Rising Damp

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For the eponymous condition affecting structures, see rising damp (structural).

Rising Damp
Main cast of Rising Damp (l-r) Frances de la Tour, Leonard Rossiter, Richard Beckinsale, Don Warrington.
Format	Sitcom
Created by	Eric Chappell
Starring	Leonard Rossiter, Frances de la Tour, Richard Beckinsale, Don Warrington
Country of origin	United Kingdom
No. of episodes	28 (List of episodes)
Production
Producer(s)	Yorkshire Television (ITV Productions)
Running time	30 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	ITV
Original run	September 2, 1974 – 1978
External links
IMDb profile

This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this article if you can. (November 2007)

Rising Damp was a UK television sitcom produced by Yorkshire Television for ITV, first broadcast from 1974 to 1978. It was adapted for television by Eric Chappell^[1] from his well-received 1971 stage play, The Banana Box (retained as the working title early in the series^[2]). The series was the highest-ranking ITV sitcom on the 100 Best Sitcoms poll run in 2004 by the BBC^[3].

Contents 1 Basic premise 2 Film 3 Re-runs & DVD 4 Meaning of the title 5 DVD Releases 6 Miscellaneous 7 See also 8 References 9 External links

[edit] Basic premise

Rising Damp starred Leonard Rossiter, Frances de la Tour, Richard Beckinsale and Don Warrington.^[4] Rossiter played Rupert Rigsby (originally Rooksby in the stage play), a miserly, seedy landlord of a run-down town house who rented rooms out. Beckinsale played Alan George Moore, a long-haired, naive medical student who occupied the top room; and de la Tour was Miss Ruth Jones, a fey, whimsical spinster and college administrator who rented another room, with whom Rigsby was in love and to whom Rigsby proposed in the last episode.

In the pilot episode, a new tenant moved in. He was a country planning student called Philip Smith, played by Warrington, who claimed to be the son of an African Chief. As a black man, he brought out the fears and suspicions of the bigoted Rigsby. The landlord soon accepted his new tenant and was later wary of him because Miss Jones was attracted to him. Of these four principal actors, only Beckinsale was a new recruit - the others had all played their roles in the original stage play.

Other tenants occasionally lived at the house but never became permanent residents; often they would appear in just one episode. The series is in the British comedy tradition of having failure as a key underlying theme, each of the characters having lives of quiet desperation.

Frances de la Tour temporarily left the series in 1975 due to theatre commitments, and was 'replaced' by occasional other tenants. She returned for the final two series.

[edit] Film

A feature film was made in 1980, but due to the death of Richard Beckinsale the year before, his role, though not his actual character, was taken by actor Christopher Strauli. The film's theme song features lyrics by series creator Eric Chappell and was released as a 7" single. The B-side features comedy dialogue between characters Rigsby and Miss Jones.

In the movie, Philip is revealed not to be a chief's son after all, and to be from Croydon rather than Africa, adopting his false persona in order to start a new life and gain some respect. When Rigsby finds out, he refuses to believe Philip doesn't come from Africa and continues to pretend he does.

[edit] Re-runs & DVD

As of 2007 the series is still frequently repeated on UK terrestrial and satellite channels (though sometimes with noticeable cuts^{[citation needed]}, possibly due to some of the material being perceived as racist) and the complete series has been released on Region 2 DVD and Acorn Media is releasing it on region 1 DVD in North America as well (see below).

Unfortunately for fans, many of the TV episodes only exist in the form of copies with grainy pictures and badly distorted sound, the original master tapes apparently having been wiped. Labour MP Tom Pendry also won a libel action against the programme when it portrayed a Labour candidate with the same surname in an unflattering light; his name is edited out of the broadcast version when it is repeated.

[edit] Meaning of the title

Main article: rising damp (structural)

Rising damp is a condition caused by ground moisture rising up a masonry wall by capilliary action. It often occurs where there is no damp-proof course (DPC) or where the DPC has been damaged or bridged. Older houses, such as depicted in the show, were built without damp-proof courses or with a barrier material that is liable to failure.

In the temperate/wet British climate, water infiltration into a house can be a problem, particularly in houses without a cellar or crawl space beneath them. The result of water penetrating the inner wall is visible as a darker patch on the plaster lining of the inner wall, usually starting at floor level on the ground floor and rising up from there, hence the term. In extreme cases, salt leached out of the wall forms crystals on the surface of the plaster as the water evaporates. Needless to say, the appearance of rising damp everywhere in a house is a symptom of neglect, age, decrepitude etc.

[edit] DVD Releases

DVD Title	Country of Release	Region	Date of Release	DVD company	Catalog Number	Notes
All DVD releases are single disc, unless otherwise indicated.
Rising Damp - The Complete First Series	United Kingdom	2	May 7, 2001	Granada Media
The Very Best of Rising Damp	United Kingdom	2	September 16, 2002	Cinema Club		Compilation Release
Rising Damp - The Movie	Australia	0	February 17, 2003	Umbrella
Rising Damp - The Works	United Kingdom	2	June 14, 2004	Cinema Club		4-disc set of series 1-4; Missing christmas episode.
Rising Damp - The Movie	United Kingdom	2	November 19, 2004	ITV DVD
Rising Damp - The Complete TV Series PLUS the Movie	United Kingdom	2	November 21, 2005	ITV DVD	37115 20253	5-disc set of the complete series (including christmas episode) plus the movie[2]
Rising Damp - Series 1	United States	1	January 10, 2006	Acorn Media
Rising Damp - Series 2	United States	1	June 6, 2006	Acorn Media
Rising Damp - Series 3	United States	1	January 16, 2007	Acorn Media
Rising Damp - Series 4	United States	1	July 17, 2007	Acorn Media
Rising Damp - The Movie	United States	1	January 15, 2008	Acorn Media

^ This includes includes the film version, since Carlton had acquired the rights to the film, and through the mergers of the various ITV companies Granada Television subsequently acquired the rights to both the Carlton and Yorkshire Television archives.

[edit] Miscellaneous

• Rigsby’s cat is named Vienna. The name comes about (as Rigsby informs us) from when he goes to put the cat out on a cold, dark winter's evening - if there is another set of eyes out there then it's Goodnight Vienna.

• Rigsby's first name is Rupert, which is revealed in the film and in one episode where Rigsby's estranged wife turns up after hearing that he is to inherit his uncle's estate.

• Eric Chappell defended Rigsby by saying he "was not a racist or a bigot, but he was prejudiced and suspicious of strangers. But he accepted Philip, and his only concern afterwards was that he didn't get a legover with Miss Jones."

• Richard Beckinsale was not in the fourth series.

• There are twenty eight episodes in total (this includes the pilot).

• In 2007 Peter Serafinowicz did an impression of Ralph Fiennes in the guise of Rigsby.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] See also

• List of films based on British sitcoms

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Comedy Guide - Rising Damp at bbc.co.uk
• Rigsby Online - A guide to the series
• Encyclopedia of Television
• British Film Institute Screen Online
• Cast and series credits
• Rising Damp at the Internet Movie Database
• Rising Damp at TV.com