Robin Hood Theatre Company pays tribute to late patron, Rising Damp creator Eric Chappell

Tribute has been paid to Eric Chappell ­— best known for writing the television comedy Rising Damp ­— who has died, aged 88.

Grantham-born playwright Mr Chappell was patron of the Robin Hood Theatre Company, Averham.

“It was with great sadness that the Robin Hood Theatre Company learned of the death of their long-time patron,” the theatre said in a statement. “As well as being well known for his much-loved sitcoms, such as Rising Damp, Duty Free and Only When I Laugh; Eric wrote over 20 plays, most of which have been produced at the Robin Hood Theatre.”

Mr Chappell, who lived in Barrowby, first wrote a play called The Banana Box while working for the electricity board. It evolved into the TV hit comedy Rising Damp, starring Leonard Rossiter and Frances de la Tour.

“Leonard (Rossiter) was quite insistent on being creative with his performance and he worked me very hard. But he was brilliant to work with and we put on a great show,” he said recently.

Mr Chappell went on to write 200 television comedy scripts and 25 plays.

He first got involved with Robin Hood Theatre when he came to see a production of his play Theft in 1999.

He was impressed with the performance and soon after agreed to become a patron. He and his wife, Muriel, had been great supporters ever since, attending every show throughout the season, whenever possible.

“Eric was also very generous with his time, and though a slightly reluctant public speaker would agree to doing talks about his writing and answer questions from the public in his usual unassuming manner,” said the theatre.

“As well as choosing to perform some of his established plays, such as Natural Causes and Haywire, the theatre was also privileged to be offered some of his new works prior to be being published.

“This would be a collaborative process, with Eric involved from casting and through the creative process. He would sit quietly at the back during an occasional visit to a rehearsal and then the director would receive a phone call the following day with a few gentle suggestions of how things could be done differently, always charming, but very observant.

"Sometimes he would send rewrites which could be a little daunting for the actors, but he usually fine tuned the script after seeing the play performed and noting the audience reaction.

"Once published the theatre had the honour of knowing that they had produced the world premiere of these plays."

One of these was a play originally called Ashes To Ashes, which the company performed at Farndon during the period when the Averham theatre was closed. It was later renamed Wife After Death, and had a very successful tour with Tom Conti in the lead.

The most recent work of Eric’s to be performed at the Robin Hood was a rehearsed reading of A Diary of A Provincial Lady in 2018, an adaptation from the novel.

“Of late, Eric had become quite frail and been unable to visit the theatre but he will be very sadly missed," said the theatre.

“Robin Hood Theatre has lost not only a patron , but a dear friend and the world has lost a great comedy writer.”