The.Fall.And.Rise.Of.Reginald.Perrin

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When Reginald Iolanthe Perrin set out for work on the Thursday morning, he had no intention of calling his mother in-law a hippopotamus. Yet that's exactly what he did do - and when the book (which opened with that very line) was adapted for TV by the BBC in 1976, Reggie's visions of that waddling, mud-caked hippo created one of TV's funniest images. On that level alone, the show is great comic entertainment - but there's so much more to enjoy besides.







The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin is a situation comedy with a difference. The situation is that of a tired, middle-aged executive who, feeling suffocated by his repetitive commuter lifestyle, decides he wants out; the comedy comes from his attempts to actually do so. But this isn't just a series of half-baked plots - it's a continuing serial which follows every trial and tribulation of our anti-hero as he slowly descends into madness, then makes the one bid for freedom which might just save his sanity. And it's this satirical element that elevates Perrin from mere half-hour laugh-fest to poignant comedy drama; just as Reggie tries to prove there is more to life, the programme proves there is more to comedy than an endless stream of gags. We travel every step of the way with Reggie, feeling his frustration; celebrating when he breaks free; and empathising when he finally discovers that the grass isn't always greener on the other side.



The late, great Leonard Rossiter stars as Reggie, a role a million miles away from his most famous character - Rising Damp's lecherous landlord Rigsby - but every bit as memorable. The rest of the characters are somewhat more caricatured, from domineering boss, sexy secretary and stammering, sycophantic colleague, through to understanding wife, hippie son-in-law and scrounging brother-in-law. Yet this is not a criticism - they're played as caricatures because that's precisely what they are, with their catchphrases and repetitive behaviour only serving to heighten Reggie's sense of suffocation.



The show ran for three series, in which Reggie tried various ways of putting two fingers up to the world. There was also a spin-off, Fairly Secret Army, starring Geoffrey Palmer, and a dire American version with Soap star Richard Mulligan in the title role. But perhaps most poignant was the fourth series, The Legacy of Reginald Perrin, which aired in Britain in 1996 and reunited all the original cast with one notable exception: Reggie himself. Sadly, Leonard Rossiter died in 1984, and another actor taking over the character was unthinkable, so here his family, friends and colleagues gathered to carry out the conditions of his last will and testament. The book was a joy as, despite Reggie's absence, his spirit lived on through the others; sadly in the TV adaptation, his absence was all-too apparent - without a fully formed central character, all the others were reduced to simple caricature.



Nevertheless, The Fall and Rise ... stands proudly alongside other classic BBC comedies such as Fawlty Towers, Only Fools and Horses, Dad's Army and Steptoe and Son.