Latest News:

October 17th 2006 - David's brand new novel Cupid's Darts will be out on March 1st 2007. Here is the publisher's synopsis:
This is a not-so-brief encounter...Alan and Ange are on a train, heading for London. Alan is a philosophy lecturer, still a virgin at fifty-five; Ange a twenty-something, horoscope reading, darts groupie. They certainly don't expect their first casual meeting to lead to anything, but it does. Seizing the day, as they pull into Euston station, Alan asks Ange out to dinner and so begins the unlikeliest of liaisons. As they get to know each other, they are initiated into each other's worlds. From the claustrophobic confines of an Oxford College to the heady excitement of a big dart's match; from Liebfraumilch to Wittgenstein and everything in between. They even travel to Rome seeing many wonderful things as Alan learns to live for the moment and Ange to appreciate the finer things in life. But can they survive their differences in age and background? Are Alan's feelings the stuff of obsession and infatuation or is this true love? And what sort of philosopher is he if he cannot define and understand love? Told through the voice of Alan, this touching and hilarious story is much more than a tale about an unlikely couple. Ultimately, it is a story about the nature of love.
 

January 29th 2006 - On the right is the dust jacket for David's new novel Pratt A Manger. It's due out on March 2nd in the UK and April 25th in the US, but you can pre-order it from Amazon UK here or Amazon US here.

The official synopsis reads:
When pretty young TV researcher Nicky Proctor visits Cafe Henry in London's Soho, Henry Pratt's life changes forever. He becomes an instant star of the TV food quiz, A Question of Salt and before long, he is given his own series, Hooray, it's Henry. The book of the series reaches Number Two. He's a celebrity. Henry Ezra Pratt has come a long way from his humble beginnings. But, as usual in Henry's life, things begin to go wrong. He incurs the deep hatred of rival celebrity chef Bradley Tompkins, with his bad manners, bad wig and no Michelin stars. A war is waged against him, escalating into plots and deceptions which threaten to destroy the reputation and career of the man dubbed 'The People's Chef'. It must be Bradley behind all this - or must it? On the domestic front, too, there are storms ahead. Henry is blissfully happy in his second marriage to Hilary, but he is sorely tempted by young Nicky and his lovely co-star Sally. Can he resist? Can he become a real man at last? Or will success spoil Henry Pratt for good...? We last met Henry Pratt in The Cucumber Man. "Pratt a Manger" continues the hilarious story of a great British underdog.
 

September 30th - David's publisher today informed me that Pratt A Manger will be published in March 2006 in hardback, and the paperback will be out in February 2007.

September 26th 2005 - Henry Pratt is back !!!! 'Pratt a Manger'  is due to be published by William Heinemann in April 2006 and tells the story of Henry, now a successful TV chef with his own show Hooray, It's Henry. He is blissfully married to Hilary but with fame comes women. Will too many chef's temptations spoil the broth ? More details soon.
 

October 7th 2004- David Nobbs' new novel is out now! Sex And Other Changes can be purchased from the Reggie Online Store.

October 1st - Two new video clips online from BBC1's Comedy Connections profile of Reggie (wmv format) - 913kb & 1.9Mb
Another 18 clips from this show are now online on the Videos page.
 

August 26th

'Sex And Other Changes' PRESS RELEASE:

Meet the Divots. They seem a happy married couple in their cosy suburban home in a cosy suburban town. Then, one day, everything begins to change. Nick drops his bombshell. He wants to become Nicola.

Alison is extremely upset, naturally. But she has more reason than most to be upset, because she has a secret too. She wants to become Alan. Nick has pulled the rug from under her. However, she's always been the supportive type, and she'll wait her turn.

Will Nick become Nicola? Can Alison become Alan? Can both partners in a marriage change sex and save their marriage? What effect will this have on their children, the sexy Emma and the high-tech loner Graham? There are dramatic changes in store for them too - and for Alison's father, Bernie.

In the spirit of David Nobbs' acclaimed novel Going Gently, Sex And Other Changes is a funny, touching and compassionate study of what being a man and a woman really means.

