Video and audio: Tributes to Yorkshire comedy genius David Nobbs, creator of Reginald Perrin

Nobbs, who lived in Harrogate, also contributed to The Two Ronnies, Ken Dodd, Tommy Cooper and Frankie Howerd as well as writing 20 novels.

He wrote the Reginald Perrin novels which were turned into a much-loved sitcom that originally ran between 1976 and 1979.

They starred Leonard Rossiter as a man constantly on the verge of a mid-life crisis but with a vivid imagination.

Tributes poured in from the world of comedy for Nobbs.

DAVID NOBBS IN CONVERSATION WITH THE YORKSHIRE POST’S SHEENA HASTINGS

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Stephen Fry wrote: “Oh no! David Nobbs has died. I liked him very very much. Such a brilliant comic writer and such a kind, wise man.”

John Cleese described the Perrin shows as his “masterwork”.

He posted on Twitter: “Very sad today to hear of the death of David Nobbs. First worked with him on the Frost Report in 1966 ... a lovely kind, gentle man with a delicious sense of humour.

“He wrote many top-class shows and books.”

The Office creator Ricky Gervais, borrowing a catchphrase from Perrin’s tyrannical boss CJ, said: “I didn’t get where I am today by not knowing what a genius David Nobbs was. RIP.”

Little Britain star Matt Lucas wrote: “Reggie Perrin and A Bit Of A Do were masterpieces. David Nobbs leaves the world a richer place.”

Nobbs is survived by his wife, Susan, four stepchildren, eight step-grandchildren and two step-great-grandchildren.

He was patron of the British Humanist Association (BHA).

He explained in an interview with the Observer in 2010 how the death of his mother in 1995 helped persuade him to join the BHA.

“The most important thing that happened to me in the wake of my mother’s death wasn’t the strengthening of my feelings against religion. It was the strengthening of my feelings for disbelief,” he said.

“I didn’t lose faith. I gained faith. Faith in people. I am proud to describe myself as a humanist.”

BHA chief executive Andrew Copson said: “David Nobbs had a special talent and we were all honoured to have worked with him over his years as a patron of the BHA.

“He was a British humourist in the best tradition: strong characters, warm wit, great fun, and deep understanding of human frailty.”

Nobbs jokingly said that when he died the Daily Telegraph should use the headline Death Of Red Dave.

He was making a gag about being a trade union boss, having been honoured with the presidency of the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain.

It was a role he was rightly proud to have achieved, having been at the heart of British comedy since the 1960s.

Nobbs, born in Orpington, Kent, and educated at Marlborough College then Cambridge, first worked as a journalist at the Sheffield Star, later calling himself the “world’s worst newspaper reporter”.

Journalism’s loss was comedy’s gain and he got his big break writing for the hit satire show That Was the Week, That Was.

Work on the Two Ronnies followed - the Pisprununciation sketch being a favourite of many - as well as writing for funnymen Dick Emery, Ken Dodd, Tommy Cooper, Frankie Howerd and Les Dawson. He was a good friend of the comedy stalwart Barry Cryer.

Nobbs wrote more novels before creating the smash hit Reggie Perrin.

He was to say that the inspiration for the jaded, frustrated hero of the show came from being a schoolboy and watching businessmen catching the same train in the same clothes reading the same newspaper every day.

A further spark came from reading a magazine article about the launch of a new flavour of jam, later commenting: “It seemed so very, very boring for all the people involved.”

The BBC show Pebble Mill turned down his plays about a food executive losing his marbles, but he persisted, turning the idea into novels which were made into one of the 1970s most popular shows, starring Leonard Rossiter.

His characters, including the boorish CJ with his self-satisfied “I didn’t get where I am today without ...” catchphrase, became part of the national consciousness.

On his website, Nobbs recalled knowing he had a hit on his hands when he was staying in a Leeds hotel and saw three men waiting by the lifts.

He wrote: “One of them said, ‘I’m going up the stairs. I didn’t get where I am today by hanging around waiting for lifts’ and the other two said, ‘Great’ and ‘Super’.”

It made him feel like dancing, he said.

He remained amazed at the legacy of the show, and when someone faked their own death it was still referred to as “doing a Reggie Perrin”.

A Bit Of A Do, featuring two families, one posher than the other, at public events was another of his huge hits, commanding audiences of 15 million.

Nobbs also wrote the cult hit Fairly Secret Army, with Geoffrey Palmer in the lead, who was obsessed with lefties taking over Britain. His clipped delivery was much copied at the time.

Nobbs, who was twice married, with four step-children, lived in Harrogate. He was a patron of the British Humanist Association.