The BEST episodes of The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin

Every episode of The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin!

Disillusioned after a long career at Sunshine Desserts, Perrin goes through a mid-life crisis and fakes his own death. Returning in disguise after various attempts at finding a 'new life', he gets his old job back and finds nothing has changed. He is eventually found out, and in the second series has success with a chain of shops selling useless junk. That becomes so successful that he feels he has created a monster and decides to destroy it. In the third and final series he has a dream of forming a commune which his long suffering colleagues help bring to reality. Unfortunately that also fails and he finds himself back in a job not unlike the one he originally had at Sunshine Desserts.

Last Updated: 9/23/2024Network: BBC OneStatus: Ended
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The Four Untrustworthy Men
star
8.27
15 votes

#1 - The Four Untrustworthy Men

Season 2 - Episode 6 - Aired 10/26/1977

Reggie is bored with his success and plans to destroy Grot by hiring totally unsuitable people Scared by the fraudulent success of Grot, Reggie decides to kill off the monster he has created by giving executive posts to men he sees as incompetents - Doc Morrissey, Jimmy, Tom and an Irishman called Seamus in the hopes that they will destroy the shop chain. However the business goes on to even greater heights as a result, thanks to Tom's advertising slogans, leading to a television advert, and a useless machine made by Jimmy, which becomes the latest must-have item. He is mindful to sack them but feels he cannot fire in-laws and ends up by giving Seamus, who has seen ...

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Timebomb
star
8.25
8 votes

#2 - Timebomb

Season 3 - Episode 5 - Aired 1/3/1979

Money and jewelery begin to disappear at Perrin's and a female guest starts to be suggestible with the male staff.

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The Unusual Shop
star
8.19
16 votes

#3 - The Unusual Shop

Season 2 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/12/1977

Grot is a huge success selling all sorts of useless products. Reggie asks C.J. for a start-up loan to establish his shop Grot. C.J. thinks it's hush money to keep quiet about his hitting on Elizabeth and lends it to him. Grot sells highly unusual and often impractical things but people buy them, either because they are unique, such as square hula hoops, which in fact become a craze, or as presents for relatives they dislike, like Tom's turnip wine. Grot becomes a huge success and Reggie quickly has the wherewithal to repay the loan. However, when he returns to Sunshine Desserts to see his old boss he finds things have changed.

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Elizabeth's New Admirer
star
8.18
11 votes

#4 - Elizabeth's New Admirer

Season 2 - Episode 2 - Aired 9/21/1977

Reggie is reduced to working at Mr. Pelham's pig farm and Elizabeth decides to get a job. After a disastrous morning working for Tom's estate agents, Reggie returns to the piggery, as himself, but does his back in, so Elizabeth decides that she will become the bread-winner. She gets a job as secretary to C.J. at Sunshine Desserts but does not want Reggie to know, so she claims that her employers are the British Basket Company. Reggie is suspicious as his efforts to find the company come to nothing. C.J. tries it on with Elizabeth at home whilst his wife is away but stops himself in time. Then, on Monday morning Reggie follows his wife and discovers where she ...

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Re-Involvement
star
8.14
14 votes

#5 - Re-Involvement

Season 2 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/19/1977

Sunshine desserts goes bankrupt and Reggie hires his old coworkers and boss to Grot. Reggie is about to open his fiftieth Grot shop whilst Sunshine Desserts has gone bust and is now a thing of the past. Generously Reggie decides to employ C.J. but makes him wait an extra week for his interview and enjoys having power over him. He asks Joan to be his secretary again but she and Tony are already having marital problems, which Reggie sorts out before employing them both. Elizabeth is annoyed that Reggie has yet to offer her a job with the shop, but eventually he does - even imagining her mother as a hippopotamus, just like old times.

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Amalgamated Aerosols
star
8.14
7 votes

#6 - Amalgamated Aerosols

Season 3 - Episode 7 - Aired 1/24/1979

Perrin's closes and everyone says their goodbyes. Reggie gets a new job but finds himself again working for C.J. and his brother F.J. Is the coast calling again?

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Jimmy's Offer
star
8.13
16 votes

#7 - Jimmy's Offer

Season 2 - Episode 3 - Aired 10/5/1977

Reggie has an idea for making a fortune: a shop that sells total rubbish. It will be called "Grot." Reggie suspects Elizabeth of having an affair, leading to a punch-up in the firm's car park and a black eye. He returns to the piggery but gets the sack after his employer finds out who he really is. Elizabeth also gets the sack after altering some of C.J.'s letters. Reggie goes to visit Jimmy, who is hoarding guns under his bed. He tells an appalled Reggie of his plan to form a private right wing army to rid the country of all do-gooders and - as he sees it - scroungers. Having told Jimmy his plan is rubbish, Reggie forms his own idea. He will open a shop selling rubbish...

