The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin

The late, great Leonard Rossiter will always be remembered best in the classic sitcom, Rising Damp, but the BBC's The Fall And Rise Of Reginald Perrin is also not to be missed.

Reggie was quite different to the many other TV comedies of the seventies in the fact that the programme (adapted from the writer's novels) continued the story in a 'serial' fashion which was that of middle-aged, rebel, Reginald Perrin, who suffers a breakdown with hillarious results and resorts to faking his own death. This all happens in the first series but i'm sure that many laughs beyond Reggie's original six misadventures.

David Nobbs' brilliant satire of modern life features the incomparable Leonard Rossiter as middle-aged, middle-class, middle-manager Reggie Perrin, who longs for a life that is just out of reach. Despite his best (and most bizarre) efforts to break free from the insipid conformity that he sees all around him, he never quite succeeds. Perrin is surrounded by one of the finest and funniest ensembles in the history of British comedy - you'll find most of your friends, family and enemies represented here. As Reggie's fatuous boss (a character that anticipated the Dilbert comic strip by about 20 years) would put it, "I didn't get where I am today without appreciating one of the finest British sitcoms ever." Outstanding writing and hilarious acting make this one of the greats.

From what I gather this was a 1970's British television series. What I saw was a 100 minute film, albeit with a laughtrack, so it may well have been a condensation of several programmes of the series.

No matter. This was FUNNY. I don't mean quiet chortle funny; I mean laugh out loud, uncontrollable giggle, hearty guffaw funny.

Leonard Rossiter of "Rising Damp" fame (a television series that I DID see) is Reginald Iolanthe Perrin, a middle aged marketing executive suffering a severe midlife crisis. He fantasises about having an affair with his secretary, torturing his overbearing boss (John Barron giving a marvellous performance) and escaping from the drudgery which is his life. After drinking too much wine before giving an embarrasing luncheon speech he effects his escape by faking his own death. Away from the constraints of work and family life he finds that his new found freedom is not all it's cracked up to be and he finds himself longing for his wife. Now he has to find a way to come back...

The situations and dialogue are hilarious, while the performances of very British characters are uniformly excellent. Even after repeated viewings the bittersweet ending still gives me goosepimples.

Highly recommended.

PBS aired the series in '79 and '81. I wandered into the first episode by accident and was immediately hooked. And since this was the age when VCRs still cost over a thousand bucks, I had no option but to try and memorize the series....

And then recite the lines to my friends who'd missed the two seasons that aired.

PERRIN was possibly the first series to use seemingly unconnected visuals to illustrate a character's state of mind, a trick later used in series like DREAM ON and ALLIE McBEAL.

I'm still struck by the role the surf plays in PERRIN as a place to dump old cares, worries, and lives in exchange for new lives. The final sequence of the second season has also stayed with me-- Reggie and his wife go to the beach to assume new lives, then discover an entire beach full of people doing the same thing. Reggie smiles and says "Look Elizabeth, it's catching." In the past 20 years, when things looked bleak, I'd think of finding my way to that beach....

That the series is finally on videotape is fantastic. That there is a third season I never knew about is beyond words!!!!

There's nothing like Reginald Perrin. The only things that approach it are Ronnie Barker's stammering speeches in Open All Hours, or his cockney patter in Porridge, and John Cleese's tantrums in Fawlty Towers. Leonard Rossiter's gift for rattling off a screed like a machine gun is amazing. If Reg Parrin ever did walk into the sea he'd never drown because he never has to stop to take a breath!

Every episode is remarkably simialar. Elizabeth sends him off to work, to which he is invariably late. He fantasizes about his secretary Joan until he's called on the carpet by his boss CJ, who didn't get where he is by . . etc . . . who gives Reg the completely mad assignment of the day.

And then he goes home for the day, where his dinner, which is invariably rizotto, is interrupted by his nutty military brother-in-law's cockup on the catering front, or his pipe smoking son-in-law's latest attempts at nettle wine. And then he thinks about his weekend visit to his mother-in-law whom he pictures as a hippo. I know! It sounds about as boring as anyone's routine. What isn't boring is watching him slowly go into meltdown, and start spouting off like a volcano erupting. It just get's better and better as Reggie's life gets worse and worse.

Reg really does try to make his way through the day. But if you or I had days like his we'd probably turn our hand to eccentric occupations too. But hang on, because with every new twist in his otherwise monotonous road there will be another fall and rise in this roller-coaster ride of a comedy.