"Rising Damp" (1974) TV series 1974-1978

Director:

Vernon Lawrence

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4

Release Date:

2 September 1974 (UK)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

Popular sitcom set in a seedy bedsit lorded over by the mean, vain, boastful, cowardly landlord Rigsby...

Plot Keywords:

Sitcom | Landlord | Bachelor | Roommate | Racist

Awards:

1 win & 3 nominations

Cast

Leonard Rossiter	...	Rupert Rigsby / ... (28 episodes, 1974-1978)
Don Warrington	...	Philip Smith / ... (28 episodes, 1974-1978)
Frances de la Tour	...	Miss Ruth Jones / ... (24 episodes, 1974-1978)
Richard Beckinsale	...	Alan Moore / ... (22 episodes, 1974-1977)

Runtime:

30 min (27 episodes)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

UK:PG | Australia:PG | Singapore:PG

Company:

Yorkshire Television (YTV)

Trivia:

The series was recorded entirely in the Yorkshire Television studios, in front of an audience, and featured no scenes on location.

Quotes:

Rupert Rigsby: [Describing the state of the nation] This country gets more like the boiler room of the Titanic every day. Confused orders from the bridge, water sloshing around our ankles. The only difference is they had a band.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Comedy Connections: To the Manor Born (#4.5)" (2006)

Classic Seventies comedy

There is an annoying tendency among certain people, especially in my country, to gain some sort of smug satisfaction from being able to say "Oh, I love British humour" as if this somehow gives them an air of intelligence and satisfaction. Now, while I have yet to see an American sitcom that matches the subtlety and sly humour of "Yes, Minister", or the sheer inventiveness of "The fast show", in the same breath brilliant American comedies like "MASH" and "Seinfeld" could simply not have been made in England.

The aforegoing paragraph could easily have served as an introduction to a review of a truly abysmal British comedy like "Absolutely fabulous" as a means of illustrating my point, or even for a review of a silly comedy like "The Goodies" to lend credence to my contention that not all British humour is sophisticated. However, I have instead decided on a classic comedy of the Seventies, "Rising damp".

The shows two stars, Leonard Rossiter and Richard Beckinsale are both deceased, the latter at a tragically young age. Rossiter is Rupert Rigsby (as far as I know his first name was only mentioned in the disappointing 1980 film version), the tightfisted and mean spirited owner of a lodging house. Beckinsale is Alan, a student boarder. The other cast members were Don Warrington and Frances de la Tour. de la Tour is Ruth Jones, an unhappy spinster with whom Rigsby is in lust, and Warrington is Philip, an African student lusted after in turn by Miss Jones.

Most of the show's humour was derived by the witty and often biting dialogue, and kudos must go to the series' scriptwriters.

Sadly, in keeping with British tradition only 27 episodes were ever made, despite the show running for years. Those 27 episodes, however, must be savoured.