Over its nine seasons, the American version of U.K. sitcom The Office softened considerably. It’s hard to believe that the same series responsible for this was doing things like this a few years later. But where The Office’s American cousin grew more cartoonish with time, the brevity of the U.K. series allowed it to stay mercilessly awkward and alienating until its dying gasps. As fatuous, boorish boss David Brent, series creator Ricky Gervais tested taboos both racial and sexual, while using a faceless workplace as a backdrop for meditations on mediocrity and the indignities of everyday drudgery. 

In the sort of triumph expressly forbidden in the U.K. Office, Brent’s dreams are finally coming true. A new report from Variety indicates that Open Road Films has laid claim to the U.S. distribution rights for Life On The Road, a long-awaited feature spinoff from Gervais’ original series. The film rejoins David Brent 15 years after the conclusion of The Office’s 12-episode run. Brent’s left his employer of Wernham-Hogg in the dust, setting out on a quest to fulfill his lifelong dream of rock stardom. But because this is The Office we’re talking about, this idealistic journey is also deeply pathetic. The film will be shot in the mockumentary style that suited the original series so nicely, and while Brent believes he’s being taped for a Gimme Shelter-style documentary, it’s more of a “Where Are They Now?”-type proposition in actuality, following up on the original premise. Sadder still, he’s burning through his pension fund in order to pay the members of his band Foregone Conclusion to come on tour, due to lackluster ticket sales. And sadder still, the group is just awful. How awful? This awful. 

This sad little man’s story enters U.K. theaters on August 16 next year, with eOne Features ferrying it across the Atlantic to Stateside theaters shortly after. This deal represents the culmination of many years’ efforts to bring The Office back—Gervais penned the script in 2013, in response to continued cries from faithful fans. (Also, possibly from people desperate to get the guy away from award-show podiums.) And so, in the spirit of celebration and brutal personal embarrassment, let’s all revisit the original Office’s finest moment: