Rising Damp his wife. Seedy and furtive, Rigsby has poor interpersonal skills. His professed love of Miss Jones is mostly sexual. She rejects him due to him being married, until his marriage ends and Miss Jones accepts his proposal. As he pries and spies upon his tenants, Rigsby often carries Vienna, his large, fluffy, black-and-white tomcat. Rigsby's amiable pet, and confidant, is so named because - as Rigsby tells it - when he goes to put him out on a cold dark night, if there is another set of eyes out there, then it's Good Night, Vienna. Ruth Jones (Frances de la
Rising Damp and, most particularly of Philip, who is suave, intelligent, well-spoken - and black. He is also jealous of Philip because he is enigmatic, adroit, charismatic, and educated, all that Rigsby aspires to be but is not. Rigsby is an ardent patriot, believing himself to be an illegitimate member of the British royal family. He also makes exaggerated and romanticised references to his military service during World War II, frequently referring to 'a bit of trouble with the old shrapnel' and fighting at the Battle of Dunkirk "I haven't seen fear like that since Dunkirk". He also refers to seeing action