New sitcom from David Nobbs!
The pilot episode of a new sitcom called 'Autumn Tints' has been recorded in Wales to be shown this autumn on BBC Wales, pending a full series to be broadcast nationwide. The comedy revolves around the diverse mix of characters in a Welsh pensioners' cycling club and stars Ruth Madoc, Nerys Hughes, Eleanor Bron and Anthony Valentine. It has been produced and directed by Reggie Perrin producer Gareth Gwenlan, from a script by David Nobbs. The original draft of the script was written by David's author friend, the late Peter Tinniswood.

Watch video clips from BBC Wales' entertainment programme On Show:
Clip from Autumn Tints (500kb) -
David talks about the project (4.4Mb) -
David talks about Reggie Perrin (3.6Mb)

NEW NOVEL THIS AUTUMN
David's new novel 'Sex And Other Changes' is due out this Autumn from Heinemann. (Thanks to Heinemann for the advance dustjacket).

This is the story of an 'ordinary' married couple who both decide to change sex, do so, get divorced, and end up falling in love again the other way round. As the couple come to terms with their new identities, the novel explores what it's like to be a man and a woman in a rapidly changing world and what indeed men and women are. In the spirit of David Nobbs' acclaimed novel Going Gently, Sex and Other Changes is a heartbreakingly funny, touching and compassionate study of 'gender' and what it really means...
Pre-order here

A new page of video clips featuring David remembering the Reginald Perrin series. - Watch video clips -

Another new David Nobbs video interview, from BBC London

New David Nobbs interview, courtesy Jared Wilson of LeftLion.

David's autobiography 'I Didn't Get Where I Am Today' is out now. Buy your copy here.

Listen to an interview with David conducted by Mark Lawson for the BBC Radio 4 programme Front Row on 7th April.
Watch a video interview with David from BBC Breakfast on Thursday 24th April.
David is working on a new novel, a travel book about a personal journey through Peru in the late 1980s- and a book tentatively titled The Bumper Book Of Hens !!!

Keynote/Publisher’s Comments:
The magnificent, hilarious autobiography of the man who created the immortal Reginald Perrin

A small boy at the time the Second World War broke out, David Nobbs has the distinction of being covered in his bedroom ceiling when the last bomb to be dropped on Britain by the Germans landed in his street.  It was the nearest he came to the war but conscription was to bring him into close contact with the army.  The experience was unforgettable. Later, as a struggling writer, David was catapulted into the thrilling world of satire at the BBC when he rang THAT WAS THE WEEK THAT WAS with a joke and got through to David Frost, who sent a taxi for the joke, and later one for Nobbs himself.  He never looked back.  His greatness as a modern comic writer was confirmed by the publication of THE FALL AND RISE OF REGINALD PERRIN, which he adapted for the immensely successful television series which has entered the fabric of British cultural life, through phrases, images and brilliant humour.
A mesmerising, beautifully told tale of a life in writing and comedy, I DIDN’T GET WHERE I AM TODAY is David Nobbs' story: hilarious, poignant, capturing a golden age of British television and describing some of the most famous comedians of the last century.

Sales Points:
THE FALL AND RISE OF REGINALD PERRIN is a comedy classic, shown around the world and still aired frequently today.  It is, unusually, simultaneously mainstream, and cult.
David Nobbs worked with and knew well the greats of comedy from the fifties onwards, including Peter Cooke, Dudley Moore, the Pythons, Jimmy Tarbuck, Frankie Howerd, the TW3 team, and many more
There is enormous interest in the golden age of satire and David Nobbs gives a superb insight into it
A respected novelist and the creator of many famous comedy programmes, David Nobbs is one of our great writers.  He tells his story with grace and wry humour.
 

April press releases for publishers and retailers:

I Didn’t Get Where I Am Today is the wonderfully funny and touching autobiography by celebrated comic writer David Nobbs. He is, of course, the legendary creator of Reginald Perrin, and his last novel, Going Gently, was gloriously reviewed everywhere. I Didn't Get... is as much a history of British comedy as it is David's own story. He has written for and worked with everyone in the field: The Two Ronnies, John Cleese, Leonard Rossiter, Barry Cryer, Michael Palin, Ned Sherrin, Billy Connolly, David Jason, Frankie Howerd, Tommy Cooper, Ken Dodd, Dick Emery, Eric Idle, Les Dawson and Jimmy Tarbuck.

