David Nobbs

David Gordon Nobbs (13 March 1935 – 8 August 2015) was an English comedy writer, most notable for writing the 1970s television series The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin, adapted from his own novels. Nobbs was born in Orpington, Kent. Following an education at Marlborough College and St John's College, Cambridge, he worked as a reporter for The Sheffield Star, before starting his career in comedy as a writer for That Was the Week That Was in the early 1960s. He wrote for many of Britain's comedy performers over the years, including Kenneth Williams, Frankie Howerd, Les Dawson, and The Two Ronnies. Nobbs created the sitcom The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin (1976–79), adapted from his own novels, which 'told the story of a man living an escapist fantasy in response to the mundanity of his daily commute'. Nobbs also wrote the comedy-drama programme A Bit of a Do (1989) and the Henry Pratt series of novels, the fourth of which, Pratt à Manger, was published in 2006. His novel It Had to be You was published in 2011.

Works

Monty Python: Before the Flying Circus

Discover how six seemingly ordinary but supremely talented men became Monty Python, sketch comedy's inspired group of lunatics who turned such unlikely sources of inspiration as Spam, dead parrots and the Inquisition into enduring punch lines. This entertaining documentary includes interviews with members of the troupe, as well as home movies, photos and rare recordings from Monty Python's early years.

Release Date2008-07-01

Charactersd Self

Vote Count6

ITV Playhouse

ITV Playhouse is a British comedy-drama TV series that ran from 1967 to 1983, which featured contributions from playwrights such as Dennis Potter, Rhys Adrian and Alan Sharp. The series began in black and white, but was later shot in colour and was produced by various companies for the ITV network, a format that would inspire Dramarama. Actors appearing in the series included Leslie Anderson, Gwen Nelson, Ricky Alleyne, Pat Heywood, Michael Elphick, Ian Hendry, Edward Woodward, Margaret Lockwood, Jessie Matthews and Lloyd Peters.

Release Date1967-09-25

DepartmentWriting

JobWriter

Episode Count2

Vote Count3

The Two Ronnies

The Two Ronnies is a British sketch show which aired on BBC1 from 1971 to 1987. It featured the double act of Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett, the "Two Ronnies" of the title.

Release Date1971-04-10

DepartmentWriting

JobWriter

Episode Count23

Vote Count30

The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin

Disillusioned after a long career at Sunshine Desserts, Reginald Iolanthe Perrin endures a midlife crisis and fakes his own death. Returning in disguise after various attempts at finding a 'new life', Perrin gets his old job back and finds nothing has changed. He is eventually found out, and later finds success with a chain of junk shops. However, it becomes so successful that he feels he has created a monster and decides to destroy it.

Release Date1976-09-08

DepartmentWriting

JobWriter

Episode Count28

Vote Count32

That Was the Week That Was

That Was the Week That Was, informally TWTWTW or TW3, is a satirical television comedy programme on BBC Television in 1962 and 1963. It was devised, produced and directed by Ned Sherrin and presented by David Frost. The programme is considered a significant element of the satire boom in the United Kingdom in the early 1960s. It broke ground in comedy through lampooning the establishment and political figures. Its broadcast coincided with coverage of the politically charged Profumo affair and John Profumo, the politician at the centre of the affair, became a target for derision. TW3 was first broadcast on Saturday 24 November 1962.

Release Date1962-11-24

DepartmentWriting

JobWriter

Episode Count21

Vote Count2

Whoops Baghdad

Whoops Baghdad is a BBC television comedy programme first broadcast from 25 January to 1 March 1973. The series stars Frankie Howerd, and was similar to his earlier programme Up Pompeii!, with the setting moved from Ancient Rome to mediaeval Baghdad. However, it was significantly less successful than its predecessor, only running for six episodes and is little remembered, although all episodes survive. The original proposed title, Up Baghdad, was rejected because it was felt that it might have been seen as supportive of the then-current Iraqi regime.

Release Date1973-01-25

DepartmentWriting

JobWriter

Episode Count1

Vote Count2

Reggie Perrin

Midlevel corporate drone Reggie Perrin—although secure in his marriage, with a paid-for house, no children, a car and a comfortable living, he is dissatisfied with the grind of modern living, such as his daily, often overcrowded train commute—undergoes a mid-life crisis, keeping himself entertained by fantasies.

Release Date2009-04-24

DepartmentWriting

JobWriter

Episode Count12

Vote Count19

Love on a Branch Line

Refined civil servant Jasper Pye is sent to the rural Suffolk–Norfolk border to close the Office of Output Statistics, which has outlived its usefulness. Instead, he's seduced by the small idyllic world he discovers, making his task far more difficult than he'd imagined. He soon finds himself entangled with the local aristocrat's three beautiful daughters.

Release Date1994-06-12

DepartmentWriting

JobAdaptation

Episode Count4

Vote Count5

The Legacy of Reginald Perrin

Reginald Iolanthe Perrin has passed on but he's bequeathed a fortune to family and friends. There is only one proviso, they must each do something absurd in order to receive their share.

Release Date1996-09-22

DepartmentWriting

JobWriter

Episode Count7

Vote Count4

Send in the Girls

Send in the Girls

The job of Velma Hardy and her Personality Promotions team is to put glamour into sales drives.

Release Date1978-03-01

DepartmentWriting

JobWriter

Episode Count1

Plays for Pleasure

Plays for Pleasure

A series of six plays about relationships, examining themes including love, friendship, family dynamics, and personal growth, often highlighting the complexities and humour in human connections.

Release Date1981-03-31

DepartmentWriting

JobWriter

Episode Count1

The Glamour Girls

Best friends Debbie and Veronica quit their jobs and decide to search for glamour, excitement and adventure as promotional girls at Glamgirls Ltd.

