Gareth Keenan is a fictional paper salesman on BBC's comedy The Office. He is portrayed in the series by Mackenzie Crook as a gaunt, self-important "team leader" proud of his lieutenant status in the Territorial Army who spends his days annoying Wernham Hogg coworkers with his steadfast enforcement of the rules and sucking up to boss David Brent, whom he views as a mate, though Brent often acts otherwise and corrects Keenan when he omits the "to the" in his job title: "Assistant to the Regional Manager". Keenan is, essentially, a humourless and pompous jobsworth. Ricky Dene Gervais (IPA: ) (born June 25, 1961) is an Emmy, Golden Globe and BAFTA award-winning English comic writer and performer from Reading, Berkshire. ... Stephen Merchant (born 24 November 1974 in Bristol) is an English Emmy, Golden Globe, British Comedy Award and BAFTA-award winning writer, director, and comedic actor. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Alice, a fictional character based on a real character from the work of Lewis Carroll. ... For other uses, see BBC (disambiguation). ... The word comedy has a classical meaning (comical theatre) and a popular one (the use of humor with an intent to provoke laughter in general). ... The Office is a British television comedy series, created, written and directed by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, and first aired in the UK on BBC Two on July 9, 2001. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Lieutenant is a military, naval, paramilitary, fire service or police officer rank. ... The Territorial Army (TA) is the principal reserve force of the British Army, the land armed forces of the United Kingdom, and composed mostly of part-time soldiers paid at the same rate, while engaged on military activities, as their Regular equivalents. ... Information Gender Male Age 39 Occupation General Manager Portrayed by Ricky Gervais Created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant David Brent is a fictional white-collar office middle-manager and one of the principal characters from BBC television comedy The Office, played by co-writer and director Ricky Gervais. ... Look up Jobsworth in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Characteristics

Keenan flaunts his "team leader" status; despite deskmate Tim Canterbury pointing out that it's a meaningless job title entailing more responsibility for the same pay, he takes it very seriously. His attempts to throw his inflated sense of authority around the office rarely work, and it is clear that no one pays any attention to him. Canterbury plays endless pranks on Keenan, such as hiding his computer, putting his stapler in jelly (prank that has been reprised in several other versions of The Office, including the US version), gluing his phone so that the receiver cannot be picked up (and then phoning him up) and playing on Keenan's naïveté by encouraging him to discuss warfare with language which could be interpreted as being homosexual in nature (e.g. 'the enemy has discovered your (you're) camp', 'taking a man from behind' or 'could you give a man a lethal blow?' could be interpreted in different ways) as well as (in the special) locking in his office. Gareth says "He's done it again!" showing that Tim does this practical joke repeatedly. Tim Canterbury is a main character in the BBC sitcom The Office, played by Martin Freeman. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... A variety of pre-packaged gelatin dessert products for sale at a supermarket in the U.S. state of Wisconsin in 2004 Jelly, as sold in UK The most popular culinary use for gelatin is as a main ingredient in varieties of gelatin desserts also known as Jelly. ...

Although Tim and Gareth are mostly willing to throw insults at each other over their desks, they and Dawn have displayed affectionate moments and seem to harbour an inner friendship as a trio.

Keenan has mentioned in one of the early episodes that his compact disc collection includes George Michael, Queen and the Pet Shop Boys (all mentioned to disprove accusations of homophobia, pointing out "they're all bummers"). His favourite band is Mike and the Mechanics. This article is about the musician. ... Queen are an English rock band formed in 1970 in London by guitarist Brian May, singer Freddie Mercury and drummer Roger Taylor, with bassist John Deacon joining the following year. ... Pet Shop Boys are an English synthpop/pop music grammy-nominated duo, consisting of Neil Tennant who provides main vocals, keyboards and very occasionally guitar, and Chris Lowe on keyboards and occasionally on vocals. ... A protest by The Westboro Baptist Church, a group identified by the Anti-Defamation League as virulently homophobic. ... Mike and the Mechanics is a British band started in 1985 led by Mike Rutherford, already a founding member of Genesis. ...

