Rising Damp was a UK television sitcom produced by Yorkshire Television for ITV, first broadcast from 1974 to 1978. It was adapted by its writer Eric Chappell from a well-received stage play, The Banana Box (retained as the working title early in the series^[1]). A sitcom or situation comedy is a genre of comedy performance originally devised for radio but today typically found on television. ... Yorkshire Television Limited is the ITV contractor for Yorkshire, England, and the surrounding areas. ... Independent Television (ITV) is the name given to the original network of British commercial television broadcasters, set up to provide competition to the BBC. In England and Wales the channel was recently rebranded ITV1 by ITV plc who own the regional broadcasting licences for the regions. ... 1974 is a common year starting on Tuesday (click on link for calendar). ... 1978 was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1978 calendar). ... Eric Chappell, born in Grantham in 1933, wrote or co-wrote a number of the UKs biggest sitcom hits during the 1970s, 80s and 90s. ...

It starred Leonard Rossiter, Frances de la Tour and Richard Beckinsale. Rossiter played Rigsby (originally Rooksby in the stage play), a miserly, seedy landlord of a run-down town house who rented rooms out. Beckinsale played Alan, a long-haired, naive medical student who occupied the top room; and de la Tour was Miss Ruth Jones, a fey, whimsical spinster who rented a ground floor room and with whom Rigsby was in love. Leonard Rossiter (October 21st 1926 - October 5th 1984) was an English actor, most widely known for his comedy roles in two British television series in the 1970s and 80s. ... Frances de la Tour (born July 30, 1944) is a British actress best known for her role in the 1970s British sitcom, Rising Damp, and renowned for her critically acclaimed stage performances. ... Richard Beckinsale (July 6, 1947 - March 19, 1979) was a British actor, most famous for his role as Lennie Godber in the popular BBC sitcom Porridge. ... A landlord is the owner of a house, apartment, condominium, or land which is rented or leased to an individual or business, who is called the tenant. ... Minge. ... Students attending a lecture at the Helsinki University of Technology Etymologically derived through Middle English from the Latin second-type conjugation verb stŭdērĕ, which means to direct ones zeal at; hence a student is one who directs zeal at a subject. ...

Early in the series, a new tenant moved in. He was Philip Smith, played by Don 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, who had been unaware that his new tenant was black because of the upper class English accent with which he spoke in telephone conversations. Nevertheless, the landlord soon accepted his new tenant and was later only 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 stage play. A tenant (from the Latin tenere, to hold), in legal contexts, holds real property by some form of title from a landlord. ... Don Warrington is an actor, originally from Trinidad, who has been a familiar face on British television and stage for thirty years. ... Received Pronunciation (RP) is a form of pronunciation of the English language, sometimes defined as the educated spoken English of southeastern England. It is the accent of English English most often taught to non-native speakers, and represented in the pronunciation schemes of most British dictionaries. ... Actors in period costume sharing a joke whilst waiting between takes during location filming. ...

Other tenants occasionally lived at the house but never became permanent residents; often they would appear in just one episode.

The series was the highest-ranking ITV sitcom on the 100 Best Sitcoms poll run in 2004 by the BBC, and Rigsby is considered one of British comedy's great characters. 2004(MMIV) is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Corporate logo of the British Broadcasting Corporation The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is the national broadcaster of the United Kingdom. ...

Beckinsale left the series in 1977 due to theatre commitments, and was 'replaced' by occasional other tenants. A feature film was made in 1980, consisting of a messy plot which recycled scripts from the series and a certain amount of viewer (and actor) discomfort because Beckinsale's early death the year before had left a sizeable gap. His place, though not his actual character, was taken by actor Christopher Strauli. The film's theme song is not especially memorable, but does feature lyrics by Chappell. Released as a 7" single, it featured dialogue between Rigsby and Miss Jones on the B-side. 1977 was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1977 calendar). ... 1980 is a leap year starting on Tuesday. ...

In the movie, Philip is revealed not to be a chief's son after all, and to be from Croydon rather than Africa.

As of 2005 the series is still frequently repeated on UK terrestrial and satellite channels (though sometimes with noticeable cuts) and the complete series has been released on Region 2 DVD. Unfortunately for fans, many 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 crudely edited out of the broadcast version when it is repeated. 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... DVD is an optical disc storage media format that can be used for data storage, including movies with high video and sound quality. ... Wiping or junking is an economic move by television companies in which old videotapes and telerecordings were wiped (deleted) and reused or were destroyed. ... Baron Thomas Pendry, PC (born on June 10, 1934) is a Labour member of the House of Lords. ...

External links

• BBC Comedy Guide to Rising Damp
• Rigsby Online - a guide to the series
• Encyclopedia of Television
• British Film Institute Screen Online