Uploaded December 2022 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Rising Damp is a British sitcom, written by Eric Chappell and produced by Yorkshire Television for ITV, which was originally broadcast from 2 September 1974 until 9 May 1978. Chappell adapted the story from his 1973 stage play The Banana Box. Rossiter played Rupert Rigsby (originally Rooksby in the stage play), the miserly, seedy, and ludicrously self-regarding landlord of a run-down Victorian townhouse who rents out his shabby bedsits to a variety of tenants.
Following a lonely Christmas spent with only Vienna as company, Rigsby is visited by the milkman, Fred, wanting his money, and post woman Gwen, who delivers a card - sent by himself - but declines to kiss him under the mistletoe. Alan and Brenda return from spending Christmas with his parents and both, separately, give him bath salts as a present. Philip comes back with a girl-friend Lucy, assuming they would be alone in the house. He tells Rigsby he has a present for him in his room and Rigsby wrongly believes this is Lucy. As she is black he imagines she has just arrived from Africa - rather than Northampton - and tries to teach her the British custom of kissing under the mistletoe. However Philip comes in to do that and gives Rigsby his actual present, a bottle of wine so strong it takes his power of speech away. Gwen and Fred return - she is now prepared to kiss Rigsby under the mistletoe but Fred gets in first!
Show your support:
ko-fi.com/thecomedyseriesinc
Rising Damp is a British sitcom, written by Eric Chappell and produced by Yorkshire Television for ITV, which was originally broadcast from 2 September 1974 until 9 May 1978. Chappell adapted the story from his 1973 stage play The Banana Box. Rossiter played Rupert Rigsby (originally Rooksby in the stage play), the miserly, seedy, and ludicrously self-regarding landlord of a run-down Victorian townhouse who rents out his shabby bedsits to a variety of tenants.
Following a lonely Christmas spent with only Vienna as company, Rigsby is visited by the milkman, Fred, wanting his money, and post woman Gwen, who delivers a card - sent by himself - but declines to kiss him under the mistletoe. Alan and Brenda return from spending Christmas with his parents and both, separately, give him bath salts as a present. Philip comes back with a girl-friend Lucy, assuming they would be alone in the house. He tells Rigsby he has a present for him in his room and Rigsby wrongly believes this is Lucy. As she is black he imagines she has just arrived from Africa - rather than Northampton - and tries to teach her the British custom of kissing under the mistletoe. However Philip comes in to do that and gives Rigsby his actual present, a bottle of wine so strong it takes his power of speech away. Gwen and Fred return - she is now prepared to kiss Rigsby under the mistletoe but Fred gets in first!
Show your support:
ko-fi.com/thecomedyseriesinc
