The WORST episodes of Rising Damp

Every episode of Rising Damp ever, ranked from worst to best by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The worst episodes of Rising Damp!

Popular sitcom set in a seedy bedsit lorded over by the mean, vain, boastful, cowardly landlord Rigsby. In each episode, his conceits are debunked by his long suffering tenants.

Last Updated: 11/1/2024Network: ITV1Status: Ended
Food Glorious Food
star
6.85
68 votes

#1 - Food Glorious Food

Season 2 - Episode 2 - Aired 11/14/1975

Rigsby has to choose between his pride and his stomach when Philip challenges his ability to go without food for three days.

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Fire and Brimstone
star
7.14
35 votes

#2 - Fire and Brimstone

Season 4 - Episode 2 - Aired 4/11/1978

Rigsby convinces his new tenant, a pious Welsh student, that Philip is in need of spiritual guidance, but it's Rigsby who sees the light.

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Suddenly at Home
star
7.15
34 votes

#3 - Suddenly at Home

Season 3 - Episode 7 - Aired 5/24/1977

Rigsby jumps to a drastic conclusion when a hypochondriac tenant is taken to the hospital.

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Hello Young Lovers
star
7.23
39 votes

#4 - Hello Young Lovers

Season 4 - Episode 1 - Aired 4/4/1978

Ruth befriends a young couple who have moved in, fleeing from her disapproving father.

Directors: Vernon Lawrence
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A Body Like Mine
star
7.25
40 votes

#5 - A Body Like Mine

Season 2 - Episode 3 - Aired 11/21/1975

Rigsby reluctantly joins a communal fitness craze.

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All Our Yesterdays
star
7.30
71 votes

#6 - All Our Yesterdays

Season 1 - Episode 5 - Aired 1/3/1975

Rigsby has to tell an ill-tempered wrestler to turn down the volume on his radio.

Directors: Len Lurcuck
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The Good Samaritans
star
7.30
37 votes

#7 - The Good Samaritans

Season 3 - Episode 4 - Aired 5/3/1977

Even the callous Rigsby becomes concerned over a depressed new tenant who has suffered a series of business and personal problems.

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That's My Boy
star
7.30
40 votes

#8 - That's My Boy

Season 3 - Episode 1 - Aired 4/12/1977

Rigsby returns from his holidays to find that Ruth has returned and that an infant is being passed around for care.

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The Prowler
star
7.45
96 votes

#9 - The Prowler

Season 1 - Episode 6 - Aired 1/10/1975

Ruth's screams of a prowler brings Rigsby to her side and prompts a visit from the regional crime squad.

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Charisma
star
7.52
69 votes

#10 - Charisma

Season 1 - Episode 4 - Aired 12/27/1974

After a recent spate of ill luck in the romance department, Rigsby turns to Alan and Philip to offload his woes. Sensing an opportunity to get a favour out of Rigsby, Alan and Philip bestow instant charisma on him in the form of a huge medallion, a Matt Monro LP and a bottle of relaxant pills. Rigsby wastes no time in visiting Miss Jones to woo her to the strains of Matt Monro, however a mild overdose of the relaxants causes him to fall asleep considerably earlier than he had anticipated. When he finally wakes up, he sets about finding Alan to duff him up, but instead decides to try a plan of Philip's whereby he burns the wood of the love tree outside Ruth's hut, a plan without drawbacks as Ruth will be unable to resist the enchanting aroma. However, as Rigsby's plan goes up in smoke as it were, all favours to Alan and Philip are withdrawn much to their frustration.

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The Last of the Big Spenders
star
7.59
68 votes

#11 - The Last of the Big Spenders

Season 2 - Episode 6 - Aired 12/12/1975

Rigsby tries to seduce a new tenant while fending off bill collectors.

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Stand Up and Be Counted
star
7.62
68 votes

#12 - Stand Up and Be Counted

Season 1 - Episode 7 - Aired 1/17/1975

Rigsby`s political loyalties are put to the test as election fever grips the house.

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A Night Out
star
7.69
49 votes

#13 - A Night Out

Season 1 - Episode 3 - Aired 12/20/1974

Alan and Philip are pleasantly surprised by Rigsby's rather dapper appearance. It is Miss Jones' birthday, and Rigsby has booked a table at The Grange. The only problem is that he doesn't know how to ask her, and so he has to invite the boys in order that they will ask her for him. After a quick rummage in the wardrobe of another tenant, Spooner the wrestler, Rigsby and Alan acquire suitable attire for the restaurant, and so they all depart for the evening. Unfortunately for Rigsby, Philip seems to be holding Miss Jones' attention at the table and on the dance floor. That is until the band strike up a waltz, which happens to be Rigsby's forte. His luck is short lived however, as Spooner turns up and demands to know why Rigsby is wearing his clothes. The resulting fracas sees Miss Jones' embarrassed exit, and Rigsby's ejection, from the restaurant.

