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"Rising Damp" (1974)

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16 out of 16 people found the following comment useful :-
The likable bigot from the 1970's!,, 6. Juli 2006

Author: Graham Watson von Gibraltar

Rigsby was the third of the golden trio of bigots on British TV sit coms in the 70's, the others of course being Alf Garnet and Eddie Booth. Alf Garnet was an obnoxious and overbearing loud-mouth who never knew when to shut up ( he mellowed a bit by the 1980's in the revamped IN SICKNESS AND IN HEALTH). LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR was a comedy centered at all times on blatant "in your face" racial goading as well as infantile boorish insults that even back then was tiresome .

I can't say this about RISING DAMP or the main character Rigsby. Sure racial remarks were part and parcel of Rigsbys repertoire.For example in one episode you only had to look at the expression on Rigsbys face to see what he was thinking when Philip said he did not like the color of an ashened face sick tenant, or the episode when Rigsby mocked hunger and poverty in Africa!

However, by contrast with RISING DAMP you could also laugh at Rigsbys Scrooge like and eccentric behavior over money and his shortcomings when dealing with women; i.e his narcissistic obsession over Miss Jones is point in case. No matter how hard he worked he couldn't get this man hungry spinster to take an interest in him! In addition his pre WWII upbringing and social values were often at odds with the social changes in 1970's, i.e long haired students living on a grant. Also his insensitivity and impatience towards his tenants and their problems provided an extra dimension of comedy.

In one episode he was trying to reason with a suicidal tenant to come down off his roof rather than jump then asked him while up there if he could straighten the TV aerial to improve the reception. This was a real party piece that had a Tony Hancock style of incompetence to it rather than it being mean spirited.

He was not well educated but he was likable and despite obvious flaws in his character, when forced to, often displayed loyalty towards Alan and Philip despite there different values. For example in the episode PERMISSIVE SOCIETY he stood up and confronted an irate father of one of Alans girl friend's also, in the episode NIGHT OUT he stood no nonsense and made a fool of the waiter and insulted the owner.

Lastly, women were not spared Rigsbys rudeness, the episode WINE AND ROSES he runs into an old battle-axe who he mistakingly thinks is his blind date. "I've never been so insulted in all my life" she barks, "well you should try to go out more often!" Rigsby snaps -- utterly hilarious. I.e. he spread his ignorance and rudeness evenly across class and gender boundaries! Politically incorrect? Of course, what isn't nowadays, yet, certainly watchable today which I can't say for TILL DEATH AS DO PART or LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR.

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11 out of 12 people found the following comment useful :-
I.T.V.'s Best-Ever Sitcom, 11. August 2006

Author: ProfessorStahlman von United Kingdom

'Rising Damp' was recently repeated on I.T.V.-1 in an afternoon slot, and some chump wrote an angry letter to 'Teletext', claiming that the show 'was axed due to its racist content'. Nobody bothered to correct him. 'Rising Damp' ran for four successful seasons in the '70's, only coming to an end because it had reached the end of its natural life. Yes, 'Rigsby' is ignorant when it comes to foreign cultures, but a racist? I think not. If he were, he'd never have tolerated Philip in his house, son of a chieftain or not. Besides, the complainant seems to have overlooked Frances De La Tour's wonderfully prissy 'Ruth', Don Warrington as the clever and charming Phillip, the late Richard Beckinsale as naive medical student 'Alan' and, of course, the magnificent, much-missed Leonard Rossiter as the seedy landlord 'Rigsby'. This superb cast, combined with the fabulous scripts by Eric Chappell, made 'Rising Damp' a classic, one that has not diminished with age. I pity those unable to appreciate its greatness.

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11 out of 15 people found the following comment useful :-
wonderful, 24. Februar 2005
Author: didi-5 von United Kingdom

'Rising Damp' is shown pretty regularly on TV all these years after production ceased on the series, which must be a testament to its staying power.

Set in a grimy house where landlord Rigsby and his tenants (the refined Miss Jones, object of his affections; Alan, a long-haired student of medicine who never seemed to do anything useful; and Philip, a black man of tribal descent, possibly ...) rubbed along together week by week, with new lodgers coming and going, and Rigsby continuing his relentless pursuit of Miss Jones, 'Rising Damp' was pretty much perfect.

Not dated at all when viewed recently, these are genuinely comic characters (especially the excellent performance of the peerless Leonard Rossiter as Rigsby) in amusing situations. Rather like Rigsby's cat, Vienna, we sit back and watch with interest as events unfold and entertain us.

I loved it. Laurels all round (Frances de La Tour, who is an accomplished dramatic actress on stage aside from her comedy work here, as Miss Jones; Don Warrington, still around and not looking much older, as Philip; and lovely Richard Beckinsale, who sadly died in his early thirties at the end of the 1970s, as Alan) and long may the brown door and that tinkly pub piano theme grace our screens.

