ACCLAIMED BRITISH COMEDY ACTRESS CATHERINE TATE RETURNS TO DUNDER MIFFLIN SABRE THIS SEASON ON NBC'S "THE OFFICE"

UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. - October 21, 2011 - British Comedy Award winner and BAFTA nominee Catherine Tate (BBC's "The Catherine Tate Show") returns to "The Office" this season reprising her role as Nellie Bertram. Joining the second half of the current season, Tate's Bertram is hired by friend and Chairman of the Board Jo Bennett (Kathy Bates, not seen) as a misguided special projects manager working directly for the corporate office and who very much enjoys the favoritism received from Bennett.

Tate was introduced to "The Office" audience in last season's finale episode as one of the candidates interviewing for the regional manager position left vacant by Michael Scott.

"Catherine is hysterical. We introduced her briefly in last season's finale and knew she had to be a part of the show somehow. We'll meet her again as corporate's special projects manager, and her relationship with Robert California (James Spader) will be far from professional. We're thrilled that she's joining the cast," said executive producer Paul Lieberstein.

Tate's acting credits include the multi-award-winning BBC series, "The Catherine Tate Show," which showcased her chameleon-like talent for character transformation. In addition to playing Donna Noble (the Doctor's companion) in the 4th series of BBC's "Doctor Who." Tate also co-starred in the feature films "Gulliver's Travels," "Monte Carlo," "Mrs. Ratcliffe's Revolution," "66" and "Starter for Ten."

Theatre work includes the lead role of Belinda in the National Theatre production "Season's Greetings" and Beatrice in the West End production of "Much Ado About Nothing," David Eldridge's "Under the Blue Sky," "Some Girls" and "A Servant to Two Masters" for the Royal Shakespeare Company. Tate wrote, directed and co-starred in the acclaimed short film "My First Nativity" for the Sky "Little Cracker's" season. In addition to being the key writer for her own series, Tate has a feature script currently in development.

From Deedle-Dee Productions, Reveille and Universal Television comes the multi-award-winning comedy series "The Office," the hilarious documentary-style look into the humorous and sometimes poignant foolishness that plagues the world of 9-to-5 in the half-hour. A fly-on-the-wall "docu-reality" parody about modern American office life, "The Office" delves into the lives of the workers at Dunder Mifflin Sabre, a paper supply company in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

"The Office" is executive-produced by Ben Silverman, Greg Daniels, who developed the series for American audiences, Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant, Howard Klein and Paul Lieberstein.