1/1 Change in hallway at home (In 1/1 Reggie walked past picture, door, mirror, door, but in 1/2 it became door, picture, mirror, door)
1/1 During Reggie's row with the waiter in the restaurant, the couple at his table never eat their spaghetti, they just twirl it on their forks.
1/1 Also in the restaurant, after Reggie says "Mmm, that looks delicious!", Reggie’s fork has nothing on it when he puts it in his mouth.
1/2 Office furniture is different, and the phones are different colours.
1/2 Joan rings CJ direct, not through his secretary, Marion.
1/4 When Reggie decides to clear his desk, there are no phones on it.
1/6 When Henry Possett tells Elizabeth how multi-lingual he is, he says he can speak Yugoslavian and Serbo-Croat, but Serbo-Croat is the language of Yugoslavia, the latter is not a language in itself.
1/7 When Elizabeth is wooing Martin Wellbourne at home, she puts a record on which we hear, but the sound disappears after about ten seconds.
1/7 In the credits of this episode we see: Waiter/Peter MacKriel, but the scene featuring him was cut out.
2/1 Doc Morrissey forgets to put his stethoscope in his ears when listening to Reggie's heartbeat.
2/2 Film ends before the soundtrack.
2/3 When Reggie confronts C.J. about his supposed affair with Elizabeth, the BBC props department's tag falls out of Reggie's hat as he puts it on his head.
2/3 As Donald Potts, Reggie's false teeth fall out while in Mr. Pelham's office.
2/4 During Reggie's fantasy of swinging in as Tarzan at Joan's wedding, a crew member is seen on the extreme right of the screen catching Reggie as he swings back.
2/5 The shadow of the sound boom can be seen on the lampshade in the Perrins' home.
 

Episode captions - At the start of each episode in Series One and Two we are updated on the story so far by means of a summary caption:

1/2 “Reggie Perrin, 46, senior sales executive. Bored, under stress. Has begun to behave oddly."
1/3 “Reginald Perrin, 46, of sunshine Desserts. Bored, under stress. Has begun to behave very oddly!”
1/4 “Reginald Perrin, 46, wife away, strange behaviour. Getting more brazen every day.”
1/5 “Reginald Perrin, 46, behaving strangely, making plans for future. Crisis point approaching!"
1/6 “Reginald Perrin, 46, has disappeared, clothes found abandoned on beach, presumed dead. Still very much alive!”
1/7 “Reggie Perrin, 46, presumed dead. Reveals identity to daughter. Wishes to return to wife, but wife engaged to Henry Possett. Oh misery!"
2/2 "Reggie’s true identity revealed. Sacked by Sunshine Desserts. Working at pig farm."
2/3 "Reggie working at pig farm, Elizabeth at Sunshine Desserts. Reggie suspects Elizabeth of affair with CJ."
2/4 "Reggie & Elizabeth both sacked. Reggie decides to open rather unusual shop."
2/5 "Reggie’s rubbish shops Grot are an amazing success. Sunshine Desserts bankrupt."
2/6 "More and more success for Grot. Reggie now employing CJ, Elizabeth, Joan, Tony & David."
2/7 "Reggie fed up with success of Grot. Tries to destroy it. Result – even more success."
 

Street names – In Series One, David Nobbs has typified suburban life by locating the Perrins in a housing estate where all the roads are based on a particular theme. Even when their fortunes see them living elsewhere, they are always on estates with themed road names.

Ser.1 Poets: Coleridge Close, Tennyson Avenue, Wordsworth Drive
Ser.2 Poets: Elizabeth Barrett-Browning Crescent, Anon. Avenue
Ser.3 & 4 Philosophers:  Leibnitz Drive, Bertrand Russell Rise, Schopenhauer Grove,
Ser 3 Capitals: Oslo Avenue, Rio De Janeiro Lane, Lisbon Crescent, Nairobi Avenue, Addis Ababa Avenue, Ankara Grove, Buenos Aires Grove.
 

