The IT Crowd (UK)/The Red Door

The Red Door
Season 1, Episode 4
Airdate	February 12, 2006
Written by	Graham Linehan
Directed by	Graham Linehan
← 1x03 50/50	1x05 → The Haunting of Bill Crouse
The IT Crowd (UK) — Season One

The Red Door is the fourth episode of the first season of The IT Crowd. Jen finds out what's behind the mysterious red door in the IT department.

Starring: Chris O'Dowd (Roy), Richard Ayoade (Moss), Katherine Parkinson (Jen)

Guest Starring: Chris Morris (Denholm), Noel Fielding (Richmond), Cordella Bugeja (Abi), Susannah Wise (Samantha)

Plot Overview

Moss just bought a new mug with his picture on it, but Roy doesn't see a thing. Jen comes in and laments about how disgusting the IT office is, pointing out things like a filthy window. Moss finally looks at his mug and realizes that he's holding the wrong cup.

During lunch, Jen asks what's behind the red door to the left of Roy's desk. Both Roy and Moss strongly insist that she not look into it. A call comes into IT, and Roy is forced by Jen to actually go upstairs and check it out. He sees that it's merely an unplugged computer, but before he can crawl out from under the woman's desk, both her and her office mate return to their stations, trapping him under the desk.

Down in IT, Moss gets a text message from Roy calling for help. He goes up to investigate, so Jen uses this opportunity to open the red door. She discovers a polite, but slightly insane goth named Richmond. He tells Jen about how he used to work upstairs.

Meanwhile, Moss has reached the office where Roy is still trapped. He tries to distract the women toward the window so Roy can escape, but he's a terrible liar.

Jen lets Richmond out of his room, and he tells her about his love of the band Cradle of Filth. Moss returns, surprised to see Richmond. He convinces Jen to go upstairs and help Roy. She manages to distract the women long enough for Roy to escape. In the hallway, she mentions Richmond and Roy gets upset, telling her to ask Richmond about the funeral.

Jen bumps into Denholm, and confronts him about his past relationship with Richmond. He tells her to stay out of it.

Back down in the IT department, Roy gets Richmond to tell Jen the story of why he was demoted. It turns out that he gave Denholm's mother a Cradle of Filth CD at the funeral... of Denholm's father.

The phone rings — Denholm wants to reconcile. But when the group of Richmond, Denholm, and Jen are gathered in Jen's office, Denholm changes his mind.

Moss cleans the dirty window, letting sunlight into the IT office. The natural light drives Richmond back into his server room. Roy declares everything back to normal, as long as no one goes through... the green door.

Arc Advancement

Happenings

• Jen opens the red door behind Roy's desk and finds out there's a goth named Richmond working in there. She invites him out to socialize and attempts to have him reconcile with Denholm. This fails miserably, and Richmond starts to get on their nerves.

• Moss cleans the window in the IT department, letting sunlight in. The natural light drives Richmond back into his dark server room.

• Moss' new mug goes missing. First Richmond has it, then Denholm. Moss is seen desperately looking for it in the kitchen at the end.

Characters

• Denholm Reynholm: This the first time his last name is referred to.

• Richmond Avenal: Richmond was a successful executive at Reynholm Industries working his way up the corporate ladder until he discovered the band Cradle of Filth. He became a goth, and his weird mannerisms and dress began to alienate him from the other employees at the company. He attended the funeral of Denholm's father in extreme gothic makeup and gave Denholm's mother a Cradle of Filth CD to cheer her up. This prompted Denholm to exile Richmond to the basement, where he's worked for four years now.

Trivia

Allusions and References

• Eightball: Roy is reading this magazine again.
• Pac-Man: Roy is wearing a t-shirt with Pac-Man graphics on it.
• Google: Moss tries to Google a hypothetical question Jen asks him and Roy.
• Cradle of Filth: Richmond becomes a goth after discovering this band.
• Tim Burton: Moss refers to Richmond by this name.

Quotes

• Jen: "Receptionist, third floor, Gloria Whatshername — have you seen her baby?"
  Roy: "I didn't even know she was pregnant."
  Moss: (gestures with hands) "She was out to here."
  Roy: "Yeah... I thought she was stealing office equipment. That's how I got that monitor home."