The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer (1970): Cast & Plot

The mysterious Michael Rimmer, played by Peter Cook, appears at a small and ailing British advertising agency, where the staff initially assume he is there to run a routine time-and-motion study. Yet he quickly asserts de facto authority over the firm’s largely ineffective crew, and the incompetent boss Ferret (Arthur Lowe) is soon eclipsed as Rimmer seizes control. With a keen eye for leverage and a knack for reading people, he begins reshaping the operation, transforming it into a nimble, profitable machine even as the other staff watch in a mix of disbelief and awe. The once-stodgy agency gains a new edge, and Rimmer’s presence begins to feel less like a management shake-up and more like the birth of something ruthless and deliberate.