In a genre awash with celebrity stories, it is a real treat to read this autobiography of a real life that encapsulates the history of mid-late twentieth century British comedy with such charm. From tales of a close-knit and happy childhood, (though the last bomb to fall in Britain during WW2 brought down the ceiling in David’s boyhood bedroom), to an horrific shattering of innocence at age fourteen, and onwards to a stint of National Service never to be forgotten, this is a frank, honest, and truly wonderful account of a life which goes on to include Cambridge University (where, Peter Cook later told him, David had been his hero), a stint on The Sheffield Star where David met his lifelong friend, the late Peter Tinniswood, and a successful career as one of our greatest comic writers. His first big break came when he telephoned the That Was The Week That Was office to tell them that he had a great joke he thought they should use in the coming Saturday’s programme. He managed to speak to David Frost, who liked the idea so much that he sent a taxi round to David’s flat to collect it.  His other triumphs include The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin, the brilliant critique of capitalist absurdity, which coined a legion of catchphrases, A Fairly Secret Army, A Bit of A Do, and more recently, Gentleman’s Relish with Billy Connolly.

Read an interview with David conducted by novelist Jonathan Coe for The Idler magazine at this link

David's brilliant novel, 'Going Gently', is still available from all good stockists... and online, of course !!!

Watch a video interview with David Nobbs, discussing Going Gently and Reginald Perrin, at this link of the Random House site.

Biography:

Early Days
"As an only child I spent a long time alone with my imagination."
    David Gordon Nobbs was born in Petts Wood, South London on March 13th 1935, the only child of a schoolmaster and a schoolmistress, and lived his childhood in Orpington, Kent. At the outbreak of war in 1939, David and his family moved to Marlborough, Wiltshire, where he started his education. Back in Orpington after the war, he attended Bickley Hall preparatory school. Then, aged 13, it was back to Marlborough to attend college there. It was here that he first put pen to paper, writing articles for the college magazine.This was followed, at the age of 18, by the then customary two years national service, which he served in the Royal Corps of Signals. During this time he undertook a correspondence course in journalism. After leaving the Signals in 1955, he went to St. John’s College, Cambridge University where he read Classics in Part 1, and English in Part 2, although he spent much of his time writing for the university newspaper Varsity, and sketches for the Cambridge Footlights performance company. He graduated with a second.

The Journalist Years
"I was dogged by misprints...'The on-off separation between Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner was today authoritatively stated to be "ow"'."
His education over, David landed a job in 1958 with the Sheffield Star newspaper, which lasted two years. He then relocated to a bedsit in Narcissus Rd., West Hampstead, London in 1960 where he wrote ten stage plays (none of which were ever performed) and started writing his first novel, but soon lost his motivation. Penniless (he earned £4 in eighteen months), he got a job at an advertising agency as a voucher clerk. He found the repetitive routine of his work tedious – perhaps subconsciously preparing him for what would become his most famous creation, Reginald Perrin (although he always denies this).
    Eventually he returned to the ‘press gang’, working for the North London weekly newspaper, the St. Pancras Chronicle. At this time, a new series had started on television called ‘That Was The Week That Was’, hosted by David Frost. It was a satirical and topical look at the news of the time through sketches and skits. David had a few of his own sketches accepted and his motivation was restored. He gave up the day job and soon had two novels under his belt: 'The Itinerant Lodger' was published by Methuen in 1965 and concerned a man who kept on moving home, and changed his job and even his name each time he did so. ‘OstrichCountry’ was published in 1968, again by Methuen, and featured nutritional scientist Pegasus Baines who give up his job and becomes a vegetable chef at an East Anglian hotel.At the same time he started to write material for some of Britain’s best-known comedians, including Les Dawson, Frankie Howerd, Jimmy Tarbuck, Ken Dodd, Tommy Cooper and Dick Emery. 1969 saw the publication of 'A Piece Of The Sky Is Missing', David's most successful novel up to that time. It follows the exploits of Robert Bellamy, an employee of Cadman & Bentwhistle Manufacturing Co., who is sacked for doodling rude pictures of his boss on the toilet wall, and his subsequent search for employment. The early 1970s saw David continuing to write comedy sketches for Britain's top comics and their shows, now including Messrs. Barker and Corbett - The Two Ronnies (Ronnie Barker's famous appearance as the minister from The Society for Pispromunciation was written by David).
 
