MARTIN Freeman kicked off the season premiere of The Responder this week, but it was also a mini reunion for The Office star.
Fans of the BBC comedy will know Martin, 50, played the long-suffering Tim Canterbury in the popular show.
Now fast forward 20 years and after acting opposite one another in The Office, Martin has reunited with Elizabeth Berrington in his current role as an urgent response officer.
The pair were previously awkward desk mates in The Office two-part Christmas special, where Elizabeth, 51, played Anne, his pregnant co-worker with no filter.
As Tim mourned the departure of his office crush Dawn (Lucy Davis), he was left to deal with Anne’s constant interruptions over minor details of his work, or graphic descriptions of the sexual position that got her pregnant.
Now the pair are back together, but with Berrington as Freeman’s red-headed therapist.
The series from writer Tony Schumacher portrays Freeman as a troubled Scouse police officer, who is struggling with the demands of his job.
Berrington stars as his therapist assigned by the force to help him work through his issues.
On Berrington’s role in The Responder, Freeman told Radio Times: “[Elizabeth] was in the two Office Christmas specials; she had sort of taken the place of the annoying person who wasn’t Gareth.
“She’s lovely. She’s great. And yeah, people like Elizabeth in smaller but important roles… we’re lucky with who we got.”
As the second season aired last night, it was Martin’s “spot on” Liverpool accent that got viewers really talking.
One wrote: “Fair play to Martin Freeman. 5 mins in and that’s a more than acceptable accent.”
While another said: “Martin Freeman’s scouse accent is spot on. Non native accents usually give me itchy teeth but this was seriously impressive.”
A third commented: “Well Martin Freeman, the accent is amazing – I’m impressed.”
The Responder continues tonight on BBC One, 9pm.
