David Nobbs

Born 1935-03-13 · Orpington, Kent, England, UK

Died 2015-08-09

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.