Although the series The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin ended in 1979, the impact that the show had meant that writer David Nobbs could not resist bringing it back in various forms over the following decades. In 1982 a 5-minute mini-episode was made as part of the BBC's The Funny Side of Christmas special. Then, between 1984 and 1986, Nobbs wrote two series of the sitcom Fairly Secret Army. This starred Geoffrey Palmer as Major Harry Truscott who was essentially the same character as Major Jimmy Anderson who had appeared in the former series. Following the cancellation of this series and the death of Leonard Rossiter it appeared that the Reginald Perrin saga was complete.

This situation changed in the mid-1990s however when Nobbs's contract with Yorkshire Television expired. He was coaxed back to the BBC by Gareth Gwenlan, the producer of the original series, and despite Gwenlan's initial resistance to the idea of reviving the show, he was persuaded that the writer could successfully undertake this task.

Geoffrey Palmer however, who had by this point become one of the most recognisable faces in British comedy, at first rejected the opportunity to reprise his role. He felt that without Leonard Rossiter there was no way that the series could be a success and it was only a personal phone call from Nobbs which changed his mind on this point.

More problems arose as Sue Nicholls, owing to her involvement in soap opera Coronation Street, could only appear in four episodes. Furthermore, the retirement of actor Trevor Adams caused his character Tony Webster to be written out of the story. David Nobbs later confessed though that had he known that Adams had returned to the profession that he would have been included.

Despite these difficulties, and the fact that several cast members had only acted infrequently in the preceding years, the general feeling was that filming had gone well and hopes for the new series were high .

The reception to both the sitcom and the novel which accompanied it was strained however. Viewing figures declined as the series progressed and critics were not complimentary. This forced Nobbs to later conclude that resurrecting the show had been a mistake but, due to the enjoyable time he had had while making it, not one which he regretted.