 

The Author
"If my idea had been accepted. that's all Reginald Perrin would ever have been - one half-hour play."
In 1975, another novel appeared, ‘The Death Of Reginald Perrin’, and David Nobbs was established as one of the country’s top comedy writers. The BBC commissioned the book as a series, starting with the pilot, first shown on September 8th 1976, and the series quickly became one of the classics of British television, with David writing the scripts. Re-released after the success of the series as ‘The Fall And Rise Of Reginald Perrin’, the novel became the first in a trilogy. Both ‘The Return Of Reginald Perrin’ and ‘The Better World of Reginald Perrin’ were written in tandem with the TV series, although all three television series were known as ‘The Fall And Rise…’ on TV. The great success of the first series resulted in the unusual action of the second novel being published in both hardback (by Gollancz) and paperback (by Penguin) at the same time. Since then, David has juggled TV series with his novels, including ‘Fairly Secret Army’ for Channel 4, based loosely on a character in the “…Perrin” novels; ‘Second From Last In The Sack Race’, the first of the Henry Pratt trilogy (and televised as ‘The Life And Times Of Henry Pratt’); 'A Bit Of A Do' (again novels, then TV series - this series won David five awards); 'Rich Tea And Sympathy'; and the wartime comedy drama ‘Stalag Luft’ starring Stephen Fry and Nicholas Lyndhurst. In 1990 David won The Writers' Guild Special Award for 'services to television comedy'. In 1996, Reginald Perrin was resurrected - sort of. Reggie had been killed and had left a huge sum of money to family and friends – on one condition, namely that they do something totally and utterly absurd. The 1995 novel ‘The Legacy Of Reginald Perrin’ was once again televised by the BBC, in 1996. His latest TV credit is an adaptation of the Miles Gibson novel Kingdom Swann, ebtitled 'Gentleman's relish', which starred Billy Connolly and Sarah Lancashire and was broadcast at Christmas 2000.

The Present
"Good programmes still get made. Good books still get published. There is a basic, inextinguishable need for stories. I ain't finished yet."
    Now living in North Yorkshire with his second wife Susan, David Nobbs lists his interests as including eating, drinking, travelling, playing bridge, dominoes and mah jongg, watching cricket and football (he still supports Hereford United: "Well, not many other people do!", he says), ornithology, cruising and weeding. He has innumerable credits to his name, including radio serials. He also hosts regular creative writing workshops for budding novelists. He has 13 novels to his name. His latest, called 'Going Gently', was published on July 6th 2000, and is now available in paperback. His autobiography, entitled 'I Didn't Get Where I Am Today...' was published on 6th March 2003, and David is currently writing a new novel and a travel book..
 
 

Bibliography:

The Itinerant Lodger. (Methuen, 1965)
A man, unable to keep a job for very long, moves from town to town, changing his name as he goes. The book is basically a series of sketches, poking fun at the various institutions in which the central characterworks, including the post office and the police force.

Ostrich Country. (Methuen, 1968)
The adventures of a scientist-turned-hotel chef. From the flap: "Whether Pegasus Baines would have been so glad if he had foreseen the the outcome of his hasty decision to abandon the career of potential Nobel prize-winning nutrition scientist in favour of that of world famous chef is less certain..." The 'ostrich country' of the novel lies somewhere between modern Britain and cloud cuckoo-land. The tale of Baines' tangles which gradually involve mistresses old and new, long-suffering family and several more or less innocent bystanders, modulates from humorous melancholy to hilarious farce.

A Piece Of The Sky Is Missing. (Methuen, 1969)
The mishaps and misfortunes of a man sacked from his job. Robert Bellamy is an executive at Cadman and Bentwhistle Manufacturing Co., until he draws a caricature of the export manager on the lavatory wall. This is just the first of many mishaps that befall him, which eventually lead to him being arrested for drunkenly assaulting a police officer.

