"The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin" (1976) TV series 1976-1979

User Rating:

8.9/10   

Director:

John Howard Davies

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3

Release Date:

8 September 1976 (UK)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

BBC Television comedy detailing the fortunes of Reginald Iolanthe Perrin. Disillusioned after a long career at Sunshine Desserts...

Plot Keywords:

Flight Of Fancy | Office | Suburbia | Faked Death | Midlife Crisis

Awards:

7 nominations

Cast

Leonard Rossiter	...	Reginald Perrin (21 episodes, 1976-1979)
Pauline Yates	...	Elizabeth Perrin (21 episodes, 1976-1979)
John Barron	...	C.J. / ... (20 episodes, 1976-1979)
Sue Nicholls	...	Joan Greengross / ... (20 episodes, 1976-1979)
Trevor Adams	...	Tony Webster (20 episodes, 1976-1979)
Bruce Bould	...	David Harris-Jones (20 episodes, 1976-1979)
Sally-Jane Spencer	...	Linda Patterson / ... (16 episodes, 1976-1979)
John Horsley	...	Doc Morrissey (14 episodes, 1976-1979)
Geoffrey Palmer	...	Jimmy Anderson / ... (13 episodes, 1976-1979)
Tim Preece	...	Tom / ... (9 episodes, 1976-1977)

Runtime:

30 min (21 episodes)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:PG

Filming Locations:

High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Trivia:

The streets in Reggie Perrin's neighborhood, the signs for which he is regularly seen walking by to and from work ("Wordsworth Drive," "Tennyson Avenue" and "Coleridge Close") are named after the famous British 19th century poets, William Wordsworth, Alfred Lord Tennyson and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. In the last episode of the series, when Reginald Perrin has taken another executive job in a large corporation, like the one he had at the beginning of the series, the street signs when he walks to work now read Liebnitz Drive, Bertrand Russell Rise and Schopenhauer Grove. These streets are named after the philosophers Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, Bertrand Arthur William Russell and Arthur Schopenhauer.

Quotes:

Jimmy Armstrong: Compost heaps, pros and cons. Credit side - Big enough. Nice and warm. Element of surprise when attacked by compost heap considerable. Debit side - Smelly, bad for morale. Field of vision limited. Delay in getting out of compost heap considerable. And, erm, anyway we haven't got any. Careful consideration, but on balance, "thumbs down".
Reginald Perrin: Congratulations, Jimmy. Well done!
Jimmy Armstrong: Why? What for?
Reginald Perrin: For deciding it shouldn't be compost heaps.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Comedy Connections: The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin (#2.4)" (2004)

IMO One of the very best Comedy Series ever made

First I must confess to a crush on Elizabeth (Pauline Yates).

The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin is one of those rare comedy series that I can watch over and over without tiring of it. Its easy to become attached to the characters as they are all lovable (even CJ). In fact I even missed the original actor who played Tom (Reggie's 'Straggely-mustached,Bearded-Prig' Son-in-Law) in the first two series when he was replaced by another actor in Series three. I felt this unfortunate because by that time the 'original' Tom had really got the part down to a tee.

I first saw this show as a young lad in England when it was originally released in the mid '70s so I'm probably a little biased - it certainly has much nostalgic value to me, but judging by the ratings the show has so far (9 out of 10 ), I think I'm right in my estimation of this as a 10.

Also, I feel the late Leonard Rossiter gave a very great gift to many many people - he made Reggie on of the most enduring and well-loved characters in British comedy. He was the perfect Reggie Perrin.