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Extreme Solution
star
8.08
13 votes

#8 - Extreme Solution

Season 2 - Episode 7 - Aired 11/2/1977

Reggie's plan fails. He tries more extreme tactics which also fail. Only one more thing left to do... Desperate to kill off Grot Reggie goes to extreme lengths,such as insulting chat show hosts on whose television shows he appears. He also insults a job applicant who mistakenly believes he is making a pass at him so he pretends to be gay when visiting the branch manager, only to find that he is gay and is attracted to Reggie. He dresses in drag in public but by now everybody is used to Reggie's eccentric behaviour and see it as the norm. Finally he and Elizabeth go back to the beach and fake a double suicide, only to discover that they have set a trend and scores of ...

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The Trickle of Visitors
star
8.00
9 votes

#9 - The Trickle of Visitors

Season 3 - Episode 3 - Aired 12/20/1978

After an unique advertising campaign, "Perrin's" gains another guest.

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Communal Social Evenings
star
8.00
9 votes

#10 - Communal Social Evenings

Season 3 - Episode 4 - Aired 12/27/1978

Business is booming and Reggie is content... but for how long?

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The Memorial Service
star
7.82
17 votes

#11 - The Memorial Service

Season 1 - Episode 7 - Aired 10/20/1976

Reggie returns as Martin Wellborn, attends his own memorial service, and wins back Elizabeth.

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The Speech to the British Fruit Association
star
7.80
20 votes

#12 - The Speech to the British Fruit Association

Season 1 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/6/1976

After a disastrous public speech to the Fruit Association at Bilberry Hall, Reggie decides to take drastic action...

Trying a Frenchman, Welshman, Scotsman and an Italian
star
7.75
20 votes

#13 - Trying a Frenchman, Welshman, Scotsman and an Italian

Season 1 - Episode 6 - Aired 10/13/1976

After his fake suicide, Reggie tries out a number of different new identities.

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The Great Project
star
7.75
16 votes

#14 - The Great Project

Season 3 - Episode 1 - Aired 11/29/1978

Reggie decides to open a commune helping people to live in peace and harmony. But first he needs staff...

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Jinx
star
7.75
8 votes

#15 - Jinx

Season 3 - Episode 6 - Aired 1/17/1979

Perrin's loses face in the community as McBlane attacks a Salvation Army woman and there is a backlash against his "Peacekeeping Force"

Directors: Gareth Gwenlan
Writer: David Nobbs
Staff Training
star
7.73
11 votes

#16 - Staff Training

Season 3 - Episode 2 - Aired 12/6/1978

Having recruited all the old faces, Reggie welcomes his one and only guest to "Perrin's"

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The Bizarre Dinner Party
star
7.65
20 votes

#17 - The Bizarre Dinner Party

Season 1 - Episode 4 - Aired 9/29/1976

With Elizabeth still away, Reggie hosts a dinner party (without any food) for his business associates.

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The Sunday Extraordinary Business Meeting
star
7.55
78 votes

#18 - The Sunday Extraordinary Business Meeting

Season 1 - Episode 3 - Aired 9/22/1976

Elizabeth is away, so Reggie decides to invite his secretary Joan over for a secret tryst... but constant visitors from family and friends prevent this.

Directors: Gareth Gwenlan
Writer: David Nobbs
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Hippopotamus
star
7.40
84 votes

#19 - Hippopotamus

Season 1 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/8/1976

Reggie's life as a sales executive at Sunshine Desserts is getting too much for him and the strain is starting to show.

Writer: David Nobbs
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Remarried and Back at Sunshine Desserts
star
7.24
17 votes

#20 - Remarried and Back at Sunshine Desserts

Season 2 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/28/1977

Reggie has returned from his wanderings disguised as his old friend Martin Wellbourne. He has remarried Elizabeth and gone back to Sunshine Desserts. Clearly this situation cannot last for ever.

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Nightmare in the Park
star
7.14
78 votes

#21 - Nightmare in the Park

Season 1 - Episode 2 - Aired 9/15/1976

Reggie's plans for a relaxing weekend are scuppered when the family decides to visit a safari park.

Directors: Gareth Gwenlan
Writer: David Nobbs
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