Brilliant
Seventies BBC television comedy starring
Leonard Rossiter (of
Rising Damp fame) as the eponymous (anti-?)hero.
Reggie Perrin becomes tired of his job at
Sunshine Desserts and is continually bothered by thoughts of
hippopotami whenever his
mother-in-law is mentioned. The
rat race has grown unattractive for this least rat-like of men.
But how to escape?
Reggie fakes his own death and carves out a new existence for himself, ends up doing the same kind of thing all over again, marries his own widow, then fakes his death again... and so on.
The series was most notable for the recurring jokes such as the son who habitually uses bizarre rhyming slang, the out-of-work actor whose new big break as the gumboot delivery man never materialises, the boss (CJ) and his incessant catchphrase, the chairs that make a farting sound when one sits in them, and other such gems.