Mike Batt's The Fall and Rise Of Reginald Perrin

[Small Man Big Horse]

Reggie Perrin is the latest tv comedy to be made in to a musical, presumably due to the success of the Only Fools and Horses one. Apparently Jonathan Coe and David Quantick are writing the script and Batt is providing the songs, in something I can almost certainly say I'll never see. Here's Chortle's take on the story:

Reggie Perrin: The musical

Comedy writers Jonathan Coe and David Quantick are adapting the work of the late David Nobbs for the stage – with Wombles composer Mike Batt providing the music. Batt revealed on Twitter that the writers had asked him to contribute, adding: ' I didn't get where I am today by turning an opportunity like THAT down'. Coe - who wrote the Rotters' Club and Middle England, added: 'Mike has written some incredible songs for this. David and I have gone back to the books (it's an adaptation of the first two) and tried to capture their full emotional range, not just the comedy.'

Quantick, a former NME journalist, has written for Veep, Screenwipe, Smack The Pony, Chris Morris's Jam and Brass Eye, among many others. The musical is still in development, with no theatre yet signed up to staging it. Perrin first appeared in the 1975 novel The Death of Reginald Perrin, and was made into the Leonard Rossiter sitcom the following year. Nobbs wrote two further novels, with each again adapted for TV. In 2009, the character was revived when Nobbs united with Men Behaving Badly writer Simon Nye to pen a new sitcom, with Martin Clunes in the title role. It ran for two series, though was unloved by critics.

https://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2019/05/01/42928/reggie_perrin%3A_the_musical

[Danger Man]

I really like Quantick and Coe but this is Aids cubed.

Louis Phillipe to do the music? Please kill me.

[Shaky]

A play could work very well but why the hell does everything have to be a musical?

[easytarget]

A play could work very well but why the hell does everything have to be a musical?

".. 2 3 4
and WHYYYYY does it have to be a MUS-ical!
for WHYYYYY does that not seem un-US-uAAAAAAL"

there's yer fucking opener.

[c]

By pure coincidence full episodes of this turned up on my YouTube recommendations yesterday evening and I started watching one, as I hadn't seen it since I was a boy. Pure joy. I'm actually excited for this evening when I can watch more. Perfect blend of comedy, pathos and relentless storytelling, made even more enjoyable for the fact that I am now nearly Perrin's age.

This musical will be West Germany flavoured ice cream.

[c]

PS. What I love about West Germany flavoured ice cream is that, on paper, East Germany ice cream should be funnier, with its darker and greyer associations. But it somehow isn't and Nobbs knew it

[Tony Tony Tony]

Mike Batt was the man behind the Wombles so I'm not sure if we going to find Reggie being "Eleven minutes late, Tobermurray removed a length of cable trackside at New Malden."

Seems the current vogue is definitely for turning old comedy shows into West End musicals. I look forward to Curry and Chips the Musical closing after one night whilst I'm a Musical Alan Partridge runs longer than Phantom of the Opera.

[olliebean]

Has anything the success of which is strongly associated with a particular actor or actors, as Reginald Perrin is, ever been remade in any form with different actors and turned out not to be - at best - disappointing compared to the original? Doctor Who, I suppose, but that's a special case.

[Tony Tony Tony]

Has anything the success of which is strongly associated with a particular actor or actors, as Reginald Perrin is, ever been remade in any form with different actors and turned out not to be - at best - disappointing compared to the original? Doctor Who, I suppose, but that's a special case.

https://screenrant.com/tv-remakes-better-original-worse/
6 TV Remakes Better Than The Original (And 11 That Are Worse)

This is heavily US slanted though notable for concluding the the US version of the Office is better that the UK one. Although the reasoning seems to be that only because it lasted longer (also something that is often hotly debated here).

The reasoning as to why the US Shameless remake is better that the UK version doesn't really stand up IMHO.

[the]

A play could work very well but why the hell does everything have to be a musical?

A) the music is padding, and 2) money

[Chriddof]

I prefer the US Office too, but to say it's better just because it has more episodes is a barmy thing to argue. Also, I can tell the person who wrote that didn't do their research when they confidently declare that most British sitcoms have "fourteen episodes" - if it's two series then it's twelve episodes, like Fawlty Towers. The Office UK is different because of Gervais' OCD-like requirement to have a special at the end of everything he's ever done.

[Brundle-Fly]

Has anything the success of which is strongly associated with a particular actor or actors, as Reginald Perrin is, ever been remade in any form with different actors and turned out not to be - at best - disappointing compared to the original? Doctor Who, I suppose, but that's a special case.

Star Trek?

[Coprolite]

Has anything the success of which is strongly associated with a particular actor or actors, as Reginald Perrin is, ever been remade in any form with different actors and turned out not to be - at best - disappointing compared to the original? Doctor Who, I suppose, but that's a special case.

Batman

[Small Man Big Horse]

https://screenrant.com/tv-remakes-better-original-worse/
6 TV Remakes Better Than The Original (And 11 That Are Worse)

This is heavily US slanted though notable for concluding the the US version of the Office is better that the UK one. Although the reasoning seems to be that only because it lasted longer (also something that is often hotly debated here).

The reasoning as to why the US Shameless remake is better that the UK version doesn't really stand up IMHO.

"Even with Carrell's departure, the show never became awful"

Those lying cunting bastards.

"9 BETTER: HOUSE OF CARDS (2013)"

Those lying cunting bastards part two.

[olliebean]

https://screenrant.com/tv-remakes-better-original-worse/
6 TV Remakes Better Than The Original (And 11 That Are Worse)

This is heavily US slanted though notable for concluding the the US version of the Office is better that the UK one. Although the reasoning seems to be that only because it lasted longer (also something that is often hotly debated here).

The reasoning as to why the US Shameless remake is better that the UK version doesn't really stand up IMHO.

I'm thinking more of things which aim to tell the same or similar stories with the same characters, like the Only Fools musical or the Martin Clunes version of Perrin. The characters in the US Office had similarities to their British counterparts, but were definitely different characters. (Also it was definitely worse than the UK version until it established its own distinct identity.) As for Sherlock, I don't think the Sherlock Holmes stories owe their prior success to any particular actors' portrayal of the characters.

I haven't seen any of the other remakes that article rates as better, so I can't comment on them.

Star Trek?

Different shows, with different stories and characters, set in the same (or adjacent) universes, rather than remakes.

Batman

I'll not be hearing any arguments that the Adam West version wasn't the best version of Batman.

[Tony Tony Tony]

I'm thinking more of things which aim to tell the same or similar stories with the same characters, like the Only Fools musical or the Martin Clunes version of Perrin.

How about I give you "Queer Eye"? I know this is a probably a concept reboot rather than fitting the strict criteria you set but it is such a top show it deserves a mention. Also I know it may not class as comedy chat but I find the Fab Five hilarious at times.