Catherine Tate’s returning to The Office tonight as Nellie Bertram, who’ll have a “far from professional” relationship with Robert California. Tate herself isn’t exactly forthcoming about her favorite sketches from The Catherine Tate Show, her 2004-2007 sketch comedy show, but here are a few clips to get you familiar.
One of Tate’s best-known characters, Lauren Cooper is a teenager so surly she makes April Ludgate look like Annie Edison. Her catchphrase “Am I bovvered?” was so popular that “bovvered” actually made it into the Oxford English Dictionary. She’s got an uncanny ability to turn her embarrassment into bravado. Here’s hoping we get some of this attitude from Tate’s Nellie Bertram.
Tate’s strength in writing one-off sketches was great as well, with pieces like this one building the laughs beyond just the absurd initial reveal. It’s all the funnier because of how seriously Tate takes her role in the drama, from the first scene to the inevitable ending.
In this clip, Tate plays Kate, an office worker with a penchant for forcing her desk-neighbor into guessing games. Her passive-aggressive insults here (“Don’t you feel better after a bit of exercise?”) should fit right in with the Dunder Mifflin crew. Whatever her role in the Scranton office turns out to be, she’ll surely be lending her boldness, commitment, and observational humor to the show.