Wherever possible, Keenan points out how his military skills might come in useful in an office environment, such as how to kill a man with a single blow. Despite his experience in the Territorial Army, however, he exhibits a petty, selfish nature and looks physically weak. It's quite probable Gareth inherited his love for the military life from his father, who was also involved in the army some years ago. Keenan also enjoys kung-fu films and he drives a Triumph TR3 which he bought for £1,200 and restored. The vehicle is now believed (by Gareth) to be worth around £3,000. The Territorial Army (TA) is the principal reserve force of the British Army, the land armed forces of the United Kingdom, and composed mostly of part-time soldiers paid at the same rate, while engaged on military activities, as their Regular equivalents. ... The Triumph TR3 was built between 1955 and 1957 by the Triumph Motor Company in the United Kingdom, during which time 13,377[1] cars were produced. ...

Despite the tough-going personality he displays, Keenan also appears to actually be very vulnerable and anxious. For example when David announces he'll have to be leaving Wernham Hogg, Gareth shortly afterwards enters his office and breaks down, beginning to cry. On his website he reveals that he has a big interest in reading horoscopes and is very close to his mother.

Following Brent's departure, Keenan is made regional manager of the branch, although he still seems to command little respect - Canterbury's latest prank is to lock his boss in his office, requiring a desperate phone call to the receptionist's desk for Keenan to secure his release. This is one of many pranks reprised in the American version of The Office and played on Keenan's counterpart, Dwight Schrute. This article is about the USA version of The Office. ... Dwight Kurt Schrute III is a fictional character on the NBCs The Office portrayed by Rainn Wilson. ...

On the social side, Keenan enjoys some success with women, often in the local nightclub "Chasers", although his attempts to woo women with whom he works are rarely, if ever, successful. He has several close friends, "Jimmy the Perv" (who lives up to his name by repeatedly paying Dawn Tinsley £1 for kisses for Comic Relief, with increasing lasciviousness each time), 'The Oggmonster' (a very tall figure with astigmatism, played by The Office co-creator Stephen Merchant) and "Fish Fingers". Dawn Tinsley is a character in the BBC sitcom The Office, played by Lucy Davis. ... In optics, astigmatism is when an optical system has different foci for rays that propagate in two perpendicular planes. ... This article is about the various versions of the television series The Office, comparing the UK, US, French, German, and French Canadian versions. ... Stephen Merchant (born 24 November 1974 in Bristol) is an English Emmy, Golden Globe, British Comedy Award and BAFTA-award winning writer, director, and comedic actor. ...

At one time it was thought that there would be a special episode where Keenan, Brent and his other fellow coworkers would feature in the American series of The Office on a possible business trip, however this seems to have been turned down due to either the availability of the cast members or perhaps that the writers are hesitant to produce another episode after such a long while since the series ended. ^{[citation needed]}

Memorable quotes

• "You know the phrase softly softly catchy monkey? …I could catch a monkey - if I was starving I could. I’d make poison darts out of the poison off deadly frogs. One milligram of that poison can kill a monkey. Or a man. Prick yourself, you’ll be dead within a day. Or longer. Different frogs, different times."
• Gareth: "(Tim) put my stapler in a jelly again! That's the third time he's done it; it wasn't even funny the first time."
  David: "Why's he done that?"
  Gareth: "I once told him I don't like jelly. I don't trust the way it moves."
• "Will there ever be a boy born that can swim faster than a shark?"
• "He threw a kettle over a pub. What have you done?"
• "If people were rude to me, I used to give them their milk last so it was warm." - cited to Tim as proof by Keenan that people do respect the milk monitor at school
• "That's one of the major arguments against letting homosexuals into the army. Will they be looking at the enemy, or will they be looking at me, going 'Oooooh, he looks tasty in his uniform?' " - Gareth explaining why homosexuals should not be allowed in the army
• Gareth: "Get his wife to help."
  Tim: "He doesn't have a wife."
  Gareth: "All farmers have wives."
  Tim: "Not this one, he's gay."
  Gareth: "Well, then he shouldn't be allowed near animals should he?" - over-complicating a problem-solving puzzle involving a farmer who has to get a fox, a chicken, and a bag of grain across a river.

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Gareth Keenan

• Gareth Keenan's Homepage

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See also

Comparing the two versions This article is about the various versions of the television series The Office, comparing the UK, US, French, German, and French Canadian versions. ...