STAND UP AND BE COUNTED

Rehearsals: 3^rd – 6^th December 1974 at St Paul’s Church Hall, Sussex Place, London W6

9:30 – 1:30pm

Walk-Through: 7^th December 1974 at Yorkshire Television Centre, Leeds

5.30pm – 6:30pm

Recorded: 8^th December 1974 at Yorkshire Television Centre, Studio 4, Leeds

Broadcast: Friday 8:30pm 17^th January 1975

CAST

Rupert Rigsby – Leonard Rossiter

Alan Moore – Richard Beckinsale

Ruth Jones – Frances de la Tour

Philip Smith – Don Warrington

Michael Ward – Labour Candidate

Ian Lavender – Platt

Anthony Sharp – De Vere-Brown

CREW

Creator/Writer – Eric Chappell

Producer/Director – Ronnie Baxter

Designer – Colin Pigott

Music – Dennis Wilson

Casting – James Ligatt

Floor Manager – Mike Purcell

Stage Manager – Terry Knowles

Production Asst – Mary Byrne

Lighting – Peter Squires

Cameras – Peter Lord

Sound – Ian Hughes

Vision Mixer – Chris Foley

Tech Supervisor – Gordon Quinn

Wardrobe – Brenda Fox

Make-up – Jane Clifton

Prop Buyer – Al McKay

Scenes – Bill Donnelly

Call Boy – John Heaton

Warm-up – Felix Bowness

Episode Review

Election fever hit’s the boardinghouse. “Young Lenin upstairs” is rallying the troops and littering the house with Labour Party manifesto, even the cat’s been wrapped in rd and he is definitely Conservative. Well, at least he is during the daytime!

Rigsby’s canvassing the local area with a speech straight from the back of a fag packet and Miss Jones, a political virgin, is bewildered by all the candidates especially Colonel de Vere-Brown, the Conservative candidate. His major policy, unbeknown to Rigsby, is to evict extortion racketeers….like landlords. There’s nothing else for it, Rigsby bites the bullet and now there’s just been a 10% swing to the left! But which way’s Vienna going to vote!

Did you know?

• A short exchange from the final episode of Series 1, Stand Up And Be Counted, is sampled towards the end of the 1997 song ‘Amnesia’ by the British band Chumbawamba – Alan: What about free speech?, Rigsby: That’s not the point. You’re giving this place a bad name. I’ve got my position to think of.
• Still portraits were taken of the guest artists Anthony Sharp, Michael Ward and Ian Lavender, in character, for reproduction on political posters and circulars.
• Placards and hand-painted posters were produced, bearing slogans such as ‘Workers and students unite’. ‘Fair rents for all’ and ‘Power to the people’.
• A freshly painted poster adheres to one of Vienna’s paws after Rigbsy puts Vienna on the table, whilst complaining to the boys, and then lifts him off the table.
• Two golden Labradors – Bruno and Gina – were hired for a close-up of Colonel de Vere-Brown’s dogs, Bella and Roper.
• The number of Rigsby’s boarding house is shown to be 917 – as in The Prowler.
• The plot device of Alan hurrying back to the flat at the start of the show, after hitting a policeman during a political demonstration, has it’s origins in the stage play “The Banana Box”.
• In his scene, Alan was among a group of students who attempted to enter a meeting of the National Front. In the scene from the play, Noel Parker was with a group who attempted to enter a Wine-makers’ club which was entertaining a trade representative from the South African Embassy.
• Rigsby mentions the Skinning Men again, 1^st mentioned in The Prowler.
• The Blue Ram public house is mentioned again, previously noted in ‘A Night Out’.
• The end credits were superimposed over the “RISING DAMP” caption slide.

Stand Up and Be Counted brought to a close the first series of “RISING DAMP”. The series would return on Friday 7^th November 1975 with “The Permissive Society”.

Interesting to note:

• Production# 2757
• Fridays at 8.30pm, opposite the sitcom Second Time Around starring Michael Craig
• ‘Stand Up and Be Counted’ – 6.95m (17th=)
• In this episode Eric Chappell inadvertently christened the effeminate Labour candidate ‘Pendry’, sharing the same name as real-life Labour MP for Stalybridge and Hyde Tom Pendry.
• The character in the show is described by Rigsby as being homosexual, hypocritical and dishonest which Pendry claimed had been used to defame him personally
• In the January 21st edition of The Times the following piece appeared:-

DEFAMATION WRITS

Mr Tom Pendry, Labour MP for Stalybridge and Hyde, said last night that he had instructed his lawyers to issue writes for defamation against Yorkshire Television and others over a Yorkshire Television production, RISING DAMP.

The adjudication appeared just over a year later in the March 17 1976 edition of The Times newspaper.

LIBEL DAMAGES FOR MP

Mr Tom Pendry, Labour MP for Stalybridge and Hyde, is to receive libel damages for ‘disparaging remarks’ made about a fictional Labour candidate of the same name in the television series RISING DAMP, a high court judge was told yesterday.

In addition, Mr Pendry threatened further legal action if the episode was ever repeated. The episode was wiped and remained lost for 16 years.

When CH4 planned to revive the series in 1991 a copy of the episode was located in Canada (this episode was thought to have been included on compilations released by Acorn Media) and returned to the UK.

Michael Ward, who played ‘Pendry’ in the episode, later had his on-screen credit changed from ‘Pendry’ to ‘Labour Candidate’.

The pink posters shown in the episode to support Mr Pendry were also adjusted. Where they originally read ‘Vote Pendry – Labour’, they would be edited to blank out the word ‘Pendry’ in pink. Strangely, and maybe not to the users knowledge, images showing the name ‘Pendry’ on the boards can be seen on Apple TVs current promotion of the episode!

Dressing Rooms:-

Leonard Rossiter #12

Richard Beckinsale #11

Frances de la Tour #6

Don Warrington #8

Ian Lavender #10

Anthony Sharp #7

Michael Ward #5

Viewing figures for the 1^st Series.

1974 – Most Watched shows

Homes in millions

1. Steptoe and Son BBC 7.8

2. Nine O’Clock News BBC 7.8

3. Coronation Street ITV 6.8

4. Opportunity Knocks ITV 6.7

5. Nine O’Clock News BBC 6.7

6. Sutherland’s Law BBC 6.4

7. Crossroads ITV 6.3

8. Moody and Peg ITV 6.2

9. Coronation Street ITV 6.2

10. Porridge BBC 6.2

11. Rising Damp ITV 6.1

12. Softly, Softly BBC 6.1

13. Crossroads ITV 6.1

14. Some Mother’s Do BBC 6.1

‘Ave ‘Em

15. Crossroads ITV 6.0

16. World in Action ITV 6.0

17. Don’t Ask Me ITV 6.0

18. Don’t Drink The Water ITV 5.9

19. Crossroads ITV 5.9

20. Nine O’Clock News BBC 5.8