The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Blistering performances.

Apparently Leonard Rossiter was a complete perfectionist and very difficult to work with. It was his obsessive perfectionism that made Rising Damp so much better than it's actual content. Of course the casual racist remarks would not be tolerated today, but funny is funny and it was very funny. Eric Chappell's creation of Rigsby was a work of genius and the casting of the show was ideal - it is always what makes a sitcom really work. Francis de la Tour's Miss Jones is played perfectly and Don Warrington's Philip was sophisticated and urbane and much more intelligent than Rigsby as was Richard Beckinsale's Alan. They revolved around Rigsby and had great lines which they delivered wonderfully. It is a great series and I appreciate the decision to show it again , even in these PC times. As a black man I guess I am supposed to be horrified at it but as I said before funny is funny - my dad always loved it way back when too.

There is not really much one can say about this show that hasn't already been said. Quite simply, it is one of the best sitcoms of all time. I was only a child when I first saw 'Rising Damp' so therefore I didn't really understand the humour. Now as an adult I can appreciate how great a show it truly is.Starting life as a play entitled 'The Banana Box' ( which starred Wilfrid Brambell ) and then later a Yorkshire Television pilot entitled 'Rooksby', 'Rising Damp' was all about a tight-fisted landlord known to all as Rigsby ( first name Rupert if you can believe it ), who was played to perfection by the wonderful and much missed Leonard Rossiter and who ran a squalid bedsit. His lodgers include hippie-like medical student Alan Moore, frumpy spinster Ruth Jones and black planning student Philip Smith who happens to be the son of a tribal king. Rigsby often tries to woo Ruth, without success, who instead has romantic feelings for Philip.Rigsby's attitude towards Philip has led to the show being branded as 'racist' in some quarters. True, Rigsby does not like Philip but it is not down to his colour, it is because he is jealous of Philip, jealous that Philip is all of the things that he isn't, intelligent being one of them.While of course, it is Rossiter who shines throughout, Richard Beckinsale, Frances De La Tour and Don Warrington do a fine job in supporting him. Rossiter at this time was also to be seen in 'The Fall & Rise Of Reginald Perrin' for the BBC while Richard Beckinsale was also to be seen starring alongside Ronnie Barker in 'Porridge' ( also for the BBC ). Eric Chappell's scripts were ( for the most part ) very witty and very well written.Beckinsale dropped out after the third series, which resulted in series four looking rather patchy. In 1980, Eric Chappell devised a feature film spin-off with Christopher Strauli from Chappell's 'Only When I Laugh' replacing Richard Beckinsale ( having died suddenly the year before ). It was a disappointment. No effort was made afterwards to make more episodes.Dennis Wilson wrote the show's brilliant theme tune, which suits the show so well. Four decades on, 'Rising Damp' still racks up enormous ratings even on repeat showings, and not without good reason.

This is what sometimes happens when you're a student and you've only got enough money to live in a dingy hovel... you get a landlord like Rigsby. What few standards he has are outdated, so sensitive lads with long hair and intelligent young black men are almost too much to take. Leonard Rossiter's portrayal of a character who could easily be completely beyond redemption is absolutely pitch-perfect. The more episodes you watch, the more you find yourself becoming strangely endeared to his mannerisms and tics, despite the fact that his attitude makes him a thoroughly unpleasant man. Aside from superb comic timing, Rossiter was also a master of the pratfall, so some of the most memorable sequences owe a lot to slapstick (I'm thinking particularly of the arranged boxing match.)It isn't quite a one man show though. All of the supporting parts were perfectly cast, so even when someone like Don Warrington pops up in more modern fare such as "Red Dwarf", he's still likely to be instantly associated with playing "Phillip" in "Rising Damp". I can't think of a bad episode in the bunch that I've seen. All of the scripts are so polished that they gleam, and this combined with the acting talent is what makes the show stick in the memory as the loved favourite it is.

'Rising Damp' is shown pretty regularly on TV all these years after production ceased on the series, which must be a testament to its staying power.Set in a grimy house where landlord Rigsby and his tenants (the refined Miss Jones, object of his affections; Alan, a long-haired student of medicine who never seemed to do anything useful; and Philip, a black man of tribal descent, possibly ...) rubbed along together week by week, with new lodgers coming and going, and Rigsby continuing his relentless pursuit of Miss Jones, 'Rising Damp' was pretty much perfect.Not dated at all when viewed recently, these are genuinely comic characters (especially the excellent performance of the peerless Leonard Rossiter as Rigsby) in amusing situations. Rather like Rigsby's cat, Vienna, we sit back and watch with interest as events unfold and entertain us.I loved it. Laurels all round (Frances de La Tour, who is an accomplished dramatic actress on stage aside from her comedy work here, as Miss Jones; Don Warrington, still around and not looking much older, as Philip; and lovely Richard Beckinsale, who sadly died in his early thirties at the end of the 1970s, as Alan) and long may the brown door and that tinkly pub piano theme grace our screens.