<Tr> <Th> Occupation </Th> <Td> Assistant "to the" Regional Manager Lieutenant in Territorial Army Team Leader </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Nationality </Th> <Td> British </Td> </Tr> <P> Gareth Keenan (Born 17 April 1971) 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 alleged lieutenant status in the Territorial Army . He spends his days annoying his co-workers at Wernham Hogg with his rigid enforcement of the rules and sycophantic attitude towards David Brent, whom he views as a friend . David Brent often has to correct Keenan over his apparent job title "Assistant regional manager" to "Assistant to the regional manager". His counterpart on the US series is Dwight Schrute . The character was originally meant to be a tough and fierce character in the mockumentary, but after Crook's audition, Ricky Gervais and Steven Merchant had to change his lines to fit his new personality . </P> <Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This section describes a work or element of fiction in a primarily in - universe style . Please help rewrite it to explain the fiction more clearly and provide non-fictional perspective . (March 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> </Table>

The office uk assistant to the regional manager