More fondly-remembered TV characters and programmes form the content of this update, with representations/remediations of images featuring landlord Rigsby (Leonard Rossiter) and one of his tenants, Miss Jones (Frances de la Tour), from the sitcom ‘Rising Damp’, Rossiter in his other iconic comic role of the mid-to-late 1970s as Reginald Perrin in ‘The Fall and Rise of…’ and the cast of ‘The Good Life’, featuring the Goods, Barbara and Tom (Felicity Kendal and Richard Briers), and the Leadbetters, Margo and Jerry (Penelope Keith and Paul Eddington), all of which have gone down in the annals of British television history.
The sequence of links here is, obviously, Rossiter – Rossiter and another character, Tom Good who, like Reggie Perrin, opted-out of the stifling 9 – 5 rat race. Interestingly, Leonard Rossiter also has a link to the subject of an earlier drawing in the Seventies project, as he played the role of Mr Shadrack in the original 1960s cinematic representation of ‘Billy Liar’, although of course the project’s Billy is from the 1970s television adaptation.
During their time in the mid-1970s, prior to the advent of video recorders – or at least these being the norm in many homes – and, now, ‘catch-up’ streaming services and multiple ‘nostalgia’ channels broadcasting such shows in heavy rotation, these programmes were a once-a-week and ‘only opportunity’ treat, an event the whole family would gather before for an amusing half hour and it’s interesting to recall that aspect of society and culture, a significant part of one’s growing-up.
‘Rising Damp’
graphite and putty eraser on Seawhite cartridge paper/42 x 30cm
‘(The Fall and Rise of) Reginald Perrin’
graphite and putty eraser on Seawhite cartridge paper/30 x 42cm
‘The Good Life’
graphite and putty eraser on Seawhite cartridge paper/42 x 30cm
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