Eric Chapell, the creator of classic TV sitcoms Rising Damp and Home to Roost, has died aged 88.
Chapell, who was born in Grantham, Lincolnshire, in 1933, won a Bafta in 1978 for Rising Damp, starring Leonard Rossiter, Don Warrington and Frances de la Tour. The comedy was set in a seedy bedsit and followed its boastful, cowardly and racist landlord Rigsby, whose conceits were debunked by his long-suffering tenants in each episode.
Having previously worked as for 22 years as an auditor for the East Midlands Electricity Board, Chapelle turned his talents to writing plays, with his Yorkshire-based story The Banana Box was staged at the Hampstead Theatre Club in 1970.
Just heard that Eric Chappell, the writer of #HomeToRoost, #RisingDamp & many other shows died on Thursday.
— Reece Dinsdale (@reece_dinsdale) April 23, 2022
Thank you for everything you did for me, Sir… your scripts were a complete joy to play.
Great times!
My love & deepest sympathies to his friends & family
RIP Eric ???? pic.twitter.com/WfB4jrbpy9
After it moved to the West End, it was adapted into Rising Damp, which was broadcast on ITV for over four series from 1974 to 1978.
It was then turned into a film in 1980, with Richard Beckinsale joining Warrington in the cast.
Home to Roost star Reece Dinsdale lead tributes to Chapell, writing on Twitter: ” Just heard that Eric Chappell, the writer of #HomeToRoost, #RisingDamp & many other shows died on Thursday. Thank you for everything you did for me, Sir… your scripts were a complete joy to play. Great times! My love & deepest sympathies to his friends & family RIP Eric.”
The sitcom followed Henry Willows (the late John Thaw), a middle-aged, divorced man seemingly content with life, all until his teenage son Matthew (Dinsdale) decides that it’s time they got re-acquainted. The differences in age, taste and backgrounds are constant irritants in their daily confrontations.
The comedy ran on ITV from 1985 to 1990, and also starred Sheila Hancock and Joan Blackman.
Line of Duty creator Jed Mercurio tweeted: “RIP Eric Chappell, one of the all-time greats. His brilliant comedies entertained millions, week in week out, for decades.”
RIP Eric Chappell, writer of one of the greatest of UK sitcoms, Rising Damp. pic.twitter.com/meLzEICzrX
— Ferg Ranson ???? (@FergRanson) April 23, 2022
Chappell’s earliest sitcom was The Squirrels (1974–77), an office comedy which ran for three series. His other series included Only When I Laugh, The Bounder, Duty Free, Singles, and Haggard.
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