The Death Of Reginald Perrin, 1975 reprinted as The Fall & Rise Of Reginald Perrin. (Victor Gollancz, 1975)
Reggie Perrin is tired of the rat race, and decides to fake his own suicide and live a new life. Adapted from a rejected BBC play submission to Pebble Mill, Birmingham in which the hero commits suicide. In the novel, Perrin's frustrations build until he can take no more, sabotages his boss's sycophantic fishing contest, where employees are literally 'angling for promotion', and leaves his clothes on a Dorset beach, to simulate a drowing. He the nroams the English countryside in various guises, before realising he misses his wife and family too much, and returns to them.

The Return Of Reginald Perrin. (Victor Gollancz, 1977)
Reggie is back, with a shop called Grot, selling useless products. Now back with his wife, but living publicly under the guise of Martin Wellbourne, Reggie returns to Sunshine Desserts to run his own memorial foundation. The boss finds out his real identity, and he gets the sack. During an attempt by his brother-in-law to recruit Reggie into his secret army, Reggie has the idea for a shop selling rubbish at grossly inflated prices. His Grot shop becomes a chain, then a national institution, but Reggie finds himself in the same commuting rut, and fakes his suicide again, this time with his wife.

The Better World Of Reginald Perrin. (Victor Gollancz, 1978)
Reggie decides to set up a community for the middle-aged and middle class. After returning once more from the itinerant life, Reggie feels there is something he must do for the good of mankind as a whole. He evises Perrins, a community for the middle-aged and middle-class set in suburbia. All goes well, eventually, until local thugs take offence to Perrins' Peacekeeping Force and destroy the community. With Sunshine Desserts now bankrupt, he is invited for an interview at Amalgamated Aerosols. He gets the job, working for C J once again, and with his brother F J as managing director.

Second From Last In The Sack Race. (Methuen, 1983)
The story, from birth to National Service, of Yorkshire lad Henry Pratt. Beginning just before the outbreak of World War Two, the novel concerns Henry Pratt and his recurring problems with parents, school, friends, religion and sex. Evacuated, albeit with his mother, to the Dales during the war, he is seen as a 'townie' and, upon his return to Thurmarsh town after the war, is seen as a 'country boy'. Misfortunes and bad luck episodes abound, until he joins up for National Service.

A Bit Of A Do: A Story In Six Place Settings. (Methuen, 1986)
The social gatherings of two Yorkshire families, and the romances and feuding that ensue, when the two families are brought together by marriage. Clever social insights into politics, provincial business and the British class system.

Pratt Of The Argus. (Methuen, 1988)
Henry Pratt is back, and working for a newspaper, the Thurmarsh Argus, but still having incredible bad luck at getting the 'big scoop', or any for that matter. He lodges for a time with his Cousin Hilda, who runs a guest house for a number of gentlemen, whom she rules over with a rod of iron. A worthy sequel to ...Sack Race.

Fair Do's (Methuen, 1990)
More social gatherings, a follow-up to A Bit Of A Do. Events include a funeral, a fancy dress party and a christening.

The Cucumber Man. (Methuen, 1994)
Henry Pratt is now in middle-age and working for the Cucumber Marketing Board. More painful insights into the 'Yorkshire' Frank Spencer, as he approaches middle age and beyond.

The Legacy Of Reginald Perrin. (Methuen, 1995)
Reggie has died and left a rather unusual will. £1million has been left to his close family and colleagues - provided they can be shown to do something totally and utterly absurd. After weak efforts separately, they decide to unite on one idea - to rail against ageism. But the idea becomes far too sensible and worthy for the executor of the will to release the will.

Going Gently. (Heinemann, 2000)
An elderly, disabled woman looks back on her life from her hospital bed. Kate Thomas is supposed to be a 'vegetable' after a severe stroke, but still has all her mental faculties and 'rewinds' her life, reflecting on her six marriages and numerous relationships and events throughout her life, and more seriously, to try to determine which of her three sons murdered her fifth husband.

I Didn't Get Where I Am Today... (Heineman, 2003)
David's autobigraphy. See above for publisher's information.

