Leonard Rossiter

Episode 1 Review

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Let's hope the late Leonard Rossiter agreed with that sentiment. Reggie Perrin can't hold a candle to its 1976-79 predecessor, but it wasn't anywhere near as awful as I was expecting it to be. Most of this is down to Clunes' performance, although I'm not sure even he's good enough to keep us watching once the novelty wears off.

The modern-day adaptation of the classic 1970s sitcom The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin begins tonight, with Martin Clunes in the title role. He brings a very different, cuddlier character to the manic Perrin that Leonard Rossiter played. There's far less of the real angst that defined the original.

There must be plenty of people who question the sense in reviving a sitcom so closely associated with Leonard Rossiter. But if you come to it fresh and don't make comparisons, Reggie Perrin has plenty going for it. For one thing, the story of a man being driven slowly insane in a mind-numbingly tedious job ought to be timeless - or, at least, it seemed timeless until the financial crisis made us pathetically grateful to have any job at all. It also features a strong cast led by Martin Clunes, and much of it is a lot funnier than most run-of-the-mill sitcoms. But comedy has moved on.

You'd have to be very brave or very foolish to tackle a remake of classic 1970s sitcom The Fall And Rise Of Reginald Perrin. As this was written by the novel's author David Nobbs together with Men Behaving Badly creator Simon Nye, it's definitely a gamble worth taking.

It helps that Martin Clunes, who has the unenviable task of stepping into Leonard Rossiter's shoes as the downtrodden office man, looks nothing like the 70s star. Viewers who remember the original will be preoccupied with making comparisons. So what else is different?

Modernisation means that even Reggie's fantasy life must be politically correct - so no more hippo fantasies. And as his boss Chris Jackson, Neil Stuke has a the difficult job of measuring up to John Barron's masterful CJ.

What is strange is the fanciful excuses Reggie used to give each morning for why he was late now sound exactly like announcements commuters hear every day. "Wrong kind of passenger at South Norwood?" Why not?

Martin Clunes is a first-rate comedy actor, but also a very courageous one if he's willing to tackle a character created by comic genius Leonard Rossiter. Yet although Clunes lacks Rossiter's manic edge, nobody does grumpy curmudgeon better and there are other differences in the series that augur well, not least that Perrin creator David Nobbs has co-written this series with Men Behaving Badly creator Simon Nye, who understands Clunes' talent well.

Characters like Wendy Craig's Marion, Reggie's disapproving mum, are refreshingly new and there's promise in the casting of Fay Ripley as Perrin's wife and Geoffrey Whitehead as her father.

Oh, crumbs - they've only gone and done it. One of the BBC's finest ever comedies - originally featuring a stellar performance from the peerless Leonard Rossiter - has been pulled from retirement and given rejuvenating injections of Botox. Still, the story of an everyman who jacks in his job to start from scratch is just as resonant these days, so hopefully Martin Clunes as Reggie, plus Faye Ripley and Wendy Craig, won't go too far wrong...

Interview with creator David Nobbs

The show's creator David Nobbs has placed his character in the contemporary world - but the pressures of the rat race faced by the original Reggie (played by Leonard Rossiter) remain relevant today, as David explains.

Honestly, this is tantamount to a mugging. Somebody in comedy commissioning at the Beeb must have tortured logic until it screamed: "Remake classic 1970s sitcom The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin!". That's clearly the only explanation for this travesty of a show, saved marginally by the presence of Martin Clunes in the title role. But seriously, when you're stepping into shoes vacated by the late, great Leonard Rossiter, even the best fall short of the mark. Way short.

Oh dear. This won't be the worst thing you'll see this year. But, with its canned laughter, wobbly sets and dated jokes, it might just make your top five. 'Reimagining' (darh-ling!) a hallowed TV classic is probably never wise, even when you have the original writer, plus Simon Nye, plus a great cast on board. Martin Clunes isn't horrendous as mid-life crisis-struck Reggie, but hey, he's no Leonard Rossiter. And he has to make the best out of ancient gags such as 'Anything that bleeds for five days without dying deserves a bunch of flowers'. Which we're sure was recycled from his Men Behaving Badly days.

We probably didn't need a remake of Leonard Rossiter's The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin, given that middle-class/workplace alienation has now been parodied so effectively in the likes of Men Behaving Badly, The Office and Peep Show. Still, the first episode of this latest airing - which now sees Reggie as a bored razor blade guru - is thoroughly watchable thanks mostly to a cutting script and a sterling performance by Martin Clunes.