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Pink Carnations
star
7.85
34 votes

#14 - Pink Carnations

Season 4 - Episode 4 - Aired 4/25/1978

Rigsby tries to find a woman through an ad in the personals column and receives a surprising response.

Directors: Vernon Lawrence
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The Cocktail Hour
star
7.86
36 votes

#15 - The Cocktail Hour

Season 3 - Episode 6 - Aired 5/17/1977

Alan becomes engaged to a girl from a snobbish family.

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Clunk Click
star
7.87
39 votes

#16 - Clunk Click

Season 3 - Episode 3 - Aired 4/26/1977

Rigsby tries to impress Ruth with a fancy new car.

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A Perfect Gentleman
star
7.90
68 votes

#17 - A Perfect Gentleman

Season 2 - Episode 5 - Aired 12/5/1975

A well-bred new tenant brings out Rigsby's aristocratic aspirations.

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Things That Go Bump in the Night
star
7.90
40 votes

#18 - Things That Go Bump in the Night

Season 2 - Episode 7 - Aired 12/19/1975

Rigsby tries to spook Alan by telling him that the boarding house is haunted.

Directors: Len Lurcuck
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Moonlight and Roses
star
7.92
40 votes

#19 - Moonlight and Roses

Season 2 - Episode 4 - Aired 11/28/1975

Rigsby jumps to the conclusion that Ruth has fallen in love with him.

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Black Magic
star
7.97
74 votes

#20 - Black Magic

Season 1 - Episode 2 - Aired 12/13/1974

Rigsby has been busy trying to attract Miss Jones' attentions. Meanwhile, Miss Jones has been busy trying to attract Philip's attentions. During a chat with the boys, Rigsby is told that Philip has ten wives, and that he is seen as a God in his own country. Rigsby is somewhat sceptical and demands proof of Philip's powers. Philip claims he can make something appear, and so performs a small ritual in which he bangs the floor three times with a ceremonial spear. Before long, a scantily clad Miss Jones enters the room in something of a fluster, hastily makes an excuse and leaves. Rigsby however, is still not convinced. Later, when he is alone, Alan tries the same ritual, and again Miss Jones rushes upstairs believing the knocking to be a call from Philip. Later, when Rigsby finds himself alone in the room with the spear, he cannot resist attempting to conjure Miss Jones' appearance himself. Unfortunately he only manages to raise the laughter of Alan and Philip who spy on him from the door

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Fawcett's Python
star
8.00
37 votes

#21 - Fawcett's Python

Season 3 - Episode 5 - Aired 5/10/1977

Ruth becomes indignant with Marilyn, the new tenant, who is an exotic dancer with an unusual prop in her act.

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For the Man Who Has Everything (Christmas Special)
star
8.00
70 votes

#22 - For the Man Who Has Everything (Christmas Special)

Season 2 - Episode 8 - Aired 12/26/1975

Rigsby spends Christmas alone, but both Alan and Philip return early looking for some solitude for romance.

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The Lodgers (a.k.a Rooksby)
star
8.27
59 votes

#23 - The Lodgers (a.k.a Rooksby)

Season 1 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/2/1974

Alan tries to talk landlord Rigsby into moving him from the damp, freezing attic, and into the newly vacated room downstairs. Rigsby is having none of it, and instead is persuaded by Miss Jones into letting it to her friend from the university, Philip. Rigsby is not quite so enthusiastic however, when he sees that Philip is black. He is even less enthusiastic when he begins to suspect that the new tenant has designs on Miss Jones. Alan and Rigsby both plot to get rid of Philip, but it is Miss Jones' constant and unwanted attention that cause Philip to pack his cases. Rigsby, unwilling to refund a weeks rent and upon hearing he is the son of a chief, persuades Philip to swap to another room, and so squeezes him in with a less than willing Alan.

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Stage Struck
star
8.68
37 votes

#24 - Stage Struck

Season 3 - Episode 2 - Aired 4/19/1977

When Alan and Ruth are cast as lovers in a play written by a new tenant, Hillary, a jealous Rigsby decides to take up acting.

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Under the Influence
star
8.68
34 votes

#25 - Under the Influence

Season 4 - Episode 5 - Aired 5/2/1978

Rigsby persuades a tenant behind on his rent to hypnotize Ruth and plant the idea she's madly in love with Rigsby.

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