Jennifer Taylor-Clarke, or Camilla Parker Bowles as David Brent calls her (not to her face though) is the UK Manager of Wernham Hogg. She oversees both the Slough and Swindon branches of Wernham Hogg.
Taylor-Clarke is the consummate professional in every respect and conducts her affairs with both professionalism and decorum. The majority of her interactions in the series are with David Brent, either one to one, or with Neil Godwin present.
Jennifer and David Brent
Her relationship with David is an awkward one. Brent cannot cope with the fact that a woman is his boss, and his annoyance at this is conveyed in a misogynistic undertone.
Due to David’s below par performance as a manager, Jennifer Taylor-Clarke regularly checks in with David to ensure he is on the track and working to the level he is expected to work. By using conjecture and management speak Brent tries to deceive Taylor-Clarke into thinking that he is fact working hard and producing good results. In some cases he simply just lies.
She is too smart and savvy for his attempted deception tactics, and Brent is left exposed and bare when it comes to his lazy work ethic. Jennifer Taylor-Clarke’s rational and logical approach to business runs in stark contrast to Brent’s illogical, flippant, shoot-from-the-hip approach.
The pinnacle of Brent’s deception is when he accuses Tim of creating and sending around the lewd picture of him. When Tim announces that it was in fact Chris Finch who did it, Brent quickly back-peddles and attempts to downplay the situation. Jennifer steps in and insists that he apologise to Tim immediately and also that he fire Chris Finch.
Stymied by this, David fakes a phone call to Chris Finch and pretends to have a conversation with him in which he tells Chris they are going to have to let him go.
Jennifer calls David’s bluff and puts the call on speaker phone quickly revealing that Chris is in fact not on the other end of the line. She then tells David that he’s pathetic.
Jennifer also has to endure a misogynistic remark from David after they both make a visit to the Wernham Hogg warehouse. Whilst down there Jennifer receives some sexist treatment from Glynn who manages the warehouse.
Once back in the office David apologises for the untoward behaviour of Glynn saying, “It’s left an image in my mind of you naked on all fours literally being done doggy style”. Jennifer is left dumbfounded.
Jennifer Taylor-Clarke feels uncomfortable around David through the entire series. Even when her and Neil notify David that he is being made redundant, she opts to take a back seat and let Neil do the talking.
When David appeals to her directly to see if she agrees with Neils decision, she simply nods in approval. She says nothing for the rest of the scene and intermittently looks at the camera as a sign of being uncomfortable.
Who Plays Jennifer Taylor-Clarke
Stirling Gallacher plays Jennifer Taylor-Clarke. She was born in Cheshire, England in 1970. Apart from her role in The Office, she is best known for her roles in Doctors, Little Britain and Coronation Street from 2018.
In 2009 she married Sean Gleeson, who she starred alongside in Doctors. His character was her on screen husband. They have a son together who was born in the same year. Gallacher also has a son, Ulysses, born in 2004, from a previous relationship.