The behind the scenes story of The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin reveals how unlikely a comedy success Reggie really was. In writer David Nobbs's original book, The Death of Reginald Perrin, the central character's midlife crisis saw him to a mental hospital - hardly the stuff of comedy. And when the writer was told to take the jokes out of the first draft of the script to make the show funnier it was clear Reggie Perrin was going to be unusual on television too.

Despite not getting his first choice of Ronnie Barker to play the lead, writer David Nobbs created a hero for a generation and changed British comedy by proving that sitcom could be successful with a serial storyline.

The show has connections to The Two Ronnies, Steptoe and Son, Fawlty Towers, The Good Life and Fairly Secret Army.