| The Fall And Rise Of Reginald Perrin |
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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. The plot hinges on the mid-life crisis experienced by Perrin as he becomes desperate to escape his dreary life. He lives in a suburb of south and his own mental health. (Likewise, more and more letters disappear from Sunshine Desserts' office sign.) He constantly daydreams in a Walter Mitty style and part of the narrative demonstrates what the voices in his head are saying. Although he appears to love his wife, he fantasises about running away with his secretary, Joan Greengross, and doesn't care about the consequences of his actions at work. At the end of the first series he fakes his own suicide by leaving his clothes on a beach in Dorset and running into the sea. (While this was coincidentally similar to a stunt pulled at around the same time by maverick MP John Stonehouse , neither was Nobbs inspired by Stonehouse nor Stonehouse by Reggie: the novel was written ''before'' Stonehouse's faked suicide in June 1974 but not published until 1975. The phrase "to do a Reggie Perrin" did enter the vernacular, however, no doubt assisted by the media circus that surrounded the Stonehouse affair.) The series also introduced a number of catchphrases that have entered popular culture in the UK including Perrin's reflexive apology for a late arrival at the office, his boss CJ's "I didn't get where I am today..", and the fawning David and Tony with their alternating "Great/Super". Although mainly produced on video and shot on studio sets, the series also incorporated innovative elements of Surreal Escapism through the use of film inserts, most notably during the numerous scenes in which, whenever his dreaded mother-in-law is mentioned, Reggie involuntarily visualises a huge Hippopotamus wallowing in a river. (This technique is currently used to great effect to illustrate the dreams and reveries of the characters in the American TV medical comedy series '' Scrubs ''). The first series was based on Nobbs' novel ''The Death of Reginald Perrin'', which was re-titled ''The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin'' to tie in with the TV series and retains its new title to this day. In the second series he remarries his wife, and they build a retail business (" Grot ") which sells useless items, hoping that it will be an interesting failure. Instead, the useless items are snapped up as novelties: Grot becomes a runaway success, and Reggie ends up employing all the staff from Sunshine Desserts, including his former boss, CJ. This causes the Perrins to fall into the same boredom that Reggie suffered before, so at the end of the second series they fake a joint suicide. This series was novelised as ''The Return of Reginald Perrin''. 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. Although still very funny, it lacked the energy that the first two series had contained, and the ending saw Reggie come pretty much full circle and back where he started. He is rehired by CJ's brother FJ at Amalgamated Aerosols, with CJ himself as Reggie's supervisor. The final scene sees him contemplating another trip to the beach for another possible faked suicide. In 1982, as part of a show called ''The Funny Side of Christmas'', there was a short, festive sketch featuring 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 fourth series, made long after Leonard Rossiter's death, shows the effect of Reggie's legacy: a fortune left to his friends and family but with strange conditions attached. This was largely seen as a failure by viewers, because time had moved on and the loss of Leonard Rossiter as the main character removed any affection for the series. Both book and series were titled ''The Legacy of Reginald Perrin''. A US version of the series was produced in 1983 as '' Reggie '', with ex- Soap actor Richard Mulligan replacing Rossiter in the lead role. CAST
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