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TV Contributions:

That Was The Week That Was, 1962-63
37 x 50min eps. 24.11.62 - 27.4.63 and 28.9.63 - 28.12.63
Topical, satirical look at the week's news. Presented by David Frost, with actors including Roy Kinnear, Frankie Howerd, Willie Rushton and Lance Percival. DN co-wrote sketches with Peter Tinniswood.

Lance At Large, 1964
6 x 25min eps. 13.8.64 - 17.9.64
Lance Percival played Alan Day exploring various situations and trades in each episode. DN co-wrote series with Peter Tinniswood.

Armchair Theatre - The Signalbox of Grandpa Hudson, 1965
1 x 60min. ep.
Comedy drama about a railway fanatic and his imposed rules on the people around him. Co-written with Peter Tinniswood.

The Dick Emery Show, 1965
166 episodes (DN relevance Series 3: 7 x 30min eps. 2.10.65 - 13.11.65
Versatile comedian Dick Emery, famous for his costumes characters, especially women, in a long-running show from 1963 to 1981. DN co-wrote sketches with Peter Tinniswood.

The Frost Report, 1966-67
26 x 25min eps. 10.3.66 - 9.6.66 and 6.4.67 - 29.6.67
A one-topic-per-episode comedy show mixing monologues, sketches and music. Introduced Ronnie Barker, Ronnie Corbett and John Cleese. DN co-wrote sketches with Peter Tinniswood.

Roy Hudd, 1968
1 x 50min ep. 26.5.68
A mixture of satire and old-time music hall tomfoolery, with impressions of Max Miller and the like. DN co-wrote gags with Peter Tinniswood.

The Roy Hudd Show, 1969
7 x 30min eps. 17.2.69 - 31.3.69
More sketches and music hall memories with comedian Roy Hudd. DN wrote sketches.

Sez Les, 1969-76
71 eps. between 30.4.69 and 6.12.76
Lugubrious, roly-poly comedian Les Dawson's definitive TV series. DN wrote sketches and adapted scripts.

Shine A Light, 1970
6 x 30min eps. 1.4.70 - 27.5.70
Relationship comedy between two lighthouse keepers (Timothy Bateson and Tony Selby) on the Bachelor Rock Lighthouse. DN co-wrote the sitcom with David McKellar and Peter Vincent.

Keep It In The Family, 1971
6 x 30min eps. 21.9.71 - 26.10.71
Sitcom about a couple and their warring in-laws. Starred Tim Barrett and Vivenne Martin. DN co-wrote the series with Peter Vincent.

Ronnie Corbett In Bed, 1971
1 x 45min ep. 27.3.71
Ronnie Corbett engages in flights of fancy from a four-poster bed. DN co-wrote with Eric Idle and Barry Cryer.

Some Matters Of Little Consequence, 1971
4 x 30min eps. (DN relevance ep.4 12.2.71)
Kenneth Griffith, Frank Thornton and Sheila Steafel had many costume changes in this revue-style sketch show. DN co-wrote the fourth episode with Peter Vincent.

The Two Ronnies, 1971-87
98 eps. between 10.4.71 and 25.12.87
One of Britain's greatest ever double acts appeared in a seemingly endless number of sketches, songs and 'news items' over the years. DN was one of the main writers of the show.

Tarbuck's Luck, 1972
6 x 45min eps. 1.4.72 - 13.5.72
Liverpudlian comedian Jimmy Tarbuck introduced different parts of his 'luck' - female guests - each week, including Yootha Joyce, Joan Sims, June Whitfield and Josephine Tewson. DN wrote gags for 1 ep. and co-wrote gags for 3 eps. with Peter Vincent.

Hey Brian!, 1973
A spin-off from the Diana Dors sitcom 'Queenie's Castle', Brian Marshall got his own series of standup cmedy and special guests. DN wrote gags.

Our Kid, 1973
6 x 30min eps. 8.4.73 - 20.5.73
Ben and young brother Bob live in a close family relationship in a Halifax house. Created by Waterhouse and Hall, DN wrote 1 ep.

Sir Yellow, 1973
6 x 30min eps. 13.7.72 - 19.8.73
A sitcom set in 13th century England with Jimmy Edwards, Melvyn Hayes and lots of 'busty wenches'. DN was the script editor.

