Rising Damp this fact was planned to be a plot development in the TV series, but the death of Richard Beckinsale meant this was not possible. A feature film version was released in 1980, reusing several storylines from the television series. As Richard Beckinsale had died the year before, Christopher Strauli was cast as a new character, art student John. The character of Alan is briefly referenced, as having left. The film's theme song features lyrics by Eric Chappell and was released as a 7" single. The B-side features comedy dialogue between Rigsby and Miss Jones. Philip is revealed not to be
British African-Caribbean people (Rudolph Walker) and "Rising Damp" (Don Warrington) when their role was often to act simply as either the butt of, or foil to, racist jokes made by White characters. The most influential programme in moving away from this formula was the 1989–94 Channel Four barbershop sitcom "Desmond's", starring Norman Beaton and Carmen Munroe. One of the biggest African-Caribbean names in comedy is Lenny Henry, who began his career as a stand-up comedian but whose television sketch shows, where he often caricatured Caribbean émigrés, made him popular enough to headline numerous primetime comedy shows from, for instance, "Lenny Henry" in 1984