Adapted by Eric Chappell from his own stage play The Banana Box, Rising Damp is a classic ITV sitcom that aired from 1974 to 1978. The series is dominated by the mesmerising performance of Leonard Rossiter as Rupert Rigsby, the seedy, prejudiced, and stingy landlord of a dilapidated Victorian townhouse in Yorkshire. Rigsby is a man out of time—clinging to fading delusions of grandeur while prying into the lives of his tenants: the sophisticated university administrator Ruth Jones (Frances de la Tour), whom Rigsby relentlessly and clumsily pursues; the medical student Alan (Richard Beckinsale); and Philip (Don Warrington), the son of an African chief who delights in mocking Rigsby’s ignorance with impeccable charm. The show is celebrated for its tight script and the electrifying chemistry between the cast, particularly the verbal sparring matches that exposed Rigsby’s bigotry and loneliness.
