Martin Clunes in Reggie Perrin remake

Thanks to nick for this..

Clunes confirmed in Reggie Perrin revival

The BBC today confirmed that Martin Clunes will take the title role in the revival of the dark 1970s comedy The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin.

The actor, who has starred in shows including comedy Men Behaving Badly and ITV1 drama Doc Martin, will be joined by Cold Feet actor Fay Ripley, Wendy Craig, whose credits include Butterflies and The Royal, and Worst Week of My Life's Geoffrey Whitehead.

Clunes will be reunited with the writer behind Men Behaving Badly, Simon Nye, who will pen the new series alongside Perrin creator David Nobbs.

BBC1's six-part series, which will be made by Objective, the independent producer behind Peep Show, and air later this year, will retell the story of a sales executive constantly on the verge of a midlife crisis who has a very vivid imagination.

Perrin was played by Leonard Rossiter in the three hugely popular original series, which were based on novels by Nobbs and aired between 1976 and 1979. A follow-up series, The Legacy of Reginald Perrin, was made in 1996, 12 years after Rossiter's death.

The BBC1 controller, Jay Hunt, said the revived show 'feels as fresh and sharp now as it did all those years ago', adding: 'It will be a vital part of our overall comedy offering on the channel.' Lucy Lumsden, the BBC controller of comedy commissioning, said: 'To have combined the writing talents of David Nobbs and Simon Nye in a sitcom fronted by Martin Clunes is a dream come true. Added to which, they have come up with an inspired update, rather than a remake, of one of the greatest classic comedies of all time.' The new show will be executive produced by Simon Wilson for the BBC and Ben Farrell for Objective Productions

I really think they should not re-make classic British sitcoms or films. They are never as funny or as good. Take the classic 1971 film with Michael Cane 'Get Carter', absolutely fantastic film, well written and performed. The Americans make a remake with Sylvester Stalone and a complete cods of it! Its the same with the recent re-make of the Italian job.

i agree with you about get carter and the italian job 100% - they always ruin the classics

The early episodes of Perrin are great... beautifully written and with a nice tempo and swing... but some of the later ones (esp those in the last series) are very hard to watch... unfunny, boring, racist (esp one scene which I doubt they would remake!)...

I would hope they take the best bits and build up on them... it could actually work...