Last modified on Mon 25 Jan 2021 11.59 EST Eric Chappell, creator/writer The concept of Rising Damp came from a newspaper article about a black British student who had outwitted white hoteliers, convincing them that he was an African prince. I thought it was a splendid idea for a comic farce, but changed the hotel to a boarding house. The programme’s first incarnation was as a play called The Banana Box. The Rigsby landlord character was played by Wilfrid Brambell, who was famous at the time for playing Albert Steptoe. I enjoyed his performance – he rose above any expectation that the character would be a copycat Steptoe. But Leonard Rossiter was cast as Rigsby shortly before the play transitioned to TV in 1974. I wrote more dialogue than was necessary for his character: not due to Leonard’s rapid delivery, but because of my own inexperience. If Len liked what I’d scripted, he went into overdrive, giving the harried monologues Rigsby became known for.