Release Date1980-10-23

DepartmentWriting

JobWriter

Episode Count13

Vote Count3

The Hello Goodbye Man

The Hello Goodbye Man is a short-lived 1984 British sitcom, starring Ian Lavender as Denis Ailing, a nervous salesman struggling with his job and romantic life, particularly with his colleague Jennifer. The series follows his disastrous attempts to succeed, including using pep pills and adopting unethical sales tactics, leading to awkward social and professional situations.

Release Date1984-01-05

DepartmentWriting

JobWriter

Episode Count6

Vote Count2

Armchair Theatre

Armchair Theatre is a British television drama anthology series of single plays that ran on the ITV network from 1956 to 1974. It was originally produced by Associated British Corporation, and later by Thames Television from mid-1968.

Release Date1956-07-08

DepartmentWriting

JobWriter

Episode Count1

Vote Count6

Rich Tea and Sympathy

Divorced single mother Julia Merrygrove works as a local councillor whilst also holding down a job in a biscuit factory. She begins an affair with George Rudge, her opposite number on the council.

Release Date1991-07-05

DepartmentWriting

JobWriter

Episode Count6

Vote Count1

The Les Dawson Show

A variety show featuring sketch and stand-up comedy as well as guest appearances, dance numbers and musical performances.

Release Date1978-01-21

DepartmentWriting

JobWriter

Episode Count30

Vote Count2

Our Young Mr. Wignall

Young Mr. Wignall is on a business trip to northern England. He is keen to pull some local girls while there. His unassuming boss, meanwhile, has organised his calendar to meet with a different lady each day he is there.

Release Date1976-11-17

DepartmentWriting

JobWriter

Reggie

Reggie is the story of Reggie Potter, a 47-year-old executive of Fun Time Ice Cream Desserts headquartered in Little Neck, Long Island, who confronts middle age through Walter Mitty-like fantasies. It is an American sitcom television series that aired on ABC from August 2 until September 1, 1983. Based on the British sitcom The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin.

Release Date1983-08-02

DepartmentCreator

JobCreator

Vote Count1

Gentlemen's Relish

The career of the once successful classical portraitist, Kingdom Swann, has hit bad times. When a leading gallery rejects his work, he seems at the point of giving up. It is only the support of his housekeeper, Violet Askey, that keeps him going and it is she who encourages him to switch to photography. Soon Swann has developed a healthy (and respectable) business with portraits of naked women in classical and exotic settings. However, the nature of Swann's new work is open to misinterpretation and he finds himself at the centre of a scandal involving the misuse of his pictures by a SOHO pornographer, and the focus of a campaign by suffragettes against the expoitation of women. At the same time, he loses the support of the loyal Violet, who leaps to the wrong conclusion about Swann's relationship with one of his models. When Violet then becomes involved in the suffragette and amti-pornography movements, it seems all may be lost for Swann - both professionally...and personally.

Release Date2001-01-01

DepartmentWriting

JobWriter

Vote Count8

Cuts

A British TV company wants to make a big blockbuster TV series and to add to their chances of success they call in the services of Henry Babbacombe, a nervous man who has only written a small book on nature before. As the production on the series continues, Henry has to make many changes on his scripts as things change on the series and he falls in love with Cynthia Hyde-Lennon. However both she and the TV company wants Henry to write and do stuff that is completely against his morals but he finds itself going along until the TV company and Cynthia turns and savagely stabs him in the back...

Release Date1996-12-31

DepartmentWriting

JobWriter

The Funny Side of Christmas

Skits from: "The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin"; "The Les Dawson Show"; "Yes Minister"; "Only Fools and Horses"; "Three of a Kind"; "Last of the Summer Wine"; "Sorry!"; "Butterflies"; "Smith and Jones"; and "Open All Hours".

Release Date1982-12-27

DepartmentWriting

JobWriter

Dogfood Dan and the Carmarthen Cowboy

Two long distance truck drivers talk about their sexual escapades to each other using CB Radio.

Release Date1982-07-24

DepartmentWriting

JobWriter

Vote Count1

Our Kid

Our Kid

The daily escapades of Bob and Ben Buslingthorpe of Halifax, West Yorkshire.

Release Date1973-04-08

DepartmentWriting

JobWriter

Episode Count1

Stalag Luft

Few wartime prisoners have attempted escape quite as many times as bumbling RAF Officer James Forrester. Though Officer Forrester has twenty-three escape attempts to his name, each successive attempt he makes to break free somehow seems to go worse than the last. But this time there's a difference, because Officer Forrester isn't just plotting his own escape, but the escape of all 327 of his fellow prisoners as well - and all at once. In fact even the Germans want to escape!

Release Date1993-10-27

DepartmentWriting

JobWriter

Vote Count7

Les Dawson's Christmas Box

A seasonal offering from one of Britain’s most missed comics first seen in 1974 featuring sketches, songs, music and dancing.

Release Date1974-12-26

DepartmentWriting

JobWriter

Episode Count2

Vote Count1

The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin

46-year-old Reginald Iolanthe Perrin is suffering a midlife crisis and tries to escape his dreary life.

Release Date1983-10-03

DepartmentWriting

JobScreenplay

Dawson's Electric Cinema

A comedy set in the 1920s with Les Dawson (as his own grandfather) and family running a flea-pit cinema.

Release Date1975-04-03

DepartmentWriting

JobWriter

Vote Count1

Sounds Like Les Dawson

Les Dawson invites some familiar friends to join him in this one off special in which he performs sketches and musical numbers. Watch out for a rare clip of Les actually playing the piano properly.

Release Date1974-12-04

DepartmentWriting

JobWriter

Vote Count1