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2 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
Classic, 2. Dezember 2007

Author: Simon Rodgers von Birmingham, United Kingdom

This was a brilliant sitcom and it is still regarded as one of the best shows of all time. I still wonder why to this day they can not come up with something as good and tasteful as this over 20 years later as most (but thankfully not all) modern comedy relies on poor taste and toilet humour.

Rossiter was definitely a fine actor and no-one else could have played Rigsby quite like he could so it was a very good job they got hold of him before he died, his death in 1984 just shows that people can never be fully prepared for such things, this point is proved even more so with Richard Beckinsale's death in 1979, only a year after the whole series finished.

It was a great shame he never appeared in series 4, but I guess he had other commitment and so he just had to honour them like any good man would.

Great script writing by Eric Chappel however I found Only When I Laugh was a little lame.

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2 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
Rising Tension., 14. Mai 2007

Author: Howlin Wolf von Oldham, Gtr Manchester, England.

This is what sometimes happens when you're a student and you've only got enough money to live in a dingy hovel... you get a landlord like Rigsby. What few standards he has are outdated, so sensitive lads with long hair and intelligent young black men are almost too much to take. Leonard Rossiter's portrayal of a character who could easily be completely beyond redemption is absolutely pitch-perfect. The more episodes you watch, the more you find yourself becoming strangely endeared to his mannerisms and tics, despite the fact that his attitude makes him a thoroughly unpleasant man. Aside from superb comic timing, Rossiter was also a master of the pratfall, so some of the most memorable sequences owe a lot to slapstick (I'm thinking particularly of the arranged boxing match.)

It isn't quite a one man show though. All of the supporting parts were perfectly cast, so even when someone like Don Warrington pops up in more modern fare such as "Red Dwarf", he's still likely to be instantly associated with playing "Phillip" in "Rising Damp". I can't think of a bad episode in the bunch that I've seen. All of the scripts are so polished that they gleam, and this combined with the acting talent is what makes the show stick in the memory as the loved favourite it is.

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1 out of 1 people found the following comment useful :-
A truly great sitcom, 27. Februar 2007

Author: jsouth-3 von United Kingdom

Looking back now it is clear that most of the great comedies of the 1970s were made by the BBC. The commercial ITV network often had hit shows but few seem to have stood the test of time. In addition its nature as a patchwork of different companies perhaps made it difficult for comedies to grow and find an audience. Rising Damp is an exception to this; a comedy made by one of the ITV comedies that approached moments of pure genius and is just as funny now as when it was made.

A top rate cast worked well together to create characters that are funny and believable. In addition top quality scripts make every episode a gem.

A later film version simply did not work and should be avoided.

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1 out of 1 people found the following comment useful :-
MAGNIFICENT! The comedy classic of the seventies!, 17. Februar 2007

Author: richardclarke13 von Birmingham

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Make no mistake Rising Damp is the best t.v comedy of the 70's and of all-time! The programme revolves around the most lecherous, cantankerous, nasty, racist, rude mannered person you are ever likely to see on British television. Yet despite all this it's hard not to feel sorry for landlord Rupert Rigsby (played to perfection by the late Leonard Rossiter) as you certainly get the feeling that he is a victim a circumstance and this leads to his sometimes tactless approach to life.

Rigsby was very much in love with Miss Jones (one of his tenants) and this led to some of the show's most hilarious scenes with him trying and failing miserably to get her attention romantically. Thankfully the scriptwriters didn't go the same way that most most forthcoming American t.v shows would go with the two leads eventually getting together after many mishaps (Moonlighting, 6 Million dollar man and Lois and Clark to name but few) as this would have done to rising damp what it did to them (effectively killed them off).

Another key part of the programme was the relationship between Phillip (Don Warrington playing a fellow tenant at rigsby's flat) and rigsby. Phillip used to flirt like mad with Miss Jones (mainly to annoy Rigsby) and miss Jones adored Phillip whilst Rigsby was always left being sidelined but still defiant and trying everything in his power to come between them. Also living in rigsby's place of residence Was Alan (played superbly by the late Richard Beckinsale who died far too young) who was a student with many opposing views to rigsby's. This led to many great comedic arguments (mainly about the permissive society) between them and created some of the programme's greatest moments (and there were many). A semi-regular character was next door neighbour Spooner an ex-army boxer who also from time to time would but rigsby in his place. All in all this is a fantastic ensemble comedy with marvellous spot on performances from the main leads and is a comedy that should be treasured for years to come.

