The Losers

‘Comic genius' is a label bandied about with alarming regularity. However, in some cases, there's no other way to describe some much-missed celebs.

Leonard Rossiter had his finest hours as seedy London landlord Rupert Rigsby in Rising Damp and in The Fall of Rise of Reginald Perrin.

By the late Seventies, an attempt to give him another smash in this short-lived show proved to be a misguided affair.

Playing a loser with little chance of success was not how we wanted to see Rossiter and the fact that the chemistry wasn't there consigned the show to an early demise.

As with LR's final sitcom, Tripper's Day, this is one of those sitcoms which has never been repeated on British TV and little wonder.

Dig out old copies of Rising Damp and Reggie Perrin instead.