The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin

infobox television |Lop
show_name = The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin


caption = Cover of the DVD release of the 1st Series
format = Comedy
runtime = 30 minutes
creator = David Nobbs
starring = Leonard Rossiter
Pauline Yates
John Barron
Sue Nicholls
Geoffrey Palmer
Trevor Adams
Bruce Bould
Tim Preece
Sally-Jane Spencer
John Horsley
country = United Kingdom
network = BBC
first_aired = 1976
last_aired = 1979
num_episodes = 21
tv_com_id = 11610
imdb_id = 0073990
list_episodes= List of The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin episodes|

"The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin" is a novel and a British sitcom starring Leonard Rossiter in the title role. Both book and TV series were written by David Nobbs, and the screenplay for the first series was adapted by Nobbs from the novel, though subplots in the novel were considered too dark or risqué for television and toned down or omitted, an example being the relationship between Perrin's daughter and his brother-in-law.

The original three series, all of the same name, were broadcast between 1976 and 1979; a fourth, "The Legacy of Reginald Perrin", also written by Nobbs, followed in 1996.

eries Summaries

eries One (8 September - 20 October 1976)

The first series was based on Nobbs's novel "The Death of Reginald Perrin", retitled "The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin" to tie in with the TV series and retains its new title to this day.

The plot hinges on Perrin's mid-life crisis as he tries to escape his dreary life. He lives at 12 Coleridge Close, part of the "Poets Estate" in a south London suburb called Climthorpe, a development different from those around it only by having the streets named for famous poets. He commutes to Sunshine Desserts where he works as a sales executive. Each morning he is 11 then 17 then 22 minutes late (increasing with each series) yet each morning he gives a different excuse. These become increasingly bizarre ("defective junction box, New Malden" being one of the more plausible ones) reflecting the decline of both British Rail and his own mental health. He enters the office building under the "Sunshine Desserts" sign, which, as the series progresses, loses more and more letters.

"Reggie", as he is known, daydreams in Walter Mitty style. Part of the narrative demonstrates what voices in his head are saying. Although he appears to love his wife, he fantasises about his secretary, Joan Greengross. As his behaviour becomes more erratic, he is unable to dictate letters without uttering words like "breast". Far from being offended, Joan welcomes the attention, adjusting her posture to show her figure.

The endless marketing campaigns for bizarre products, satirized in reports from the product research department, combine with Reggie's relations with his oppressive boss "C.J." and his yes man subordinates to drive him over the edge. Ceasing to care about the consequences, he dictates offensive and condescending replies to customers.

At home things are no better. Despite his warm relationship with his wife Elizabeth he suffers from impotence. As pressures at work build, relations with his dysfunctional relatives deteriorate, especially with his incompetent brother-in-law Jimmy and son-in-law Tom, a man whose "political correctness" emphasises his pomposity. After a few reckless acts, including getting out of his car in the lion enclosure at a safari park, Reggie fakes his suicide by drowning, leaving clothes and personal effects on a beach. Before this he sends C.J. an anonymous threat containing the words "blood will flow", dumping loganberry essence into a stream while C.J. is angling. C.J. collapses and the company doctor, Doc Morrisey, pronounces him dead. C.J. opens one eye and says, "You're fired!"

Assuming diguises, Reggie encounters more of the banal and pompous side of life. Only as a buck-toothed farm labourer does he find fulfilment looking after pigs. Missing his wife, he assumes the identity of Martin Wellbourne, returned from South America, and visits her. He realizes he loves her still. Elizabeth, seeing through his disguise, is happy to have him back.

eries Two (21 September - 2 November 1977)

In the second series, he remarries his wife and they build a business, "Grot", which sells useless items, hoping it will be an interesting failure. Instead, the items are snapped up as novelties, Grot becomes a success, and Reggie ends up employing the staff from Sunshine Desserts, including his boss, C.J. This causes the Perrins to fall into the boredom that Reggie suffered before, so they fake a joint suicide. This series was novelised as "The Return of Reginald Perrin". Leonard Rossiter insisted that the quality of the first series was better since it was a book adaptation, and insisted Nobbs write books for the subsequent series before he would consider appearing in them.Fact|date=February 2007

eries Three (29 November 1978 - 24 January 1979)

In the third series, novelised as "The Better World of Reginald Perrin", Reggie and his wife open a therapy centre for bored middle-aged people. He is rehired by C.J's brother F.J. at Amalgamated Aerosols, with C.J. himself as Reggie's supervisor. The final scene sees him contemplating another trip to the beach.

Christmas Sketch (26 December 1982)

In 1982, as part of "The Funny Side of Christmas", a short sketch featured the regular cast crowding Reggie's house. The sketch appears to be set during Reggie's crisis and is out of synchronisation with the other episodes.