Sunshine Desserts - On his arrival at Sunshine Desserts each morning, we would see Reggie enter the building beneath the company name, displayed in big yellow letters. These letters had a habit of falling off. Here is the complete list of what letters were missing each time we saw them.
 
 

1/1 sunshine des-erts 1/1 sunshi-e des-erts 1/1 sunshin- des-erts 1/2 suns---- d—s—ts

1/3 –unshine –es-er— 1/4 ----hine –es-er— 1/4 sunshine –esserts

1/5 ---shine –ss—ts 1/6 –unshin- -es-er— 2/1 –unshin- -es-er—

2/2 –unshine desserts 2/4 ---shine –e—ert- 2/4 ---sh--- ----erts

Exotic Ices range: launch/promotions – At the start of Series One, Sunshine Desserts is about to launch its new range of  ‘Exotic Ices’ on an unsuspecting public. A tasting is laid on, but the computer picks three not-entirely-suitable flavours. Next day, Morris Coates from Crumley Advertising gives Reggie an idea for an advertising slogan to promote the range. Reggie gives Morris one of his own:
The computer processes the three most popular flavours as being: bookends, pumice stone, and West Germany.
Human processing produces the flavours as: Mango Delight, Fig Surprise, Strawberry & Lychee Ripple.
Morris Coates suggests the slogan: “I find it much easier to meditate with a Fig Surprise ice cream. One of the new range of exotic ices from Sunshine.”
Reggie suggests: “I like to stroke my nipple with Strawberry and Lychee Ripple.”
 

Reggie’s fantasies – As his mid-life crisis deepens, and his inability for love-making frustrates him more and more, Reggie starts to fantasise about his secretary Joan, imagining them in the following situations.

1/1 Running towards each other holding ice creams, then discarding them as they embrace each other.
1/1 Passionate kissing of Joan on top of his desk, which is in the middle of a field.
1/2 Picnic in a field.
1/3 On the floor of a laundrette, with other people seemingly oblivious.
1/3 On Reggie’s garden seat swing.
1/3 Having dinner in a field
1/3 Passionate embrace on Reggie’s doorstep, followed by a slap from Joan.
2/4 Joan as a bunny girl, carrying a huge champagne bottle, with Reggie carrying a huge glass
2/4 Reggie swinging in to disrupt Joan’s wedding, dressed as Tarzan.
 

Reggie’s symptoms – In the first episode, he goes to visit inept Doc Morrissey in the vain hope of him giving him a useful diagnosis. This is how Reggie feels:

1/1 "...legs heavy, keep shivering, can’t concentrate, headaches, can’t finish the crossword like I used to, nasty taste in the mouth first thing in the morning, can’t stop thinking about sex, can't start doing anything about sex, wake up in a sweat in the morning, keep falling asleep during 'Play For Today'."
 

Doc Morrissey’s diagnosis – Joan is worried about Reggie, because of his recent behaviour and asks Doc Morrissey if he knows what might be wrong with him. Doc tells her:

"Middle-age, exhaustion, boredom, anxiety, self-disgust, misery, sensitive of inferiority, dislike of industry, dislike of instant puddings, 25-year itch, fear, insecurity, frustration."
- Watch video clip -
 

Pigeon reports – Sunshine Desserts temporarily employs a market researcher, Esther Pigeon, to conduct consumer research in anticipation of a new product launch. Here are her reports:

1/1 Exotic Ices: “71% of housewives in East Lancashire and 81% in Hertfordshire expressed an interest in the concept of exotic ice-creams. Only 8% in Hertfordshire and 14% in Lancashire expressed positive hostility, whilst 5% expressed latent hostility. In Hertfordshire, 96% of the 50% who formed 20% of consumer spending were in favour. 0.6% told us where we could put our exotic ice creams.”

2/4 Innocuous white pill: "32% of people over 55 in the Wirral, & 2.1% of the people under 43 in the Gorbals liked the idea. 23% of those under 35 in the Wirral & 7.6% of those over 52 in the Gorbals thought it possible. 23.6% found it difficult to swallow. 26.9% of the replies in the Gorbals were rejected by the computer which suffered two fuse blowouts."

