DVD Review: The Fall & Rise of Reginald Perrin: The Complete Series: Leonard Rossiter, Pauline Yates, John Barron, Sue Nicholls, Trevor Adams, Bruce Bould, Joan Blackham, Sally-Jane Spencer, Tim Preece, Sheila Bernette, Derry Power, Geoffrey Palmer, Gareth Gwenlan, John Howard Davies, Bill Harris, Chris Lovett, John B. Hobbs, David Nobbs: Movies & TV
DVD Review: The Fall & Rise of Reginald Perrin: The Complete Series: Leonard Rossiter, Pauline Yates, John Barron, Sue Nicholls, Trevor Adams, Bruce Bould, Joan Blackham, Sally-Jane Spencer, Tim Preece, Sheila Bernette, Derry Power, Geoffrey Palmer, Gareth Gwenlan, John Howard Davies, Bill Harris, Chris Lovett, John B. Hobbs, David Nobbs: Movies & TV
Product Description
Opening with a naked Reggie running into the sea, this groundbreaking BBC comedy series tells the story of a man desperate to escape his daily monotony. Adapted by David Nobbs from his darkly-comedic novel, and powered by the unique performance of Leonard Rossiter, this brilliant satire had the world “cracking up” over one man’s nervous breakdown.
Reginald Perrin (Rossiter) has a respectable career at Sunshine Desserts, a happy marriage and two less than satisfactory children. But the pressures of the rat race are beginning to push Reggie over the edge. The mere mention of his mother-in-law conjures the image of a hippopotamus, the word ‘earwig’ keeps creeping into his conversations, and his thoughts are repeatedly interrupted by outrageous fantasies involving his secretary – what’s an overstressed food firm executive to do?
INCLUDES ALL 3 SEASONS (21 EPISODES) PLUS:
“The Very Best of Leonard Rossiter” – the ultimate film review of the acclaimed actor including unforgettable highlights, archival interviews with Rossiter and first-hand reflections from four of his Reginald Perrin co-stars.
“Reginald Perrin Christmas Special Sketch” – the long-lost sketch, which reunited the cast three years after the completion of the series; originally broadcast as part of BBC’s 1982 “The Funny Side of Christmas” special.
Don’t you just hate “pre” reviews?,
By Michael D. Kelley “Ex-Genius”
(Leesburg, Florida) -
And yet… I’m doing one anyway, based on the television series and NOT the quality of the DVD set (which at this point is unknown). However, we can make some good guesses here and guesses which are at least valuable in deciding whether or not you’ll be interested in this.
First of all, this is as English a series as it comes. Absolutely no attempt is made to “Americanize” it, so if you have trouble understanding English accents (and even *I* do at times) or dislike the English sense of humor then stay well aware from this.
Otherwise, this is a *superb* show, equally on par with Fawlty Towers as one of the best the English has to offer. It’s sharp satire but not “crazy” in the Monty Python sense. Reginald is a man who gets fed up with the middle class rut he’s living in, and fakes his own death to get away from it all — except he can’t get away from it all and no matter how he tries to fail he keeps succeeding even more. It stars the late Leonard Rossiter who is absolutely brilliant in this — actually, the entire cast is superb.
The show is a hidden treasure — here in the States there were two VHS tapes released fifteen years ago which covered only the first half of the series (the “fall” of Reginald). Then you could buy a PAL set of this (assuming you had the ability to play it) but that’s gone out of stock as well. This NTSC DVD set looks to be the entire show and worth every penny. Buy it today before it goes out of print again!
The Very Best,
By David Tallen (Minneapolis, MN USA) -
In my opinion, this is the BEST comedy to ever come out of the UK, exceeding Fawlty Towers and all the rest. I bought the video tapes when they were available, and I bought the PAL DVDs when they came out(only being able to play them on my laptop). Now I am torn. Another $50 to own them in NTSC? My wife will kill me (although she also loves the show).
Word of warning: For some people, this show takes a bit of getting used to. Trust me, it is funnier every time you watch it (due, I suppose, to the fact that you begin to anticipate the funny lines). You need to invest a little time getting to know the characters.
I think my favorite scene is in the third season when Reggie goes out looking for C.J. and finds him panhandling on the streets of London. No, wait a minute. I think it is the scene in which Reggie attempts to sack Seamus Finnegan. Oh, I can’t decide. You’d better buy the set and figure it out for yourself.
Great! Super! Britcom fans rejoice!,
By W. Zwirko -
I first saw TFARORP many years ago when the Dallas PBS affiliate KERA imported it, and it is completely on par with “Fawlty Towers” and “Ab Fab” as far as comedic worthiness while breaking through traditional sitcom barriers.
Reginald Perrin (as portrayed by Leonard Rossiter) is a middle-aged, middle manager at a London-area dessert factory who couldn’t be more dissatisfied with the banality of day-to-day life. So he comes up with a plan to end it all (without really ending it all).
Rossiter is genius and the rest of the casting couldn’t be more spot-on — these are characters that will stay with you always (and that you’ll probably recognize from your own lives).
And if you think “Saturday Night Live” is a catch-phrase factory, wait ’til you catch yourself trying to work the cleverness of Reggie and company into your conversations!
Like “The Office,” they tried to “American-ize” this program in 1983; unlike “The Office,” it failed. But while “Reginald Perrin” dates back to the 70s, I’ve seen the first few episodes again quite recently and it holds up superbly as a satire of the working world.
Search The Fall & Rise of Reginald Perrin: The Complete Series: Leonard Rossiter, Pauline Yates, John Barron, Sue Nicholls, Trevor Adams, Bruce Bould, Joan Blackham, Sally-Jane Spencer, Tim Preece, Sheila Bernette, Derry Power, Geoffrey Palmer, Gareth Gwenlan, John Howard Davies, Bill Harris, Chris Lovett, John B. Hobbs, David Nobbs: Movies & TV from AmAzon
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