The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin

- Season 3

(1978)

Reggie and Elizabeth revert back to being their old selves and sell Grot. Having witnessed a middle aged man's outburst in a bank Reggie decides to use the money to buy a large house which will become a self-help commune, called Perrins. He encounters C.J. and Doc Morrissey, both down on their luck, and offers them positions at his commune. Then he approaches Tom and Linda, Joan and Tony and David and his wife Prue to come and work for him. The commune is born.

At Elizabeth's request Reggie employs Jimmy as Perrins' physical fitness instructor though his early morning bugle calls are not appreciated. He also takes on Kenny McBlane, a Scottish chef whom nobody can understand. When two of the neighbours complain about Perrin's, Reggie gets C.J., Tom and Tony to black up as different ethnic types proposing to buy the house and the complainants move out. The first and only guest arrives - nervous Mr. Babbacombe. The staff pretend to be guests to put him at ease and when he sees through the ploy Reggie passes it off as a group ...

Mr. Babbacombe leaves but a number of other guests arrive, including Reggie's old boss from the piggery, who has gone off meat, and wealthy tycoon Thruxton Appleby, who dislikes being disliked, as well as Bernard Trilling, the head of comedy at a television studio who has lost his sense of humour. By a series of accidents and designs, Reggie and his staff help out their guests, in Thruxton's case by having him change places with arc welder Arthur Noblet, with whom he has a slanging match. Everybody is very grateful - and it shows in the cheques they give to Reggie.

The success of Perrins has mushroomed so that Reggie now has five houses in Oslo Avenue as therapy communes. They are taking in so many guests that staff have to double up in the bedrooms and living rooms become therapy classrooms. Mr. Dent, a council official, comes to look into these arrangements but Reggie is persuasive and gets him to take part in a therapeutic boxing match. Mr. Dent decides to stay - various council officials turn up to find out what is happening. They all decide to stay.

After Reggie is interviewed on television another twenty-two guests turn up, including Mr. Johnson, a dissatisfied black teacher who cannot get the sack for fears of racism, and Deborah Swaffham, a nymphomaniac who tries it on with all the male staff in turn, though when they go to her room as invited, she is not there. 'Lofty' Anstruther, Jimmy's old business partner, who cheated him, also arrives, swearing he needs help with his redemption. Unfortunately money starts to go missing. Plainly it is down to 'Lofty' especially as he too disappears. After Reggie has ...

Perrins is now experiencing a sharp downfall in its fortunes - not helped by Lofty's thievery, which caused a mass exodus. Kenny's drunken exploits with a meat cleaver and a recent stomach bug have both got the community unwelcome press coverage and a petition is once more presented demanding its closure. The crunch comes when the main house is invaded by thugs angered by Jimmy's vigilantes - and this too ends up in the papers.

The Perrins communities are sold. Everybody has a job to go to - except Reggie, who moves back to suburbia with Elizabeth. Then he gets an interview with Amalgamated Aerosols, a firm which makes air fresheners. It is run by F.J., the identical twin brother of C.J. who even has two young yes men redolent of Tony and David. Reggie is now trapped in the same routine as when he was at Sunshine Desserts and after suggesting Bolivian Unicyclist's Jockstrap as an exciting new fragrance, heads back to the beach.