When Tom Good a 40-year old draughtsman and his wife Barbara drop out of the rat race and become self-sufficient they change their lives forever. To the horror of their neighbours Jerry and Margo Leadbetter the Goods turn their lovely Surbiton home into a self-sufficient farm complete with vegetable patches a goat pigs and a multitude of hens. This DVD features the entire second series of the classic BBC comedy. Episodes comprise: Just My Bill The Guru of Surbiton Mr. Fix-
Adapted by David Nobbs from his novel The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin brilliantly captured the mid-1970s zeitgeist. It opened each week with a naked Reggie walking out into the sea to end it all before rapidly rethinking the whole idea and told the story of a man desperate to escape his loving but dull marriage disappointing offspring and the daily grind of his job. The first series - while hilariously funny - was incredibly dark focusing on a man in nervous breakdown. Each week Reggie's behaviour becomes more erratic his excuses to his secretary for lateness weirder and weirder (22 minutes late Joan: a badger ate a junction box at New Malden) and his fantasies of seducing her more vivid. The mere mention of his mother-in-law is enough to send an image of a hippo lumbering through his head and each episode ends with Reggie screaming in frustration. Ultimately he fakes his own death but is reunited with wife Elizabeth when he attends his funeral in disguise and can't resist wooing her all over again. Reggie returned a year later bent on setting up a new business Grot selling useless goods. It was of course a massive success leaving Reggie trapped back in the rat race. For the third less successful series he abandoned wage-slavery again this time setting up a commune for his former co-workers. A brilliant satire the programme will also be remembered for its catchphrases including Reggie's boss CJ's I didn't get where I am today by... and Reggie's brother-in-law Jimmy constantly cadging food on the basis of a bit of a cock-up on the catering front. Above all there was Leonard Rossiter's brilliant performance as Reginald Iolanthe Perrin. RIP to both.
Features the all episodes from the BBC television comedy series which sees Tom and Barbara leave the rat-race in an attempt to live a self-sufficient life; with varying degrees of success! Episodes comprise: 1. Plough Your Own Furrow 2. Say Little Hen ... 3. The Weaker Sex? 4. Pig's Lib 5. The Thing In The Cellar 6. The Pagan Rite 7. Backs To The Wall 8. Just My Bill 9. The Guru Of Surbiton 10. Mr Fix-It 11. The Day Peace Broke Out 12. Mutiny 13. Home Sweet Home 14. Going To Pot? 15. The Early Birds 16. The Happy Event 17. A Tug Of The Forelock 18. I Talk To The Trees 19. The Wind-Break War 20. Whose Fleas Are These? 21. The Last Posh Frock 22. Away From It All 23. The Green Door 24. Our Speaker Today 25. The Weaver's Tale 26. Suit Yourself 27. Sweet And Sour Charity 28. Anniversary 29. When I'm 65 30. Silly But It's Fun
Boasting a virtuoso comic performance from Leonard Rossiter The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin (1976-79) remains one of the greatest of all television sitcoms. Writer David Nobbs combined the surrealist absurdity of Monty Python with an on-going story line that unfolded through each of the three seasons with a clear beginning, middle and end; a ground-breaking development in 70s TV comedy. The first and best season charts middle-aged, middle-management executive Reginald Perrin as he breaks-down under the stress of middle-class life until he informs the world that half the parking meters in London have Dutch Parking Meter Disease. He fakes suicide and returns to court his wife Elizabeth (Pauline Yates) in disguise, a plot development that formed the entire basis of Mrs Doubtfire (1993). Series Two is broader, the rapid-fire dialogue still razor sharp and loaded with caustic wit and ingenious silliness, as a now sane Reggie takes on the madness of the business world by opening a chain of shops selling rubbish. The third season, set in a health farm, is routine, the edge blunted by routine sitcom conventions. At its best The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin is hilarious and moving, its depiction of English middle-class life spot on, its satire prophetic. Reggie's visual fantasies hark back to The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947) and Billy Liar (1963), and look forward to Ally McBeal (1997-2002) and are the icing on the cake of a fine, original and highly imaginative show. On the DVD: Reginald Perrin's discs contain one complete seven episode season. There are no extras. The sound is good mono and the 4:3 picture is generally fine, though some of the exterior shot-on-film scenes have deteriorated and there are occasional signs of minor damage to the original video masters. Even so, for a 1970s sitcom shot on video the picture is excellent and far superior to the original broadcasts. --Gary S Dalkin
