Domhnall Gleeson’s spin-off to The Office gets exciting update from co-star

'Domhnall's fantastic, and he was also sort of my rock in LA because it's quite a scary place,' comedian Tim Key told JOE in a new interview.

Due to premiere in September 2025, the sitcom will be set in the same "stylised comedic" universe as its predecessor but will turn its attention to the staff of a newspaper office.

A plot synopsis states: "The new series features the documentary crew that immortalised Dunder Mifflin’s Scranton branch.

"The crew is in search of a new subject when they discover a historic Toledo newspaper, The Truth Teller, and the eager publisher who is trying to revive it.”

Greg Daniels (who adapted the American version of The Office) and Michael Koman (co-creator of Nathan for You) are developing The Paper as co-creators, writers, and executive producers.

Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant (co-creators of the original British version of The Office) are also on board as executive producers, while actor Oscar Nunez will be reprising his role as Oscar Martinez from The US Office.

Also, starring in The Paper alongside Gleeson and Nunez is Tim Key, whose brilliant comedy movie The Ballad of Wallis Island (which he co-wrote and stars in) is in cinemas now.

JOE interviewed Key, his co-star Tom Basden and their director James Griffiths about their film, which has a whopping 98% on Rotten Tomatoes.

But during the chat, we had to ask Key about what audiences can expect from The Paper and about working with Domhnall Gleeson.

In response, he told us that Gleeson is "fantastic" and served as Key's "rock" in "scary" Los Angeles.

He also said he got to watch a bit of the sitcom while doing ADR (Automated Dialogue Replacement) for it, and that what he saw looked "pretty funny".

You can read his comments below:

"I've never talked about that yet. I don't know... I loved working on it.

"I had never worked with Domhnall before, but he's fantastic, and he was also sort of my rock in LA because it's quite a scary place.

"I've done some ADR on it recently and seen some of the scenes. It looks pretty funny. I've no idea, though.

"It's a very intimidating job to take because you're sort of on the shoulders of giants. The Office was always my favourite show. I keep going back to it.

"And then this is sort of removed from that because it's the American Office, and then a spin-off again from that. But still, you're in an office [he says laughing] and you're making The Office and it's quite high pressure.

"I don't know. I think it will be pretty good."

The Ballad of Wallis Island revolves around Herb McGwyer (Tom Basden, After Life), a popular folk singer who is offered £500,000 to travel to the remote but picturesque Wallis Island for a performance.

Upon his arrival, however, he is shocked to learn that he will be playing for just one person, Charles (Key's character), a wealthy, awkward but enthusiastic fan.

So much of the comedy in Wallis Island comes from Key's character's inability to stop talking.

As such, we also asked the co-writer and actor how much of Charles' ramblings were in the script and how much were improvised.

He told JOE: "About 50/50, I suppose. Maybe more scripted than not. That was definitely the plan from the start... that he would be unstoppable, that it would be part of the soundtrack. There'd be the music, and then just this gushing babbling stuff from this mad eccentric."

Comparing Charles to a particular image in the comedy, co-writer and co-star Basden adds: "He's a tap you can't turn off."

Key also revealed that his inspiration for his character and his constant ramblings came from an unusual source: director David Cronenberg's 2002 haunting psychological drama Spider, starring Ralph Fiennes.

As Key explains:

"I remember watching Spider years ago, which is a different thing because I think the chap is schizophrenic to be fair in that. But that sort of [mumbling] just going underneath the whole thing, it's a great film and I found that kind of amazing.

"This is not quite that extensive. But yeah, definitely that was the plan, that he just doesn't shut up.

"And then we wrote that, and a lot of it is in dialogue with Tom. But then [there was] definitely leeway to go off the tracks and just lose it slightly and then leave it in [director James Griffiths'] capable hands to occasionally say 'Yes, if you've done too much of that now. That can't go in the film.'

"But he gave us a lot of latitude to play."

You can also read about how a legendary Irish musician inspired The Ballad of Wallis Island right here.

The Ballad of Wallis Island is in cinemas now.