Quote: Morrace @ March 8 2009, 12:54 PM GMT
I have the script-book and there ain't no stage-show script, neither is there the script of the movie.
Rising Damp Page 3
Quote: Morrace @ March 5 2009, 11:58 PM GMTI was lucky enough to see the original stage play at the Hampstead Theatre Club.
'The Banana Box'
17 May - 16 June 1973, Hampstead Theatre Club, London
Rooksby: Leonard Rossiter
Noel Parker: Paul Jones (ex-Manfred Mann group)
Philip Smith: Don Warrington (Kenco ads now!)
Ruth Jones: Frances de la Tour
Lucy: Elizabeth Adare (ex-'The Tomorrow People')For the TV series:
'Rooksby' - became 'Rigsby'
'Noel Parker' / Paul Jones - became 'Alan Moore' /Richard Beckinsale.One of the funniest stage plays I've ever seen.
http://www.leonardrossiter.com/risingdamp/StoryPlay.html
Goodness me, Morace, fair play to you, sir.
I do think this sitcom has suffered from being an ITV sitcom. It was often sublime. It unfairly sometimes gets dumped in with the 'Love Thy Neighbour' type of show due to the treatment of Philip.
It never had those undertones and the cast were universally excellent. Leonard Rossiter was a genius in his interpretation.
The 'Love Wood' episode is a particular favourite.
Quote: Aaron @ March 8 2009, 9:21 PM GMTUnless I'm very much mistaken, Macclesfield is between Birmingham and Manchester so it really could be either!
(Although far closer to Manchester, so more likely.)
I seem to remember a reference to Birmingham somewhere in the series but there were also definitely references to Yorkshire. For instance Rigsby mentions Alan travelling by "Yorkshire Traction" (the bus company which operated around the Barnsley area) and also he mentions pushing a flaming funeral pyre up the Humber. Perhaps multiple references were intentional so that the location could not be pinned down to one specific area?
Quote: Jack Massey @ March 8 2009, 11:18 PM GMTI have the script-book and there ain't no stage-show script
"The Banana Box / a.k.a. Rising Damp
The play that inspired the TV series Rising Damp was produced at the Apollo Theatre, London in 1973 with Leonard Rossiter, Francis de la Tour and Don Warrington in the leading roles. The play has now been revised under the title Rising Damp but is still firmly based in the late sixties.
Full Length Plays
Amateur and repertory rights with Samuel French Ltd.
Rising Damp (Eric Chappell)
Comedy. M3 F1. An attic flat. Fee code K
For all other rights contact / Bryan Drew Ltd."
Quote: Ronnie Anderson @ March 8 2009, 12:43 PM GMTI'm sure it was set in Birmingham. Not just because of Beckinsale and Rossiter's accents but I think there was some reference to it in one of the scripts.
EXCUSE ME!!! The great Leonard Rossiter was a Scouser. He grew up in Liverpool, and even had trials for Everton F.C.
That's right - and Richard Beckinsale wasn't from Birmingham either. He was born in Nottingham.
Another clue to Rossiter being a Scouser, is in one episode where Rigsby starts talking about his boyhood football hero, Tommy Lawton, who was an Everton legend, in the 1930s.
Not saying there's a definite correlation, but if you watch the film spin-off (which is actually pretty good - Denholm Elliot as conman Seymour) you may pick up a few clues as to where it was meant to be set.
The Metro (a free paper in London and other cities) stated that the episode of Rising Damp on ITV3 today. The one about the election was banned for years.
Why?
I cannot see a reason to have done so.
From Wikipedia:
"Labour MP Tom Pendry also won a libel action against the programme when it portrayed a Labour candidate (played by Michael Ward) with the same surname in an unflattering light; his name is edited out of the broadcast version when it is repeated. The episode in question 'Stand Up and Be Counted' is an NTSC copy returned from Canada, the original PAL videotape was deliberately wiped by Yorkshire Television because of the offence caused and was never intended to be broadcast in the UK again."
Good job we got it back, as it is a classic episode.
I had watched Rising Damp before but until rewatching it after getting the boxset for Christmas I thought Reginald Perrin was Rossiter's finest comedy but I now believe Rising Damp was easily its equal. I defintely do feell sorry for Rigsby at times, which I never do for Alf Garnett who is IMO Rigsby x 10. Feel sorry for Reggie too but in different way
I always felt that Rigsby was Rossiter's jewel in the crown performance. I can appreciate him in Perrin, but the writing and acting in Rising Damp is some of the best comedy that this country has to offer.
I always got the impression that, although no setting was ever mentioned for the show, it was based in Yorkshire. The film version, certainly on the exterior scenes near Risgby's boarding house, it looks to be set in London.
The film version of Rising Damp, along with the Porridge movie, are two of the better adaptions from the original sitcom, in my opinion. Although it's interesting to note that Rossiter and Christopher Strauli (who played John) didn't get on at all. Rossiter always pushed Strauli to play John like Richard Beckinsale would have played Alan Moore. Strauli considered the filming of the Rising Damp movie to be one of the unhappiest experiences of his acting career.
Quote: Lord Meldrum @ January 13 2011, 1:31 PM GMTThe film version of Rising Damp ... one of the better adaptions from the original sitcom, in my opinion.
You truly are a curio amongst men!
Quote: Aaron @ January 13 2011, 2:13 PM GMT
You truly are a curio amongst men!
Brilliant.