The most over-the-top character is Esmerelda, played with an almost impenetrable accent by Sabrina Impacciatore, and even she at least has motivations for her pettiness and hijinks. Domhnall Gleeson, who I wouldn’t have put down as a comedy actor, leads the way as a more sensible boss than any of the previous series have seen, and he’s brilliant, surrounded by a mixed bag of employees. Then of course there’s Tim Key, hovering around the edges, doing what he does best as an awkward and bumbling guy with a crush on Esmerelda.

I just loved it. Every episode is stacked full of humour, and leaves you with a nice warm feeling. It was renewed for a second season before the first one even aired late last year, so thankfully I’m not the only one who enjoyed it.