2/4 Insoluble suppositories: "9.8% of the 32% of the over-55s in the Wirral, and 36% of the 2.1% in the Gorbals who liked the pill also liked the idea. 33.7% of those in the Gorbals told us where we could put our insoluble suppositories."

Reggie’s disguises – At the end of Series One , Reggie leaves his clothes on the beach and travels the Dorset countryside. He ponders what name to call himself, with helpful suggestions from a signpost and a field he passes. He later settles on Martin Wellbourne, but is misquoted by everyone he meets at his wake. At the end of Series Two, both Reggie and Elizabeth fake their suicides, and they use items on the beach to help them choose their names:

1/5 Alastair McTavish, Lionel Penfold, Cedric DeVere Fitzpatrick-Thorneycroft, Charles Bridport, Arthur Dorchester, Timothy Lyme Regis, Vernon Signpost, Henry Hedge, Sebastian Copse, Ronnie Road, Lenny Lane, Nathaniel Bike, Colin Gate, Colin Watt, Colin the first thing I see when I look over the gate : Colin Cowpat.

1/6 Australian, French tourist, Mr. Amherst, Sir Wensley “Mad Pickaxe” Amherst (mountaineer, explorer, cement tycoon, bandleader, gourmet & sex maniac), Lord Amherst, Italian tourist (Signor Antonio Stifado), Donald Potts, Welshman.

1/7 Martin Wellbourne from Brazil. “Reggie’s long-lost friend from Brazil”, who sequestered himself there “after an amorous disappointment in Sutton Coldfield” (misquoted at his wake as Mervyn Wishbone; Melvin Washroom from the Argentine; Melvin Windscreen from Brazil; Melville Windpipe from Brazil; Melvin Windpipe from Mexico; Melvin Washday).

2/7 Mr. & Mrs. Cliff, Sunrise, Oliver Cromwell, Nathaniel Gutbucket, Tin Can, Dead Thrush, Slug, Rabbit Droppings, Gossamer.
 

Newspaper announcement – Reggie reads about his memorial service in his daughter’s paper:

“There is shortly to be a memorial service for Climthorpe man Reginald I. Perrin, who is presumed to have killed himself when his clothes were found recently on a beach in Dorset.”
 
 

Henry Possett languages – After Reggie’s ‘death’, Elizabeth’s new companion is Henry Possett, a man Reggie hates. While disguised as an Italian tourist, Henry tries out his Italian on him and tells Elizabeth  of his multilingual abilities. He is, apparently, fluent in:

Italian, Greek, Yugoslavian, French, Danish, Swedish, Finnish, Norwegian, Serbo-Croat, Russian, Spanish, with a smattering of Urdu, and a little functional Swahili.
 

"...Flightpath again today" – In Series Two, Reggie, disguised as Martin Wellbourne, wonders who might be on board the aircraft that thunder overhead:

2/1 Belgian Licensed Victualler's Society, eager for cheap sweaters at Marks & Sparks.
2/1 Grenoble Philatelic Society en route for Bourn & Hollingsworth's.
2/1 Wealthy matrons from the Hamburg Women’s Institute heading for the outsize department at D. H. Evans, perhaps.
 

Job replies – After being sacked from both Sunshine Desserts AND Mr. Pelham’s piggery, Reggie is forced to write off for numerous jobs. One morning, the postman delivers not one, but five letters replying to his applications. He reads them out to Elizabeth:

1. "'Dear Sir'…they’re sorry."
2. "'Dear Sir'…they’re very sorry."
3. "'Dear Sir'…they’re extremely sorry."
4. "'Dear Sir…unfortunately you have no previous experience IN rubber goods.'"
5. "There’s a 'giant carpet sale' tomorrow at Hornchurch. Let’s go to Hornchurch and buy a giant carpet."
 

Elizabeth’s letter – With Reggie on the dole, Elizabeth has to go to work. She is employed as David Harris-Jones’ secretary, but is soon sacked for typing a letter wrongly, not at all the words David dictated to her:

2/3 "Dear Sir, Thank you for your complaint about our soggy sponges. It makes the eleventh this week. The explanation is simple: frankly, our sponges are soggy. The fault lies in your customers for buying overpriced, oversweetened, unhealthy, synthetic rubbish."
 