Boasting a virtuoso comic performance from Leonard Rossiter The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin (1976-79) remains one of the greatest of all television sitcoms. Writer David Nobbs combined the surrealist absurdity of Monty Python with an on-going story line that unfolded through each of the three seasons with a clear beginning, middle and end; a ground-breaking development in 70s TV comedy. The first and best season charts middle-aged, middle-management executive Reginald Perrin as he breaks-down under the stress of middle-class life until he informs the world that half the parking meters in London have Dutch Parking Meter Disease. He fakes suicide and returns to court his wife Elizabeth (Pauline Yates) in disguise, a plot development that formed the entire basis of Mrs Doubtfire (1993). Series Two is broader, the rapid-fire dialogue still razor sharp and loaded with caustic wit and ingenious silliness, as a now sane Reggie takes on the madness of the business world by opening a chain of shops selling rubbish. The third season, set in a health farm, is routine, the edge blunted by routine sitcom conventions. At its best The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin is hilarious and moving, its depiction of English middle-class life spot on, its satire prophetic. Reggie's visual fantasies hark back to The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947) and Billy Liar (1963), and look forward to Ally McBeal (1997-2002) and are the icing on the cake of a fine, original and highly imaginative show. On the DVD: Reginald Perrin's discs contain one complete seven episode season. There are no extras. The sound is good mono and the 4:3 picture is generally fine, though some of the exterior shot-on-film scenes have deteriorated and there are occasional signs of minor damage to the original video masters. Even so, for a 1970s sitcom shot on video the picture is excellent and far superior to the original broadcasts. --Gary S Dalkin
Boasting a virtuoso comic performance from Leonard Rossiter The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin (1976-79) remains one of the greatest of all television sitcoms. Writer David Nobbs combined the surrealist absurdity of Monty Python with an on-going story line that unfolded through each of the three seasons with a clear beginning, middle and end; a ground-breaking development in 70s TV comedy. The first and best season charts middle-aged, middle-management executive Reginald Perrin as he breaks-down under the stress of middle-class life until he informs the world that half the parking meters in London have Dutch Parking Meter Disease. He fakes suicide and returns to court his wife Elizabeth (Pauline Yates) in disguise, a plot development that formed the entire basis of Mrs Doubtfire (1993). Series Two is broader, the rapid-fire dialogue still razor sharp and loaded with caustic wit and ingenious silliness, as a now sane Reggie takes on the madness of the business world by opening a chain of shops selling rubbish. The third season, set in a health farm, is routine, the edge blunted by routine sitcom conventions. At its best The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin is hilarious and moving, its depiction of English middle-class life spot on, its satire prophetic. Reggie's visual fantasies hark back to The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947) and Billy Liar (1963), and look forward to Ally McBeal (1997-2002) and are the icing on the cake of a fine, original and highly imaginative show. On the DVD: Reginald Perrin's discs contain one complete seven episode season. There are no extras. The sound is good mono and the 4:3 picture is generally fine, though some of the exterior shot-on-film scenes have deteriorated and there are occasional signs of minor damage to the original video masters. Even so, for a 1970s sitcom shot on video the picture is excellent and far superior to the original broadcasts. --Gary S Dalkin
In this hilarious programme we revisit some of Leonard Rossiter's funniest moments from an illustrious career that has made him one of Britain's best loved comedy heroes. Laugh again at some of the best sketches ever written for television and film and a few that may have escaped you from his earlier career. In addition to archive interviews with Mr Rossiter himself we also hear the first hand reflections of co-stars and friends Bruce Bould John Barron John Wells Sue Nicholls Eric Chappel and Don Warrington who all pay tribute to the comic genius that was Leonard Rositter. Although sadly missed Leonard Rossiter will continue to entertain us on TV screens for years to come via the comic legacy that is 'Rising Damp' 'The Fall And Rise Of Reginald Perrin' 'Billy Liar' and 'The Losers' and much more.
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