I’ve been completely transfixed by the new version of Reggie Perrin that’s been gracing our TV screens on Friday nights, courtesy of the good old BBC (every day I give thanks for this wonderful institution).

I find myself completely agreeing with Reggie – that there has to be more to life than designing 10 blade razors or thinking up a way to market pumice. They’re examples lifted directly from the show but believe me I’ve been in rooms with groups of enthusiastic bright young things who are thinking up equally stupid things to make/sell/get profit from and honestly believing their bright idea is going to be a huge success.

Clearly I can’t divulge the content of these meetings but honestly, some of the stuff marketing people think the public needs is at best daft and at worst positively dishonest.

Reggie’s market research bloke is depicted as a dour dullard and to be honest, I’ve come to believe that market researchers are there, in business, to pour cold water on the stupid ideas and rein in the marketers so they don’t throw masses of money at idiotic folly. Mind you, that’s not to say that things don’t still find their way into the marketplace either because the research is designed to give the client the answer they require or because the marketers simply believe the negative research is wrong!

There is a wonderful liberation in realising that I’m not alone in my cynicism about big business and its practices. I feel as though I could have written the script myself or at least had the scriptwriter sitting inside my head for a few years while I’ve been experiencing the crazy world of business. Unusually in this world, this TV drama has made me feel happy and on the right side of the great divide. I feel as though I’ve made some good choices in recent times and that I’m going to be OK.

So, to depict the feeling of giddy happiness that Reggie brings to my world, here’s Woodstock doing a happy somersault while his pal Snoopy looks on with a big smile on his face. Snoopy and Woodstock are my heroes – you can keep Superman, Batman and Spiderman, they can’t/won’t save the world – give me a Snoopy cartoon any day and I’ll be completely satisfied. Simple pleasures are what it’s all about.