#!/opt/local/bin/perl
my $a = "Tick F***ing Tock";
my $b = "Friday night at 11:30pm the start of a new series, 'Tick F***ing Tock' explores...";

if ($b =~ /$a/)
{
  print "..do something..\n";
}

##</code><code>##

$ ./t.pl
Nested quantifiers in regex; marked by <-- HERE in m/Tick F** <-- HERE *ing Tock/ at ./t.pl line 5.

##</code><code>##

#!/opt/local/bin/perl
my $a = "Tick F***ing Tock";
my $b = "Friday night at 11:30pm the start of a new series, 'Tick F***ing Tock' explores...";

$a =~ s/([\(\)\[\]\{\}\\\*\?\.\$\^\@\!\&])/\\$1/g;

if ($b =~ /$a/)
{
  print "..do something..\n";
}

##</code><code>##

$ ./t.pl
..do something..