The trailer for the Australian version of iconic television series The Office garnered a mixed response that was nothing short of explosive, divisive and rude.

No one, let alone a woman, could replace original office manager Ricky Gervais, in his original creation made 20 years ago, or Steve Carell, who secured top spot for seven seasons in the US.

History notes both are immortalised in Office folklore.

It will be “woke”, “just wrong” and “it’s the Raygun of The Office cinematic universe”, people said after seeing the trailer.

Well, shut the front door because Australian stand-up comedian Felicity Ward, 44, has news for you, as she proudly and somewhat courageously steps into the shoes of Gervais and Carell to take on the role for the show’s 13th adaptation.

Any pressure? Or just trust the writers?

“Both. When I found out I got the job, I thought the whole internet was going to come for me. I knew that because I am a woman and a stand-up comedian,” she tells The New Daily in a Zoom chat days before the series drops on Prime Video on October 18.

“That will just happen. You go to the comments section of any female comedian on YouTube and there’ll be someone going, not funny, two out of 10.

“The other side of knowing there would be a backlash, I knew there would be. Every time we set a launch date, the trailer coming out, there’s a new wave of backlash. That’s just going to happen.

“It’s part of the job.

“But, when I stepped on set, and read the scripts, I didn’t feel like we were remaking The Office.

“I felt like, look at this funny show I get to be a part of … I’m still a gigging comic.

“I live in London. I’ve got a kid. It’s a hard life and it’s expensive … so to get this opportunity to not just be in a sitcom, but be the lead and given the opportunity to be part of the most beloved comedy franchise of all time?

“What a miracle.”

Ward says of her cast: ‘How you experience them on screen is how they were’: Photo: Prime Video

Does Ward ‘navigate a modern-day David Brent’?

The Office delivered BAFTAs and Golden Globes and has been remade for audiences around the world, including France, Canada, Chile, Israel, India, the Middle East and Poland.

As co-creator and co-writer of the original, Gervais greenlit this series, saying he was “very excited” that Australia was remaking his “little show from the turn of the century”.

“Office politics have changed a bit in 20 years, so can’t wait to see how they navigate a modern-day David Brent.”

Cast as branch managing director of packing company Flinley Craddick, Hannah Howard, Ward’s appeal is in her comedic timing, her use of visual humour and her no-holds-barred approach.

“There is something you need to know about me. There is nothing I won’t do for a laugh,” she said.

The plot line reads that when she gets news from HQ that they will be shutting down her branch and making everyone work from home, she goes into survival mode, making promises she can’t keep in order to keep her “work family” together.

The staff, played by a stack of fresh comedy faces (not the usual swag of dial-a-comedians) indulge her and must endure her outlandish plots as they work toward the impossible targets that have been set for them.

Working with the ‘wonderful, weird’ Edith Poor was a ‘joy’. Photo: Prime Video

By episode two (eight 30-minute episodes drop at once), you’ll want more from the supporting cast as Ward weaves her way through each stumbling block.

There’s a cleverly produced “modern-day” episode devoted to working from the office on Melbourne Cup day (Ward is cringeworthy funny), a morale-building “Away Day” field trip to a dodgy reptile park and a Pyjama Day (Ward’s PJs are a sight to behold) to raise money for the office instead of charity.

Ward puts on the weird voices, including Borat’s where she tries to screen a VHS of one of his trainwreck movies.

Edith Poor, who plays Howard’s PA Lizzie, brings her pet crow into work one day in a cage.

His name is Russell.

The deadpan faces of the staff exhausted by the minutia is its secret sauce – especially from the flirty couple whose characters shine in previous iterations – not because it’s been done before, but because they shed new light on workplace boredom.

Old dogs, new tricks.

The show sits alongside Fisk and Utopia as part of the office mockumentary category, and Ward hopes audiences warm to her character, who delivers a stack of sneaky, funny and cringeworthy antics.

“The trick to The Office is you have what you think is an unlikeable character because they’re delusional, on top of being cringe .. so you don’t like them.

“The second they are vulnerable … as an audience you go oh, you’re not allowed to feel sad about that. We do. We love you.”

Ward says she can’t convince anyone to watch it, but she hopes they watch the whole series and then judge.

After the first episode, you’ll be hooked.

All eight episodes of The Office premiere on Friday, October 18 on Prime Video