Rising Damp - Season 1 (1974)

Rigsby tries to woo Ruth with two free tickets to a wrestling match given him by Spooner but she is not keen so he turns to Alan and Philip for advice on how to capture her heart. They suggest he adopts a sophisticated persona, wear a medallion and play a romantic record. They also give him some tablets to relax him but he takes too many and falls asleep before he can declare himself to Ruth. As a second plan Philip tells him of an African love rite whereby the suitor burns a piece of wood from the 'love tree' outside his sweetheart's hut. Rigsby approaches Ruth with ...

Spooner the wrestler has tripped over Rigsby's cat Vienna and is confined to his room with a broken leg. He plays his radio at full volume, annoying the other tenants and threatens Rigsby when he tells him to turn the noise down. Suddenly in nostalgic mood Rigsby gets his souvenirs from his service days in World War Two to show Philip and Alan, including his revolver, which goes off. Spooner pretends that Rigsby has killed him with it and plays dead, to have a joke at the landlord's expense. However it turns out that the bullet has actually killed Spooner's pet ...

Whilst calling the cat in, Rigsby hears Ruth scream. She has seen a prowler staring at her through the window. A policeman called Baker is soon on the scene and interviews the household, telling Rigsby to check that the money he keeps hidden under the floor-boards is still there, which Rigsby does, in Baker's presence. Only after Baker has gone and the real police arrive, does Rigsby discover that Baker was an impostor, who has stolen his money.

It's election time and true blue Rigsby will be voting Conservative whilst the boys are flying the flag for Labour. Ruth is a floating voter. All three candidates visit the house, Rigsby antagonizing the Labour man by suggesting that he is a homosexual with a Filipino house-boy whilst Ruth scares off the Liberal hopeful by making advances at him. Finally the Conservative candidate comes in and, after his dog has fouled the carpet, he tells Rigsby he plans to knock his house down, ultimately recognizing Rigsby as the man who was barred from the Conservative Club ...