Whoops Baghdad, 1973
6 x 30min eps. 25.1.73 - 1.3.73
Frankie Howerd in Middle East reworking of his successful Up Pompeii sitcom. DN co-wrote 2 eps. with Sid Colin and David McKellar.

An Evening With Francis Howerd, 1973
3 x 45min eps. 30.4.73 - 14.5.73
Sketches, skits and gags with Frankie and June Whitfoeld. DN co-wrote 1 ep.

Sounds Like Les Dawson, 1974
1 x 60min ep. 4.12.74
Les presented a spoof of the life of Beethoven and of 'The Prisoner Of Zenda'. DN co-wrote with Barry Cryer and Les.

Les Dawson's Christms Box, 1974
1 x 60min ep. 21.12.74
Les and his usual array of characters. DN co-wrote.

Dawson's Electric Cinema, 1975
1 x 60min ep. 3.4.75
Mid-1920s Dawson family running a cinema. Les' real son played Les as a child. DN co-wrote with Barry Cryer.

The Les Dawson Show, 1975
1 x 60min ep. 10.9.75 (ITV)
Cosmo Smallpiece, Cissy and Ada and guests Joan Sanderson and Cleo Laine. DN co-wrote with Barry Cryer.

Les Dawson's Christms Box, 1975
1 x 60min ep. 26.12.75
Les and his usual array of characters. DN co-wrote.

The Kenneth Williams Show, 1976
1 x 45min special 21.1.76
The Carry-On star in sketches with Lance Percival and Anna Karen. Preceded by a 6 ep series, this special had gags co-written by DN and Peter Vincent.

Our Young Mr. Wignall, 1976
Details unavailable. DN was the writer.

The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin, 1976
7 x 30min eps. 8.9.76 - 20.10.76
The mid life crisis of the food firm executive and his escape from the rat race. DN wrote the scripts, adapted from his novel The Death of Reginald Perrin.

Dawson and Friends, 1977
4 x 60min eps. 20.4.77, 25.5.77, 15.6.77, 29.6.77
Sketch standup and songs with his regular characters and cast. DN wrote material for all 4 eps.

The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin, 1977
7 x 30min eps. 21.9.77 - 2.11.77
Reggie has returned to his family and starts the rubbish empire Grot.

The Les Dawson Show, 1978-79
33 eps. from 21.1.78 to 23.11.89
Dawson's ITV series transferred to the BBC. DN wrote gags for 1 ep.

The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin, 1978-79
7 x 30min eps. 29.11.78 - 24.1.79
Reggie starts the Perrins community for the middle-class, middle-aged dissatisfied.

The Sun Trap, 1980
6 x 30min eps. 25.4.80 - 30.5.80
Sitcom about a group ex-pat Brits o a Mediterranean island, desperate to make a little piece of England in the sun. Starred Donald Churchill, Graham Crowden and Joan Benham. DN wrote the series.

The Glamour Girls, 1980-82
13 x 30min eps. 23.10.80 - 27.11.80 and 23.2.82 - 6.4.82
Brigit Forsyth and Sally Watts starred as dissatisfied workers taken on by a 'glamour agency'. DN wrote the series.

Dogfood Dan and The Camarthen Cowboy, 1982 and 1988
1 x 60min ep. 24.7.82 and 6 x 30min eps. 4.2.88 - 10.3.88
Play then sitcom about two dogffod-carrying lorry drivers unwittingly having affairs with each others wives. DN wrote both the TV play and the sitcom.

segment of The Funny Side of Christmas, 1982
1 x 5min segment, 27.12.82
Reggie Perrin and his family and colleagues reunited for this take on suburban sitcom Christmas.

Reggie, 1983 (USA)
6 x 30min eps. 2.8.83 - 1.9.83 (UK 14.9.84 - 19.10.84)
The US version of The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin, with 'Soap's Richard Mulligan as Reggie Potter. DN created the series.

The Hello Goodbye Man, 1984
6 x 30min eps. 5.1.84 - 9.2.84
Ian Lavender starred as a struggling salesman. DN wrote the series.

