10 things you need to know about ‘David Brent: Life on the Road’

Fans rejoice! David Brent is back this week, in his big screen outing ‘David Brent: Life on the Road’. The film follows Brent – played by Ricky Gervais – as a camera crew follows him in his new career; wannabe rockstar.

Here at Movies.ie, we are big fans of ‘The Office’, so we have gathered together 10 facts about ‘David Brent: Life on the Road’ that you really ought to know.

1. Comeback Kid
Although ‘The Office’ only ran between 2001-2002 – as well as some Christmas specials in 2003 – David Brent has never really been far from the small screen; Ricky Gervais has reprised his most famous character in the 2005 game ‘Resident Evil 4’ – no really! – the 2007 Concert for Diana in London and an episode of Inside the Actor’s Studio in 2009.

2. Across the Pond
Gervais also brought David Brent back for two appearances in the US version of ‘The Office’; Brent meets his US counterpart Michael Scott (Steve Carell) and asks if there are any jobs going at Dunder Mifflin, before interviewing for Scott’s job after he resigns.

3. Equality Street
Although Gervais has played the character on and off, it was not until his Comic Relief performance as Brent singing the song ‘Equality Street’ that the idea for this movie outing for the character was born. Rapper Doc Brown, who also performs on ‘Equality Street’, also has a role in ‘David Brent: Life on the Road’. Watch the official video for ‘Equality Street’ below…

4. Mockumentary
Like ‘The Office’, ‘David Brent: Life on the Road’ is shot in a mock documentary style, as the film follows Brent during his two weeks off from work, while he takes his band on the road.

5. Soundtrack
Since the film follows David Brent as he tries to get his big break as a musician, Gervais called in former Razorlight and We Are Scientists drummer Andy Burroughs to write songs for the film. The soundtrack will be released on David Brent’s Juxtaposition Records label.

6. Day Job
While touring with his band – which are called Forgone Conclusion, BTW – David Brent has also got a day job, of course. Instead of working at Wernham-Hogg paper merchants this time though, Brent has a job as a urinal lozenge salesman. How the mighty fall.

7. Based on a true story… Kind of
Before he found fame as a comedian, Ricky Gervais was the singer with British new wave group Seona Dancing, in the 1980s. A scene in the film where David Brent plays to an almost empty room is based on an experience Gervaid had with Seona Dancing. In an interview with the Daily Mail, Gervais said “I played to my girlfriend and the sound engineer, with more people on stage than in the audience. How sad is that?”.

8. Bowie Inspiration
David Bowie famously appeared in an episode of Gervais TV show ‘Extras’, and the two remained friends after filming. In an interview with The Sun, Gervais revealed he sent Bowie his David Brent song ‘Slough’, to get his opinion. According to Gervais, Bowie was a fan, saying ; “I’d like to hear a whole album of David Brent singing about provincial towns of Britain”. That’s good enough for us.

9. Lady Gypsy
To promote ‘David Brent: Life on the Road’, Gervais released the single – as David Brent – called ‘Lady Gypsy’. Watch the video below…

10. When can I see ‘David Brent: Life on the Road’?
‘David Brent: Life on the Road’ is released in Irish cinemas on August 19th 2016. Watch the trailer below…