Reply #13: Yes!!! "The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin"!!!

[IntravenousDemilo]

Leonard Rossiter was a genius and the character of Reggie was the pinnacle of a great comic career (he was almost as good in "Rising Damp", but not quite). "Reginald Perrin" is a serial sitcom about a man who's sick of life and having a severe midlife crisis. He works in a routine, soul-destroying job as regional sales manager for Sunshine Desserts, and he has an unforgettably awful boss, a wife he loves very much, a secretary he secretly lusts after, a ne'er-do-well brother-in-law who's always hitting him up for five pounds or a free meal, a son who's a struggling actor, and a level-headed daughter who's married to an insufferably tweedy, humourless, granola prig who makes foul-tasting wine from turnips and other unlikely things.

Reggie leaves all this and fakes his own death in order to start a new life, but he just can't stay away. And that's just in the first of the three series. I think it's just about the best British comedy ever, and that includes the brilliant "Fawlty Towers", so that's saying a lot. There's a lot of terrific, crackling verbal humour, especially from Rossiter and Geoffrey Thornton, who plays the brother-in-law, but there's plenty of low comedy in the show, too, as well as a great deal of warmth. You can see clips here: http://www.leonardrossiter.com/reginaldperrin/index.html.

I'd also highly recommend "Monty Python's Flying Circus", "Blackadder", "Father Ted" (although not technically British), "I'm Alan Partridge", just about anything with Harry Enfield, "Drop the Dead Donkey", and the first few seasons of "Red Dwarf".

I also have a bit of a soft spot for "Are You Being Served?", "Doctor in the House", and "Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em". Plus, if you can find any recordings of "Not Only...But Also" with Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, snap 'em up!