Critics? I want them dead

Office producer takes criticism badly

The Office producer Ash Atalla admits he has ‘murder raging in my heart’ when he gets a bad reviews.

He says he’s gripped by ‘cold, homicidal fury’ at reading critics’ poor reactions to his show.

‘I think, “How dare this ignorant bastard write horrible things about my work. I mean, what gives them the right?” What makes it even worse, of course, is if you secretly agree with some of the things that the bastard has written.’

Writing in the Sunday Telegraph he adds: ‘Almost immediately, come thoughts of vengeance: you want to find out where the reviewer lives, abduct their wife and children, cause them terrible pain. And that's just for starters.’

Atalla's fury comes even though most of his work has been well received.

After the critical triumph of The Office, his new BBC Three comedy, Man Stroke Woman has also had a warm reception. The Times said it had ‘considerable promise… and is strong on the absurdities of the everyday’, and both The Observer and the Sunday Times’ critics admitted to laughing out loud.

But he said: ‘However well things are going, you can never shake off the sense of dread that comes from being held up to scrutiny.’

 

Published: 11 Dec 2005

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