Anyone remember Rising Damp with Leonard Rossiter.

[ArseInTheCoOpWindow]

Spent the usual hours finding nothing to watch. Dh put YouTube on and we watched Rising Damp.

Vienna the cat and Miss Jones

@Apileofballyhoo

I remember, and even older, The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin I think it was called.

Reggie Perrin was later than Rising Damp

Somebody in a recent thread pointed out the likeness between Miss Jones and Carrie Johnson

Ooo, Don Warrington's voice. So cultured. I could listen to it all day. It's like a soothing balm on fretful ears.

Yes, loved it.

I remember it so well and I think we were supposed to cringe at his bigotry and sexism. He was a prism used to highlight the appalling attitudes still held by some of society.

I also remember The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin which was several shades darker and a deal more complex.

I recently watched The King's Man at the cinema and was struck by how much Ralph Fiennes looks like Reggie Perrin when wearing a bowler hat. It was rather disconcerting...

@AtlasPine

I know it’s of it’s time but the jokes around racism are excruciating.

But RIgsby is the butt of the jokes. Phillip is always seen as superior.

Rigsby is like Alf Garnett, you are supposed to see them as bigots. Rigsby is being mocked. It is clear that Philip is the more sophisticated, better educated and attractive character and Rigsby is pretentious and grubby.

Loved the excuses for being late " piranha on the platform at Penge".

Oh the two irritating co-workers
"Great"
"Super"

@Ionlydomassiveones

It was very of it’s time and is still watchable, still funny, still genius. So it has stood the test of time. The racism was to hold a mirror up to the illogic and small mindedness of the bigotry. The dialogue and jokes always favoured the black character Phillip and poked fun at Rigsby the grubby bigot.

This.

Philip definitely makes Rigsby look like an idiot. Agree about his voice, it's one of the nicest I've heard. I can't believe how much Ralph Fiennes looks like Rigsby now 🤣

Yes brilliant comedy and brilliant casting. So sad that Richard Beckinsale wa taken so young x

Philips voice💕 Richard Beckinsale was taken too soon.

Rigsby is supposed to repel you and typified a type of landlord that was prevalent at the time but dying out fortunately. Ditto the house, old decaying house run by an old decaying man with corresponding views. It was very well written and well cast also.

You don’t think in any way that it gave the racist jibes a platform? We were meant to feel fondly about Leonard Rossiter’s character as a buffoon.

No. Rigsby was THE joke.
He was portrayed as a physically repulsive, idiotic, narrow minded, stupid, clumsy, selfish, sexist, racist, misogynistic buffoon.
The audience delighted in the fact that he never came out on top, always showed himself up always lost out.
The other characters are seen as morally superior human beings despite their quirky ways (Miss Jones being the perfect example).
Yes, there is an degree of pity for him. The person who on paper (wealthy landlord) would usually hold all the cards actually holds none of them. The unmarried woman Miss Jones, Phillip (who is British African) and lovely Alan, both students, outwit him every time.
It’s brilliant.

@longwayoff

Rigsby is supposed to repel you and typified a type of landlord that was prevalent at the time but dying out fortunately. Ditto the house, old decaying house run by an old decaying man with corresponding views. It was very well written and well cast also.

Perfectly put!

Gosh, yes!!

Yes! I walked past Don Warrington a few weeks ago and thought how well he’d aged!

Just to address the ‘racist’ element specifically. Every idiotic racist word that comes out of Rigsby’s mouth is scripted to show him up. He is on his own with his bigoted views, isolated from the other characters and audience. We are all laughing at him, not with him.

Going to watch it all tomorrow! Forgot how good it is!

Another big fan. The joke was definitely on Rigsby.
Oh, Miss Jones! Miss Jones!
Well put, Nina.

@HaggisBurger

Yes! I walked past Don Warrington a few weeks ago and thought how well he’d aged!

Where were you?!

I can remember my parents watching it. I can also remember finding it really unpleasant - I think the dingy house scared me.

I loved Leonard Rossiter. I was a bit young to 'get' Rising Damp, but my Dad liked it.
We watched Reggie Perrin again just before Christmas, it's still brilliant.

NinaDefoe Yes definitely. I thought everyone knew that.

Ditto Love Thy Neighbour. We all laughed at Eddie. Whereas Bill & Barbie were cool and sophisticated.

@augustusglupe

NinaDefoe Yes definitely. I thought everyone knew that.

Ditto Love Thy Neighbour. We all laughed at Eddie. Whereas Bill & Barbie were cool and sophisticated.

I don’t think people do know it! We watched it when it was first on TV and laughed AT all the outrageously awful characters who always ended with mud on their face in some way or another.

I think younger audiences watching now just hear the racist and misogynist language and fail to understand the context.