Reggie Perrin (2009)

Revival of the 1970s sitcom The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin. Creator David Nobbs has co-written six new 30-minute episodes for this series, with the help of Men Behaving Badly writer Simon Nye. Reggie Perrin retells the story of a sales executive on the edge. An average man finding it increasingly difficult to put up with the monotony of life, the disappointing marriage, the office grind and the daily commute. Rebellion begins to build in his mind, in the form of increasingly surreal flights of fancy. And, slowly, Reggie begins to say what he really thinks, to his wife, to his boss, to his fellow commuters... and, most dangerously of all, to his new colleague, the beautiful Jasmine Strauss. Executive producer Phil Clarke told Broadcast magazine that this project (Objective's first studio sitcom and its first comedy commission for BBC1) is aiming to deliver an accessible family show for a pre-watershed slot. Martin Clunes plays the lead character, and an impressive cast list including Wendy Craig and Geoffrey Whitehead back him up. Clarke continues: "Reggie's still a man in crisis with the modern world, but what's interesting is to look at where the world has changed since the 1970s and where it hasn't. He won't, for example, dictate memos to his secretary and he'll be using email. It's an opportunity to comment on the modern world without being heavy-handed."