Rigsby



The landlord of the house, Rupert Rigsby (Leonard Rossiter) is dour, interfering and tight fisted. He has strong right wing views which are adopted without morals or reason. For example, in the film adaptation, he states that hanging should be reinstated but this time in public. Rigsby is an old fashioned colonial type with prejudiced views. He is suspicious of anything beyond his parochial sphere of interest 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 isn't.

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 Anzio. Rigsby is also a tremendous snob, obsessed with being perceived as middle class. He often affects an 'old school tie' attitude - another of his fantasies. While Rigsby tries to flirt with the upper-classes, when they invariably reject him he distances himself, declaring himself to be a self-made man and calling the prospective Conservative candidate an 'upper-class twit' after he refers to Rigbsy's lodging house as the 'unacceptable face of capitalism' and accuses Rigsby of having cheated at Billiards in the local conservative club.

Seedy and furtive, Rigsby has poor interpersonal skills. His professed love of Miss Jones is merely sexual; he spends most of the series trying to convince her otherwise, inevitably to no avail.

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.