Rising Damp

[Simon Bermuda]

This was back around 1978, in my local electrical shop ...



Amid the wood-effect, pushbutton Ferguson and ITT televisions, pride of place was given over to the latest miracle of video recording technology, the Betamax VCR. This huge, clunky, piano-keyed colossus cost something like £800. Hooked up to a Trinitron TV, it was playing a short promo video in which none other than Leonard Rossiter, in character as Rigsby, was demonstrating a Betamax machine to his impressed tenants. (Can't remember for certain whether Richard Beckinsale, Don Warrington and Frances De La Tour were all present and correct, but I'm pretty sure at least two of them were.)



Don't suppose anyone else has any memory of this?

[Rob Compton]

Don't recall that, Simon, but that year was when I bought my first VCR, the piano key Ferguson. I'm pretty sure it cost around £600, and E180 tapes were.....hold on to your hats....£12.99 each,,


rgds

Rob

[Sleepin_Dragon]

Can someone help, i bought the Rising Damp boxset and watched it in sequence very quickly, comedy gold. I remember seeing an episode many years ago with a very attractive black girl and Rigsby looking a complete idiot with Tesco jokes, can someone enlighten me as to what episode this was as theres no trace on the dvds, thanks :-P

[marty]

It's possibly 'For the man who has everything'



There's a page here with some screenshots and a synopsis:



LeonardRossiter.com: Rising Damp - Episode Guide: Christmas Special

[atomheartmuvva]

just watched the whole series again and also the film

what i never realised before is the film seems to be made up of snippets of gags from each episode or the majority of episodes

[Dandelion]

Yes, and that's what spoils it for me. That plus the absence of the full cast.

[thealbertross]

yes they just cut bits out of charisma, abody like min, and many other smake a film out of.



Richard beckinsale is out of it, which is another downer.



rising damp forum - Rising Damp

[Fletchy]

The setting of the film is also quite different, and I don't think the cast deliver the lines as well as in the series.

[samper]

One film cannot spoil the series. What a wonderful series it was.

[DB7]

This is going to be heresy but I always found Rising Damp mildly-amusing rather than funny and the plots often telegraphed in the opening minutes.

[EHV_Emmetts]

It was originally broadcast over 30 years ago and it remains the last successful comedy series to emanate from ITV.

[CaptainWaggett]

It was originally broadcast over 30 years ago and it remains the last successful comedy series to emanate from ITV.

Succesful artistically or commercially? Watching ran for 7 seasons and regularly got audiences of more than 15 million. I've never seen it but then I loathed Rising Damp so I can't make any comparison quality-wise. I assume The Upper Hand was similarly successful (at least, it went on long enough!)

[dremble wedge]

Hot Metal, The New Statesman and Whoops Apocalypse were pretty good.

[GRAEME]

It was originally broadcast over 30 years ago and it remains the last successful comedy series to emanate from ITV.

Er... Shelley?

[cornershop15]

'Shelley' was something I really enjoyed when young and Hywel Bennett was surprisingly good as a comedy actor. This was where I first noticed Josephine Tewson, who was in fact Leonard Rossiter's wife once upon a time. Dimly remember Warren Clarke being in it.



Another success at the time was the wonderful 'Only When I Laugh', which like 'Rising Damp', was also written by Eric Chappell. That would explain Christopher Strauli's appearance in the film version of the latter. I never saw 'Duty Free' originally but became more aware of it on Granada Plus and the recent ITV tribute and think I could like it. Both these shows look as if the cast had a good time and were well-chosen, again like 'Rising Damp'. True ensemble acting. Since then, for some reason, sitcoms have gradually looked weaker with each passing year.



I keep trying to think why. Political correctness? Overtly sexual dialogue and behaviour replacing double-entendres and chaste relationships (compare 'Men Behaving Badly' to 'Man About The House')? I've even wondered whether the British have lost their REAL sense of humour and fun and replaced it with a more cynical and bitter way of getting a laugh out of things.



Apart from Ricky Gervais' David Brent we don't seem to have characters to laugh at the way we did with Rigsby, Blakey and Alf and so contempt of celebrities and personal humiliation have taken over. Does any of that make sense? Something's definitely changed since the 'Golden Days' of sitcoms. Now they all seem to be for an acquired taste.

[Dandelion]

Er... Shelley?

I don't know about Shelley being that popular, but one sitcom that was hugely succesful (audience ratings in millions) and that was Duty Free

[DB7]

'Shelley' was something I really enjoyed when young and Hywel Bennett was surprisingly good as a comedy actor. This was where I first noticed Josephine Tewson, who was in fact Leonard Rossiter's wife once upon a time. Dimly remember Warren Clarke being in it.

I recall watching Shelley when it was originally broadcast and enjoyed it immensely but I've never seen the subsequent satellite repeats so maybe it's something I should reacquaint myself with.



I'd imagine people see Rising Damp as the last 'classic' ITV comedy as it often appears in 'Best..." polls.



My problem with ITV comedies has always been the advert/s that slice the show apart. It's ok with soaps as they often have multiple threads running over weeks and it's easy to pick up the storyline again.

[Dandelion]

I think on their original broadcast there would have been one ad break, pretty much half way through.



On satellite repeats there are usually two ad breaks, the first coming after what seems like only 5 minutes.



And on longer programmes like the Saint, Champions etc, they never use the 'natural' breaks which were programmed into the shows by fading out to a dark screen.

[cornershop15]

My problem with ITV comedies has always been the advert/s that slice the show apart.

That's a good point. Maybe that's why 'Porridge'and'Fawlty Towers' seem superior. The momentum might be lost for ITV sitcoms and they only last about 25 minutes, compared to the BBC's 30 (roughly). I've read that someone at the latter referred to the extra "five minutes of integrity".



That said, the removal of the adcaps in two DVD releases riled me enough to affect the viewing of 'Rising Damp' as I'm used to the distinctive music between those breaks. With 'Man About The House', my favourite sitcom, the adcaps (or 'commercial bumpers') are preserved, happily.

[cornershop15]

I agree with Dandelion - I wish the ITC shows would include the adcaps.