The Fall And Rise Of Reginald Perrin is quite unlike the majority of other sitcoms. Whereas most of them consist of one off, self contained episodes, this is an ongoing story spread over three series. Even the opening episodes of the second and third series follow directly on from the last episode of the previous ones. Sadly, this means it is rarely repeated on TV as, unlike the likes of Only Fools And Horses, you can't just pick an odd episode to use as a cheap schedule filler - you either show the lot, or none at all.

Having said that, I first saw it on a BBC1 primetime repeat in the early 90s (this was in the days before umpteen episodes of soap operas per week, and next to no makeover/property shows either). It immediately grabbed my attention like few sitcoms do. I think the fact that I was commuting to an office job in London from Chelmsford at the time helped me to instantly empathise with the daily routine drudge, which is so brilliantly set up in the first episode in particular. A further decade on, and I can understand the underlying concepts even better...

What follows then is a personal guide to the three series that were originally transmitted in the second half of the 1970s on BBC1. I will on the whole be avoiding critically reviewing episodes, and not just because I think they're all great (especially the first two series). It's more the case that due to it being an ongoing narrative throughout the 21 episodes, you can't easily say that certain episodes stand out more than the others, unlike sitcoms that consist of stand alone episodes. What I shall be attempting to do is to draw your attention to the peculiarities of the superb supporting cast. Most of them have their own catchphrases, for example, which crop up regularly, so you will be able to note all the instances that they appear. I shall be making use of various "categories" for each episode, and here is a quick explanation for the main ones :

As it suggests, a brief overview of the episode's events.

As the strain starts to hit Reggie, he begins daydreaming about various bizarre, and at times saucy, situations. I shall be referring to each of them as seen onscreen.

From the first episode, each time that we see Reggie enter the office at the start of the day, the sign above the entrance keeps losing the odd letter. It's a metaphor to coincide with Reggie's deteriorating state. I'll be keeping an eye on exactly how the sign changes.

This is one of my favourite of Reggie's catchphrases. Every morning, he announces to his secretary, Joan, that he is 11 minutes late for some reason connected with British Rail. Having commuted for several years myself, I can sympathise with his inability to always be on time for no fault of one's own! I shall be quoting each of his reasons for his delays.

Surely the best catchphrase of the series, Reggie's awful boss CJ takes delight in pronouncing this at almost every opportunity he encounters any of the characters. It's almost become part of everyday talk, even for people who may not be au fait with the series. I'll be letting you know each and every instance of these. By the way, they actually start off as quite "normal" and reasonable, but like most things in this series, become more and more outlandish...

Every office has employees that love to suck up to the boss(es). Sunshine Desserts has Tony Webster (Great!) and David Harris-Jones (Super!). Their best moments will be highlighted in this section.

No matter how many times I've watched the show, one thing that always makes me laugh out loud are the various moments when Reggie asks to see someone else in the office, which tends to be with an internal phone call. He tries to sound in charge, assertively stating that he wants to see whoever it is at a certain time - the end result is him resignedly accepting to see that person at a completely different time! Each of these instances will be referred to here.

He is a fellow commuter of Reggie's who, despite being a hay fever sufferer, never has a handkerchief and needs Reggie's assistance. This irregular section will reveal how Reggie helps out...

Reggie's son in law, Tom, is a bit of a stick in the mud, and will often proclaim that he is not a something or other type of man or person. This section will catalogue all those instances, plus any other amusing characteristics of Tom's.

Reggie's brother in law, Jimmy, ex-Army, lives by himself and finds it hard to cope with life outside the Army. He struggles to feed himself adequately, and each time he visits his sister, Elizabeth, and Reggie, announces that there has been a cock up. I wil be referring to all these instances and, as with Tom above, noting any other amusing Jimmy moments.

Being an ongoing story through 21 episodes, there are inevitably many self-referencing moments in later episodes, so I shall be referring to these as they occur. It will also be the place to refer to throwaway lines relating to the main characters, e.g.character moments or facets otherwise not referred to elsewhere.

For the record, there was a fourth series called The Legacy Of Reginald Perrin transmitted on BBC1 in 1996. It was not critically acclaimed - despite the majority of the supporting cast returning, the series just did not work without its lead character, following the untimely death of Leonard Rossiter in 1984. I watched it and found it fairly unmemorable, and with it not having been repeated or made commercially available since, I haven't seen it for 8 years, so I shall not be covering those 7 episodes for the time being...