Community ideas - Reggie has decided to open a community, and runs through a few ideas with Elizabeth:

The lost tribe of Llandrindod Wells;
Hari Krishna – chanting mantras in Droitwich High St.;
goat-worshippers;
mushroom sniffers in the Welsh hills;
the guru of Forfar;
the Maharishni of Ilfracombe.

- Watch video clip -
 

3/7 Smelling - At Amalgamated Aerosols, there is a smelling to launch the new range of aerosols. Each person is asked to write down what each smell reminds them of:

Smell number one:
5 people: mountains;
4 people: snow;
3 people: fresh water;
2 people: large forest;
1 person: Bolivian unicyclist's jockstrap.

Smell number two:
9 people: herbs;
1 person each: lavender, thyme, marjoram, spice factory, heather, Bolivian unicyclist's jockstrap.

Smell number three:
14 people: roses;
1 person: Bolivian unicyclist's jockstrap.

Legacy/1 Everyone's status - Geraldine Hackstraw asks everyone who they are before she reads out Reggie' will:

Linda Perrin – "daughter"
Doc. Morrissey – "...retired, living in Southall with his ethnic friends."
CJ – "Reggie's boss, employee, colleague, then his boss again"
Tom – "ex-son-in-law, ex-estate agent"
Jimmy – "Major James Anderson, Harrow (expelled), Queen’s Own Berkshire light infantry (forcibly retired), founder private army (disbanded after colleague vamoosed with takings); managing director, narrowboat hire firm (bankrupt after another colleague vamoosed with takings), first wife Sheila (deserted), second wife Lettuce (squashed by juggernaut)".
Reggie Harris-Jones -  "left school at 15, ran away from home at 16, got a gypsy girl into trouble at 17, lives with her in a lay-by on the A18."
Jocasta Patterson - "Touring Asia"
Adam Patterson -  "Working for the BBC"
 

Legacy/1 Absurdities - In order to try to fulfill Reggie's will condition, everyone tries to do something absurd:

Elizabeth – square hoops; Harris-Jones’s – dressed as Nell Gwynne/Long John Silver; CJ – proposes to Geraldine Hackstraw, the solicitor; Jimmy – goes to a party in a woman’s dress; Doc. – also proposes to Geraldine Hackstraw; Linda – goes shopping on roller-skates.
 

Legacy/1 Absurd ideas - The staff come up with some ideas for BROSCOR:

Young-age pensions; fashion shows for over-50s; face drops; age hostels.
 

Miscellaneous - a pot pourri of other facts:

1/1 Crossword clues preventing Reggie from completing them -
Top Left: Bolivian Poet;
Bottom Right: traditional Headgear worn by midwives on Baffin Island.
1/4 Campbell Lewiston/Reggie – attended Ruttingstag College
1/6 Reggie’s first girlfriend – Angela Borrowdale
2/1 Martin Wellbourne hates -  Dry Martini, mutton casserole, boiled silverside.
2/4 Joan works at  -  Glycero Ointment Company, Godalming
3/1 Perrins Community address - 19 Oslo Avenue, Botchley
3/2 Complainers at Perrins -  Mr. Penfold no.21; Mrs. Hollies no.17
3/2 No opposition football score -  4-1 (Jimmy forgot to change ends at half-time).
3/3 Reggie's names for McBlane -  "mobile bandage emporium", "pock-marked Caledonian loon", "diseased thistle from Partick."
3/6 CJ's potential novel titles -  'Watership Anthill', 'Plague Ants', 'Lord of the Ants', 'Ant of the Flies', 'Charlie’s Ant', 'No Sex Please, We’re Ants.'
Legacy/1 Reggie's Headstone inscription -  1924-1995 “Forever Revolting”
Legacy/4 CJ’s address – Expansion Cottage, Virginia Water (was Blancmange Towers).
 

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Text (c) Paul Fisher 2004. Pictures (c) BBC