A TV first
Reggie Perrin was a true comedy within a genre accustomed to sketch shows and episodic sitcoms. With its serial storyline, its melancholy themes such as disillusionment and loss and a main character, teetering on the edge of a nervous breakdown, it came as a bolt from the blue in the mid-70s. At the centre of it all was Leonard Rossiter, a comic genius delivering the goods throughout three classic series.

Selling out
Perrin is an "everyman" figure, many of us can still relate to today - ground down by a humdrum suburban life and commuting to his mind-numbing job as a deskbound Sales Exec. Losing his sanity in the face of such a mid-life crisis, the show moves into savage satire as Reggie fakes his own suicide before re-appearing as the cynical, and soon, successful owner of a new shop called "Grot": dedicated to selling useless items.

Birth of an anti-hero
The reason Reggie hit such a chord is probably rooted in the way writer David Nobbs formulated the idea for his anti-hero. As a child, Nobbs used to catch the same train every morning to school, surrounded by commuters in their pinstripe suits, with briefcase, rolled umbrella and newspaper under the arm. This help form the seeds of "The Death of Reginald Perrin", the novel Nobbs wrote before the BBC commissioned a pilot of the story to be made in 1976.

Let's have a catchphrase
Like a Little Britain of the 70s, one of the series' most-remembered aspects were its characters' catchphrases, soon heard around offices and school playgrounds the country over. Most popular was that of Reggie's boss, the inimitable CJ who would constantly patronise his employees with the words "I didn't get where I am today without..." The late John Barron, who played CJ, was often chastised in the street by angry parents: "'You've ruined my life' they'd say, 'because my child won't stop saying it!"

Crossing over
This classic show's legacy has been immense - and it can be argued that without David Nobbs' blending of adult themes and modern day angst with fabulous cringe-worthy comedy, shows such as Alan Partridge and The Office would never have been written. Even the act of pseudocide, or faking your own death, is often termed, even today, as "doing a Reggie Perrin" - which is quite an achievement when you think about it!