"The Legacy of Reginald Perrin" (22 September - 31 October 1996)

infobox television |Lop
show_name = The Legacy of Reginald Perrin


caption = Title card
format = Comedy
runtime = 30 minutes
creator = David Nobbs
starring = Pauline Yates
John Barron
Sue Nicholls
Geoffrey Palmer
Bruce Bould
Tim Preece
Sally-Jane Spencer
John Horsley
Theresa Watson
country = United Kingdom
network = BBC
first_aired = 1996
last_aired = 1996
num_episodes = 7
tv_com_id = 11854
imdb_id = 0115242
list_episodes= List of The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin episodes#The Legacy of Reginald Perrin: 1996|This followup series, made long after Leonard Rossiter's death, shows Reggie's legacy: a fortune left to friends and family but with strange conditions. This was seen as a failure by viewers, because the loss of Leonard Rossiter removed some affection for the series and despite a lead man in Geoffrey Palmer, the series lacked a central character. Both book and series were titled "The Legacy of Reginald Perrin".

Other Versions

A short-lived US version was produced and broadcast on ABC in 1983 as "Reggie", with ex-Soap actor Richard Mulligan replacing Rossiter

In August 2008 it was announced that the BBC is pursuing a remake of the series with Martin Clunes in the title role. [cite web |url=http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/tv/2008/08/depending_on_your_perspective.html |title=There will only ever be one Reggie |accessdate=2008-08-31|author=James Donaghy |work=TV & Radio Blod |publisher=guardian.co.uk |date=2008-08-27 ]

Background and influence

At the end of the first series he fakes suicide by leaving his clothes on a beach in Dorset and running into the sea. (While this was coincidentally similar to MP John Stonehouse, neither was inspired by the other: the novel was written "before" Stonehouse's faked suicide in November 1974 but not published until 1975. The phrase "do a Reggie Perrin" did enter the vernacular, however, assisted by the Stonehouse affair.)

The series introduced catchphrases that entered popular culture in the UK, including Perrin's reflexive apology for a late arrival at the office, his boss C.J.'s "I didn't get where I am today ..."; the fawning junior executives Tony Webster and David Harris-Jones with their alternating "Great/Super"; and Perrin's brother-in-law Major Jimmy Anderson, an army officer with no grasp of organisation or leadership, coming to eat because of a "bit of a cock-up on the catering front".

Although mainly produced on video and shot on studio sets, the series also incorporated innovative surreal escapism through film inserts, notably during scenes in which, whenever his mother-in-law is mentioned, Reggie visualises a hippopotamus trotting along. This is the technique used to illustrate dreams and reveries of the characters in the American TV medical comedy series "Scrubs".

Occasionally characters would chorus each other exactly, another surreal tone, which was done skillfully enough to make it work comedically without affecting the "vérité" of the show.

Microsoft Visual Studio 6.0 Enterprise Edition contains a hidden Easter Egg, which is accessed using the words "Reggie" (a reference to "The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin") and "Victor" (a reference to "One Foot In The Grave"). The Easter Egg contains the names of the entire Visual Studio development team, as well as confirmation of the meaning of "Reggie" and "Victor". [http://www.eeggs.com/items/1047.html Visual Studio 6.0 Easter Egg]

Cast

*Reginald Iolanthe Perrin: Leonard Rossiter
*Elizabeth Perrin, his wife: Pauline Yates
*Joan Greengross, his secretary: Sue Nicholls
*CJ, his boss: John Barron (CJ is fond of pompous statements beginning "I didn't get where I am today by ..." – except when Reggie becomes his boss, whereupon he says "I didn't get where "you" are today by ..."; also "Neither Mrs CJ nor I have ever..." and "We're not one of those dreadful firms that..."). Barron also played the role of CJ's brother FJ.
*Tony Webster, "Great!": Trevor Adams
*David Harris-Jones, "Super!": Bruce Bould
*Mark Perrin, their son: David Warwick (Series One only)
*Linda Patterson, their daughter: Sally-Jane Spencer
*Tom Patterson, her husband: Tim Preece (first two series and "Legacy") and Leslie Schofield (third series) (Catchphrase: "I'm not a ... person.")
*Jimmy, Elizabeth's brother: Geoffrey Palmer
*Doc Morrissey, company doctor at Sunshine Desserts: John Horsley
*Seamus Finnegan, Irish Labourer with a genius for management: Derry Power (Series Two and Three only)
*Kenny McBlane, Scottish Chef at Perrin's: Joseph Brady (Series Three only)
*Prue Harris-Jones, wife of David Harris-Jones: Theresa Watson (Series Three and "Legacy" only)

DVD Releases

Neither "The Legacy of Reginald Perrin" nor the Christmas sketch has been released on DVD.

References

External links

*
* [http://www.leonardrossiter.com/reginaldperrin Official Reggie Perrin web site]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/guide/articles/f/fallandriseofreg_7772565.shtml Entry at The BBC Guide to Comedy]
* [http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/534926/index.html British Film Institute Screen Online]
* [http://www.secondsightfilms.co.uk/ Second Sight Films] (released the DVDs)