Fairly Secret Army, 1984, 1986
13 x 30min eps. 22.10.84 - 26.11.84 and 1.9.86 - 13.10.86
Geoffrey Palmer played army cast-off Harry Truscott, forminga secret army to fight for Britain 'when the balloon goes up'. DN wrote the series, an expansion of his Jimmy Anderson character from The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin.

A Bit Of A Do, 1989
13 x 60min eps. 13.1.89 - 17.2.89 and 20.10.89 - 1.12.89
13 different parties or engagements for the Simcocks and Sillitoes and their battles with class differences, gossip and jealousy. Starring David Jason, Gwen Taylor and Stephanie Cole, DN wrote the series, adapted from his novel A Bit Of A Do.
Winner of the following awards: 1989 Royal Television Society - Best Drama Series; 1990 British Comedy Awards - Top British TV Comedy and Top British ITV/Channel4 TV Sitcom.

Rich Tea and Sympathy, 1991
6 x 60min eps. 5.7.91 - 9.8.91
Sitcom about the love affir - and argumaents - between a Labour divorcee and Tory widow and their straight-talking Yorkshire families. Starring Patricia Hodge, Dennis Quilley, Lionel Jeffries and Jean Alexander, DN wrote the series.

The Life and Times of Henry Pratt, 1992
2 x 60min eps.
The story of luckless, hapless Henry Pratt and his working-class Yorkshire family. DN wrote the series, adapted from his novel Second From Last In The Sack Race.

Stalag Luft, 1993
1 x 60min ep.
Comedy drama charting the escape attempts of British prisoners of war in a German detention camp. Starring Nicholas Lyndhurst, Stephen Fry and Geoffrey Palmer, DN wrote the play.

Love On A Branch Line, 1994
4 x 50min eps. 12.6.94 - 3.7.94
The adventures of a civil servant sent out to remote East Anglia to close down a wartime research agency set in a country mansion. His unwitting involvement with the Lord and Lady's children distract him from the task at hand. Adapted from the 1959 novel by John Hadfield, DN adapted and wrote the screenplay.

Cuts, 1996
Comedy-drama about the attempts of a media company to make an epic TV series. Adapted by DN from a novella by Malcolm Bradbury.

The Legacy of Reginald Perrin, 1996
7 x 30min eps. 22.9.96 - 31.10.96
Reginald Perrin has died and left in his will £1million each to family and colleagues, provided they do something utterly absurd to earn it. DN wrote the series, adapted from his novel.

This Is Your Life, 1998
1 x 30min ep.
DN was a guest in the episode featuring Sue Nicholls (she played Reginald Perrin's secretary Joan Greengross).

Two Ronnies Night, 1999
1 x 60min ep.
DN was a studio guest, reminiscing about the Two Ronnies' sketches.

Gentlemen's Relish, 2000
1 x 90min ep. 27.12.00
Billy Connolly starred as Edwardian photographer Kingdom Swann, out to make a quick buck from soft porn photographs. Adapted by DN from the novel Kingdom Swann, by Miles Gibson.

Heroes of Comedy: Leonard Rossiter, 2001
1 x 90min ep.
DN payed tribute to Leonard and recalled his time working with him on The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin.

BBC Breakfast, 2003
1 x 180min ep. 23.4.03
DN was interviewed about his autobiography by breakfast show anchors Dermot Murnaghan and Natasha Kaplinsky

Britain's Best Sitcom, 2004
1 x 180min ep. 10.01.04
DN remembered Reginald Perrin during its segment at No.35 of the Top100 sitcoms of all time.

Comedy Connections: The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin, 2004
1 x 30min ep. 19.7.04
DN explained the history of the novels and the series, and paid tribute to the series' cast.

On Show, 2004
1 x 30min ep. 29.7.04
DN was a studio guest talking to Aled Jones about his new pilot sitcom Autumn Tints, and featured in a film segment from the set.

Britain's Favourite Comedian, 2004
1 x 12min ep. 3.10.04
DN paid tribute to Ronnie Barker and remembered writing for The Two Ronnies.

Links:

On-site:
Book Covers
Book Reviews
Differences Between Book and Screen
The Genesis Of Reginald Perrin
Merchandise

Off-site:
Random House Publishers
 

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