THE FALL AND RISE OF REGINALD PERRIN

'The Fall And Rise Of Reginald Perrin' was an inspiration for all of us who want something more than the treadmill that is the rat race, but 'Reggie Perrin' never descended into glumness - with C.J.'s farting chairs, and Reggie's vision of his mother-in-law as a hippopotamus (yes, I know, rather sexist), how could it?

The colleagues of Reggie were all pretty irritating, as was his son-in-law, and Geoffrey Palmer's care in the community escapee, Jimmy.

The women in the series seemed more interesting, and Reggie's wife, Elizabeth, was heroic, with Pauline Yates playing her role with an unfazed air.

Leonard Rossiter was simply masterful as the sneering Reggie, and none of his colleagues really seemed to twig when he was in contemptuous mood. They were just too damn dull!

Martin Clunes took over the role of Reggie Perrin in a 2009 and 2010 BBC remake, which was pretty true to the original, though the remake has Reggie in charge of disposable razors at a company called Groomtech.

- Paul Rance/booksmusicfilmstv.com.

The Catchphrases

"I didn't get where I am today..." - C.J.
"There's been a bit of a cock-up..." - Jimmy Anderson.
"Great!" - Tony Webster
"Super!" - David Harris-Jones
"I'm not a........person." - Tom Patterson

Reggie Perrin 2009 & 2010 Series DVDs available from booksmusicfilmstv.com - in association with Amazon.co.uk

Reggie Perrin [DVD] [2009] ~ Martin Clunes

Reggie Perrin - Series 2 [DVD] ~ Martin Clunes

Reggie Perrin Original Series DVD available from booksmusicfilmstv.com - in association with Amazon.co.uk

The Fall And Rise Of Reginald Perrin : The Complete BBC Series Collection [1976] ~ David Warwick, Leonard Rossiter

REGGIE PERRIN EPISODE GUIDE
(Dates first broadcast are in brackets)

1st SERIES - THE FALL AND RISE OF REGINALD PERRIN

Episode 1 (08/09/76) - Very early on Reggie is thinking of escaping his unsatisfying life.
Episode 2 (15/09/76) - Reggie has a stressful weekend family outing.
Episode 3 (22/09/76) - Reggie's yearnings for his secretary Joan are nipped in the bud...for now.
Episode 4 (29/09/76) - While wife Elizabeth is away, Reggie plays host to boss C.J. and wife.
Episode 5 (06/10/76) - After a dreadful, drunken, public humiliation of a speech, Reggie has had enough, and fakes a suicide.
Episode 6 (13/10/76) - Reggie plays with the idea of different identities, and discovers Elizabeth is to marry again.
Episode 7 (20/10/76) - Reggie settles on the bearded, suave sophisticate Martin Wellbourne as his desired alter ego. He's attractive to Elizabeth, and C.J. gives him a top job with the Reginald Perrin Memorial Foundation!

2nd SERIES - THE FALL AND RISE OF REGINALD PERRIN

Episode 1 (21/09/77) - Reggie tells Elizabeth he is not really the great traveller Martin Wellbourne. C.J. isn't impressed and Reggie is sacked.
Episode 2 (28/09/77) - Reggie struggles to find a suitable job, but Elizabeth secretly gets a job with C.J.'s firm.
Episode 3 (05/10/77) - C.J. sacks Elizabeth, but Reggie gets a eureka moment.
Episode 4 (12/10/77) - The great idea Reggie has is Grot, which stocks pure crap like tennis rackets with no strings, for exorbitant prices, but he can't stop making money.
Episode 5 (19/10/77) - Grot's success skyrockets, and Reggie ends up employing his old boss cum monster, C.J.
Episode 6 (26/10/77) - Reggie gets disillusioned with Grot's success, but his efforts to destroy it have the opposite effect.
Episode 7 (02/11/77) - Reggie takes drastic action to find a more meaningful existence.

3rd SERIES - THE FALL AND RISE OF REGINALD PERRIN

Episode 1 (29/11/78) - Reggie decides to escape the rat race and start a commune, Perrins.
Episode 2 (06/12/78) - The commune idea, at first, doesn't seem to be as appealing to the public as Grot.
Episode 3 (13/12/78) - Suddenly the public catch on, and the clients of Perrins are well satisfied.
Episode 4 (20/12/78) - Unusual happenings continue at Perrins...
Episode 5 (27/12/78) - Though Perrins has been successful, the cracks are starting to appear in Reggie's latest venture.
Episode 6 (03/01/79) - There is friction at Perrins, and Reggie will have to find something new, or...
Episode 7 (10/01/79) - Reggie ends up back at square one - being offered a boring job.

- Paul Rance.