Reggie Perrin

Reggie Perrin is a remake of the classic BBC sitcom of the 1970s and writer Simon Nye roped in creator David Nobbs to co-write the reboot.

Reggie is still commuting to work and hating it. He works for a grooming company instead of Sunshine desserts, with a still horrible but now younger boss (Neil Stuke.) He fantasizes about his fellow worker Lucy Liemann and the office doctor from the original is now replaced by an equally vapid holistic consultant who is very funny.

We also have Reggie's wife as well his mother, his father in law and some office workers in the set up.

The series did not quiet fly despite the update. I think Reggie's wife was not as well developed, the boss was more weaker here and it lacked the zaniness and some of those characters with catchphrases that the original was loaded with.

A nice attempt but not quiet there but in its own right still better and funnier than a lot of other sitcoms.

I was very surprised when I discovered that Reggie Perrin was to be remade, but relieved when I saw that David Nobbs (original author) was co-writing it with Symon Nye (Men Behaving Badly).

Reggie is still having a mid-life crisis and he's still an executive in similar environment (men's grooming products instead of food desserts), and a lot of other characters have been replaced by characters with similar traits and it's all brought up to date with his irritation of the silent commuters, but this time not through the old reasons, but because of omnipresent mobile phones, iPods isolating people and laptops on peoples knees on trains keeping them from interacting with their fellow passengers.

I would like to give this 10 / 10 but because of the original being a perfect 10 in my eyes I am giving it a 9 / 10. Having said this, Martin Clunes is a perfect actor to play Reggie, although a few other character choices seem odd, i.e. Neil Stuke (Game On) as CJ's equivalent character, even though he's not called CJ, but still Reggie's surprisingly 'younger' boss.

This review was written after watching episode 1 (of 6) and expect the remainder of the series to be as good or get even better considering those involved.

...but it was actually pretty good.

I'm a massive fan of the original 3 series, if not the 1996 comeback with the original characters. And of course Leonard Rossiter did an extremely rare thing of being a legend with both Rigsby in Rising Damp, and Reggie Perrin. Therefore when I saw the reports that they were to do a remake, I groaned. So when the first new episode came on the other evening, expectations were minimal.

To be fair, on it's own merits, compared to the rotten standard of mainstream comedy in recent years, I felt it was fairly funny, enjoyable enough if not classic first episode. There's little danger of it coming anywhere close to the real version, but all in all, not a bad effort.

Martin Clunes is good as a 'hangdog' Reggie, but with none of the nervous dynamite that Rossiter's Reggie had, still who could compare? I can't see that they'll also have anywhere like the 'ensemble' of the original. Chris Jackson for example is no CJ, but again, how could he be?

Therefore I'd say new Reggie was watchable, and the best of what is a pretty lame bunch these days (mainstream BBC comedies) and there were definitely some funny moments/lines. Added to that there is an interest in the 'executive disillusionment' theme 30+ years on.

But as is so often the case with remakes, by all means see it, and if you like it, do what I did a few years ago and treat yourself to a DVD set of the first incarnation, now that's Reggie!

It seem to me the biggest issue the negative reviewers have is comparing this series to the original with Leonard Rossiter. That is always a mistake in my opinion because to most people a remake with another actor rarely can match the original. Or in other words, they're not giving this series a chance really. Instead of a constant comparison, why not try to see this as a stand-alone program and judge it on its own merits.

Martin Clunes is a brilliant actor in his own right and is handling the role well. I have to admit that I'm not as impressed with his co-stars, so far they've been a little too cartoon-ish and not enough "real". The writing could stand to improve a bit as well, but on the whole this isn't a bad series and it is entertaining. Rarely do you find a show that is perfect in every way and it seems to me that this one is being judged a bit harshly because it is a remake. I find I enjoy settling in and watching it and that's what it's all about, isn't it?

I watched because it was Martin Clunes ...and he's just fabulous at all he does. I was pleasantly surprised to see the style of comedy! I wish there were more series! I've watched these over and over every month or so, ( in between watching Doc Martin😉)