Rising Damp is a Yorkshire Television sitcom written by Eric Chappell, based on his play The Banana Box.
It is set in a run-down boarding house owned by Rupert Rigsby (Leonard Rossiter), who lets out rooms to naive medical student Alan (Richard Beckinsale) and spinster Ruth Jones (Frances de la Tour), who Rigsby has fallen for. Tension arises when new tenant Philip (Don Warrington) arrives, a black student. He is a sophisticated, intelligent young man, essentially everything Rigsby wants to be but is not, and also attracts the attention of Miss Jones. Although Rigsby shows some racial prejudice to him, Philip is warily accepted. Hilarity Ensues as Rigsby attempts to raise his social status.
The series ran from 1974 to 1978, followed by a film version in 1980, which reused several scripts from the series.
It came 27th in Britain's Best Sitcom, the highest of any ITV sitcom.
This series contains examples of the following tropes:
- The Ace: Philip.
- Adaptational Name Change: Rigsby was named Rooksby in the stage play. This was changed after complaints from a real landlord named Rooksby who was concerned tenants would think the character was based on him.
- Awful Wedded Life: Rigsby has nothing positive at all to say about his marriage to his long-estranged wife, Veronica.
- Bottle Episode: Actually a Bottle Series. Every episode takes place entirely inside Rigsby's house, except the third episode of series 1 and the fourth episode of series 4.
- Boxing Episode: "A Body Like Mine".
- British Brevity: Only four series and 28 episodes, plus The Film of the Series.
- Camp Straight: Hilary, the playwright in "Stage Struck".
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Alan disappears before the last series, with no explanation given for his absence. It is acknowledged briefly in the second episode, however.
- Brenda also gets no explanation for her disappearance after Series 2.
- Con Man: Seymour in "A Perfect Gentleman".
- Early-Installment Weirdness: The first series has a fourth tenant, professional wrestler Spooner (played in two episodes by Derek Newark, and mentioned frequently in others). He disappears after this and the later series have a succession of temporary tenants in many episodes.
- Fake Relationship: Rigsby gets Miss Jones to pretend to be his wife when it turns out he can only receive an inheritance if he is happily married.
- Fauxreigner: Philip is a Londoner, but tells Rigsby he is an African prince and spins yarns about his life in Africa, so he can laugh at Rigsby's gullibility and casual racism.
- Love Triangle: Rigsby professes to be in love with Miss Jones (although the attraction is mostly sexual). She rejects him because he is still married to his estranged wife and prefers Philip, who does not reciprocate. When Rigsby gets a divorce in the final episode, Miss Jones agrees to marry him, though this seems to be only as she gets no other male attention. She doesn't go through with the wedding.
- Pet the Dog: Rigsby usually is unsympathetic to his tenants' problems, but on one occasion when Alan's girlfriend's father arrives and threatens him, Rigsby defends Alan.
- Put on a Bus: Miss Jones leaves halfway through series 2. She returns for series 3.
- Temporary Substitute: Brenda for Miss Jones in the second half of series 2.
- Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist: Rigsby, of the highest order. He is prejudiced about everything and anything, miserly, interfering and has an absurd amount of self-regard. Most of the comedy comes from watching him be humiliated at everything he tries.