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Classic comedy of the 70's, 2. Juli 2008

Author: naseby (naseby@lycos.co.uk) von London, England

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

This deservedly rates as ten-out-ten. Sure, it only ran for 27 episodes, but when you mention this to anyone, they can't believe it only ran for that amount - that's a sure sign that in its short run over four years it had the desired impact. Leonard Rossiter was at the top of his game in this/the '70's. Miserly landlord Rigsby (Rossiter) is always at odds with his regular tenants, Alan (Beckinsale), Phillip (Warrington)and Miss(Ruth)Jones (Frances De La Tour). Phillip, being a black African chief especially incurred Rigsby's bigoted racist wrath. Strangely, Phillip's African chief was exposed as a sham in the film version. (Which it has to be said, included scripts from the series and wasn't too good, especially with another character filling the void for the late Beckinsale). Wherever there's debate, or another new tenant to either criticise, or get on the good side of, it created a classic comedy situation. Rigsby constantly tried to bed the unimpressed Miss Jones (as he always called her), who, ironically for him, was sex-starved and seeking attention. The excellent Henry McGhee played a suave, posh 'conman' tenant named 'Seymour' in one episode, whom Rigsby played up to but fell foul of. (So much so, that although McGhee was already a stalwart from 'The Benny hill Show', he mentioned that more people called out to him in the street "Hey, Seymour!" remembering his role in 'RD'). Rigsby's selfish, bigoted attitude provided some great slanging matches between him and the regular tenants. Temporarily with Ms De La Tour's departure for a few episodes, Canadian actress Gay Rose provided the younger character, Brenda for us all. Although pretty non-descript and not a replacement, she still held her own against Rigsby, whilst finally making Alan come out of his shell with the opposite sex. Richard Beckinsale was absent for one series, but it still made its mark. (A popular comedy actor, he was starring in the excellent 'Porridge' prison comedy in the '70's as well). Everyone has a favourite episode, but while they may have a least favourite, that and others are still great in their own right. Writer, Eric Chappell excelled with this comedy and although he had other successes, this has to be his finest. It has to be said that the PC brigade have got their teeth in to the series when repeated (cut), which misses the point, however offensive to some, to display Rigsby's right-wing and bigoted views and to have him brought down to earth. A good episode which demonstrates this, to check out, is 'Food Glorious Food', on the subject of poverty, charity, race - perfect fodder for Rigsby's ranting! I just had to buy the DVD box set of this, and so should any situation comedy fan.

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''Ohh Miss Jones'', 17. März 2008

Author: DeathmarkVIII von United Kingdom

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

When I was a little boy, 'Rising Damp' was always on the TV, my mum absolutely loved it, as a youngster I did'nt see what was so funny about it, as an adult I now appreciate what a fantastic sitcom 'Rising Damp' really is. Leonard Rossiter plays landlord Rupert Rigsby, he is an old miser and is constantly getting up the noses of his tenants, immature medical student Alan {the late great Richard Beckinsale}, mature student Phillip {Don Warrington} who, pause for sharp intake of breath, is black, the third tenant is the lovelorn Miss Ruth Jones {Frances De La Tour}, whom Rigsby carries a torch for.

'Rising Damp' is an excellent sitcom and still racks up huge ratings on repeat screenings', however the show became a little disappointing due to the departure of Richard Beckinsale after series three. 'Rising Damp' also spawned a feature film in 1980 but left fans bitterly disappointed.

Best Episode: Stage Struck, Series 3 Episode 2.

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2 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
A Masterpiece, 19. Oktober 2006

Author: Jack Massey von Manchester

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Rising Damp worked for two reasons. Excellent scripts from Eric Chappel and excellent acting from Leanord Rossiter, Don Warrington, Frances De la Tour and Richard Beckinsale.

It is about tight landlord Rigsby, who's tenants consist of the long haired Alan and Miss Jones who Rigsby fancies. Then Miss Jones asks Rigsby if a students called Phillip Smith can move in to the spare room, Rigsby excepts. Mr Smith comes to the house, and Rigsby is shocked to see that he is black. Phillip ends up sharing a room with Alan and Rigsby was always popping up in their rooms making fun out of them, Alan because he had long hair and Phillip because of his background. He is also very curious about West Indian ways, i.e. they can have more than one wife, Phillip has ten. Phillip's intelligence is much higher than Rigsby's as well.

One of ITV's finest, On the Buses is the best from ITV, Two in Clover my second but Rising Damp comes in at a very good third. Rigsby wasn't a racist, he wasn't like Alf Garnett or Eddie Booth, he was prejudice, he didn't like anyone, except Miss Jones of course and the worse the racism got was "He's probably never had a pair of shoes on till he came here". It could have got into a name calling situation, but Chappel was intelligent enough not to do that. This was so much better than "Love Thy Neighbour" as Phillip has so much more intelligence than Rigsby, but in LTN, Bill was just as stupid and racist as Eddie.

Best Episode: Series 1, episode 5: A Night Out: In one of the two episodes where they leave the house, they all go out to a restaurant to celebrate Miss Jones' birthday, to a posh restaurant called "The Grange", but will Rigsby be able not to embarrass them..............

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