''Fairly Secret Army'' is a British
sitcom
A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...
which ran to thirteen episodes over two series between 1984 and 1986. Though not a direct
spin-off from ''
The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin
''The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin'' is a British sitcom starring Leonard Rossiter in the title role. It is based on a series of novels written by David Nobbs and produced from 1976 to 1979. Nobbs adapted the screenplay for the first series ...
'', the lead character, Major Harry Truscott, was very similar to Geoffrey Palmer's character of Jimmy Anderson from that series, who himself featured in a scene where he tried to recruit Reggie to a secret army with very similar aims to Truscott's (a scene repeated, near verbatim, in episode 2 of ''Fairly Secret Army'').
The scripts were written by Reginald Perrin's creator and writer
David Nobbs
David Gordon Nobbs (13 March 1935 – 8 August 2015["C ...](_blank)
.
Harry Kitchener Wellington Truscott (ex ''Queen's Own West Mercian Lowlanders'') is an inept and slightly barmy ex-army man intent on training a group of highly unlikely people into a secret paramilitary organisation. This idea first emerged in an episode of Perrin when Jimmy confided the plan to Reggie (who rubbished it) and was based on persistent and subsequently verified
rumours in the 1970s press that far-right generals were secretly planning a coup to "rescue" Britain from trade union militancy. The character's name was changed because ''Fairly Secret Army'' was broadcast on
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
, and the television rights to ''The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin'' and its characters were held by the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
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...
, whose training films company was responsible for the series. The series did not have a laughter track.
Nobbs only started work on the show when he turned down an offer to write a spin-off sitcom for Manuel of ''
as Sgt. Major Throttle
*