Quote: Sebastian Melmoth @ April 24 2009, 1:13 PM BST

I feel you're being rather uncharitable when discussing Steve Martin assaying the role of the hapless Gallic gumshoe.

Martin invested the role with a contemporary spin. If you just wanted a carbon-copy of the Sellers version, why not just use computer wizardry to cobble together old footage of the late Goon, shoehorn in Herbert Lom (who must be gathering dust in some old actor's home somewhere) and be done with it?

No, what Martin brought to the role was HEART. He made a pretty two-dimensional character three-dimensional.

My two penn'orth anyway.

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TWO DIMENSIONAL!!!!

In my humble opinion Sellers was one of the best British character actors ever and to say that Martin brought another dimension to his character is absolute shit!!

I'm really not going to continue this as I think you're simply doing it to wind me up either that or you're complete moron.

Quote: Crusty427 @ April 24 2009, 1:33 PM BST

TWO DIMENSIONAL!!!!

In my humble opinion Sellers was one of the best British character actors ever and to say that Martin brought another dimension to his character is absolute shit!!

I'm really not going to continue this as I think you're simply doing it to wind me up either that or you're complete moron.

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I forgot to mention, Martin also made his Clouseau rather easier to understand. The accent wasn't as impenetrable. A vast improvement. All that "meurth" stuff was particularly tiresome.

Ok, back to Perrin now. This is totally off-topic.

As anyone who has read the original novels on which the television series was based would concur, there was a considerable amount of tinkering and tweaking, with the result that vast chunks of David Nobbs's books were necessarily eschewed and several key characters excluded from the BBC series. The novels were quite darker in tone as well, almost verging on comic horror – and although it would be unfair to call the telly version of The Fall & Rise of Reginald Perrin light and fluffy it was hardly Grand Guignol.

And I still maintain Steve Martin outclassed Sellers.

Quote: Sebastian Melmoth @ April 24 2009, 2:21 PM BST

As anyone who has read the original novels on which the television series was based would concur, there was a considerable amount of tinkering and tweaking, with the result that vast chunks of David Nobbs's books were necessarily eschewed and several key characters excluded from the BBC series. The novels were quite darker in tone as well, almost verging on comic horror – and although it would be unfair to call the telly version of The Fall & Rise of Reginald Perrin light and fluffy it was hardly Grand Guignol.

And I still maintain Steve Martin outclassed Sellers.

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Martin wasn't even the second best Clouseau, Alan Arkin took that slot.

In respect to Herbert Lom he wouldn't be available as he's looking after Steve Martin's chair in that old actors home you've already mentioned.

Alan Arkin hasn't made a decent film since Catch-22.

I saw him in "Glengarry Glen Ross" (a film so soul-destroying and bereft of human warmth that one felt the need to watch cockfighting afterwards in search of light relief) and couldn't understand a word he was saying. A ceaseless litany of grunts and grumbles.

I'd quite like to read the original novels. A good time for them to be reprinted, I'd have thought.

Still haven't decided whether to watch it tonight yet. I wonder if Reggie is an appropriate name for the main character: 30 years ago a middle-aged man might have been called Reggie, but now? Has a Reggie been born since the war?

Have to agree about Peter Sellers. He was a great comedy/character actor. He was in a different class to Steve Martin. Sellers decline seems to coincide with his heart attack and becoming a Hollywood star. For a while I thought Steve Coogan might be another Sellers but unfortunately he can only do one character (Partridge) and that's basically himself.

I'm enjoying this.

I liked the "..then cheer up you miserable witch" line to his secretary.

I didn't like the rehashed theme tune though.

Liking it too!

Not his two idiot staff though.

All his little daydreams are funny. the rather large penis was funny and the bits on the tube were funny. Think the assistants and the secertary make it a bit farcical though.

Some funny lines and good to see Neil Stuke back in sitcom!

Quote: Tom G @ April 24 2009, 10:04 PM BST

and good to see Neil Stuke back in sitcom!

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Agreed.

Overall very funny I think and I remember the original very well.

Was jolly good.