Rising Damp Page 6

Quote: Dave @ March 8 2011, 9:14 PM GMT

Rigsby mentioned (but was probably lying) when he said a wife comitted suicide on her wedding night, and the husband was in the bar downstairs at the time and saw her flying past the window. Things like that paint a picture in the mind, and it's very clever how Eric Chapell managed to do that so many times.

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Yes, he was very good at that. The writers of Porridge and Likely Lads and of course Galton & Simpson were also very good at it. An old technique you don't see much now in sitcoms, I think it's a bit frowned upon by modern producers, who prefer to show rather than anecdotelise.

I'd like to see it more myself, it really lets the colourful main characters express themselves and drive the comedy. Lee Mack almost does it in NGO, I think, yet not in the same way, as he cuts his anecdotes into pithy one liners. Similar characterisation though, leading the comedy with his verbal volleys.

I was surprised to learn Wilfrid Brambell played part of Rooksby in premiere of the play The Banana Box

Apparently, Eric Chappell wrote a novelization of the series which came out in 1977. Has anyone ever read it?

I much preferred the 1980 film to the whole series of Rising Damp.

You, Sir, are a wrong 'un and no mistakin'.

Watched a couple of these today. You forget just how brilliant Rossiter's performance was, every twitch, every bead of sweat perfectly timed, wonderfully thought through and made to look effortless. The show started as a play called 'the Banana Box' with Rossiter in, a TV exec saw it and commissioned a series, this type of thing just doesn't seem to happen much now.
I was thinking is there anybody out there as good as Rossiter now, I always remember him in Steptoe and Son as an escaped convict, one of the few actors who could upstage Harry H Corbett and Wilfred Brambell. This is Galton and Simpson's favourite because they said Rossiter made the cast raise their game.
I'd really like to see 'the Losers' again where he was a boxing promoter, I only have a vague memory of it. I recently saw Rossiter in a one off play called 'Machinegunner' a straight role where he played a repo man, brilliantly seedy yet full of humanity. God knows what a man of his talent would have gone on to do.

You may be in luck! It's been officially pulled from the schedule for now, but I expect to see The Losers receive a DVD release within 18 months:

See Amazon product listing
[p=http://www.play.com/DVD/DVD/-/2505/1772/-/29406277/The-Losers-The-Complete-Series/Product.html]

Quote: Aaron @ October 2 2012, 8:42 PM BST

You may be in luck! It's been officially pulled from the schedule for now, but I expect to see The Losers receive a DVD release within 18 months:

See Amazon product listing
[p=http://www.play.com/DVD/DVD/-/2505/1772/-/29406277/The-Losers-The-Complete-Series/Product.html]

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Nice one

Quote: Pingl @ October 2 2012, 8:31 PM BST

Watched a couple of these today. You forget just how brilliant Rossiter's performance was, every twitch, every bead of sweat perfectly timed, wonderfully thought through and made to look effortless. The show started as a play called 'the Banana Box' with Rossiter in, a TV exec saw it and commissioned a series, this type of thing just doesn't seem to happen much now.
I was thinking is there anybody out there as good as Rossiter now, I always remember him in Steptoe and Son as an escaped convict, one of the few actors who could upstage Harry H Corbett and Wilfred Brambell. This is Galton and Simpson's favourite because they said Rossiter made the cast raise their game.
I'd really like to see 'the Losers' again where he was a boxing promoter, I only have a vague memory of it. I recently saw Rossiter in a one off play called 'Machinegunner' a straight role where he played a repo man, brilliantly seedy yet full of humanity. God knows what a man of his talent would have gone on to do.

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Have you seen Rossiter's final series Tripper's Day? Underrated IMO

Quote: peter gazzard @ October 3 2012, 10:37 PM BST

Have you seen Rossiter's final series Tripper's Day? Underrated IMO

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Not for a long time but was eyeing it on Amazon last night.

Quote: Pingl @ October 2 2012, 8:31 PM BST

Watched a couple of these today. You forget just how brilliant Rossiter's performance was, every twitch, every bead of sweat perfectly timed, wonderfully thought through and made to look effortless.

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I liked Rising Damp and Rossiter's portrayal of the Rigsby character. But I realised how brilliant Rossiter really was when I watched Perrin. There you have the same actor with the same looks (apart from clothing) but it's a completely different person. Like Mr. Arkwright and Fletch. You can clearly see that it's the same actor but both characters are completely different, as if Ronnie Barker was schizophrenic. It's this versatility that amazes me. I mean, Tom Cruise is more or less Tom Cruise in every film no matter if he plays a superagent or a frustrated husband. Hats off to Rossiter and Barker! Not only comedians but also brilliant actors.

I'm currently watching all the episodes again for the hundredth time

And yes, Rossiter is simply phenominal as Rigsby

The supporting cast is great and there's some good story lines , but he made that show IMO

His performance is up there with Basil Fawlty, Edmund Blackadder, Norman Stanley Fletcher et all

Haven't watched this for a while. Will have to dust my DVD down.

Love it, write about it in my 1970s blog. Got the whole box set! Great Mr Rigsby and Miss Jones.

Quote: glamrockchick @ October 17 2012, 6:06 PM BST

Love it, write about it in my 1970s blog. Got the whole box set! Great Mr Rigsby and Miss Jones.

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Your taste is impeccable