Reviewed by Stuart O'Connor
Stars Leonard Rossiter, Pauline Yates, John Barron, Sue Nicholls, Trevor Adams,
Bruce Bould, Sally-Jane Spencer, John Horsley, Geoffrey Palmer, Tim Preece | Written by David Nobbs
UK certification 12 | UK RRP £29.99 | DVD Region 2 | Runtime 629 minutes | Directed by John Howard Davies
In the history of the British sitcom, there are very few that stand head and shoulders about the crowd. In fact, you can count them on two hands – Blackadder, Fawlty Towers, Red Dwarf, Father Ted, Yes Minister/Prime Minister, Absolutely Fabulous, The Young Ones, The League Of Gentlemen and Alan Partridge. Until now, I wouldn't have included The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin in that list – only because, growing up in Australia, I had never seen it. Now, having watched all three seasons, it shoots straight into the top three.
Based on a novel by David Nobbs (who also wrote the series), and originally broadcast in the late 1970s, we spend three series of seven episodes each following the ups and downs in the life of Reggie Perrin - a bored, middle-aged executive for Sunshine Desserts who has a breakdown, fakes his own death, and returns in disguise as Martin Wellbourne. "Martin" marries Reggie's wife and returns to work at Sunshine Desserts, where his life proceeds pretty much as it was before - until his true identity is revealed, and he's sacked. In the second series, Reggie sets up a chain of stores, called Grot, that all sell totally useless goods. He expects to fail, but becomes a billionaire and starts to head towards another breakdown. In the third season, Reggie sets up a commune for the middle-class middle-aged – a community where people can live in peace and love and happiness – staffed by family, friends and former colleagues. It fails, and he ends up back where he began – behind his desk at Sunshine Desserts.
The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin was a cult comedy that also became a mainstream hit (at its peak, it attracted 11 million viewers). It perfectly captured the middle-age malaise of a man who is fed up with his humdrum suburban existence – a man who, according to his company's doctor, was suffering from "middle age, exhaustion, boredom, anxiety, self-disgust, misery, a sense of inferiority, dislike of industry, fear, insecurity and frustration". Watching it today, some 30 years after it was made, I was struck by how truly great comedy never ages. The witty writing is still whip-crack sharp, full of brilliant one-liners, verbal jousts and clever catchphrases – such as "bit of a cockup on the catering front", and "I didn't get where I am today ...". The cast, too, was superb, featuring many of the great comedy stars of the 70s. But it was Rossiter's show all the way. His performance through all three series was nothing short of stunning, as the sneering, manic, anxious, perplexed and somewhat odd Reggie. Forget the new remake starring Martin Clunes; you're much better off watching the original – and still the best.
EXTRAS *** The seven-part 1996 sequel The Legacy of Reginald Perrin, which reunites all the original cast except for Rossiter, who died in 1984. Reggie has died and has left his friends all his money; there are however a few bizarre requests they must fulfil before they can get hold of it. Sadly, it suffers from the lack of its brilliant main character. The other bonus features are the BBC documentary Comedy Connections from 2004, and a short 1982 sketch, which reunited the original cast, called The Funny Side of Christmas.