Eric Chappell, creator of the sitcoms Rising Damp and Home to Roost, has died at the age of 88.
Mr Chappell, from Grantham, Lincolnshire, began his writing career with a play called The Banana Box, which debuted at the Hampstead Theatre Club in 1970 before making its way to the West End in 1973.
That West End play was later adapted into Rising Damp, the popular ITV sitcom which ran for four series from 1974 to 1978 and starred Leonard Rossiter, Frances de la Tour, Richard Beckinsale and Don Warrington.
Rising Damp tells the story of miserly landlord, called Rupert Rigsby, who rents out a seedy Victorian townhouse to a motley crew of tenants.
After winning a Bafta for best situation comedy in 1978, Rising Damp was adapted into a film released in 1980.
Following the success of Rising Damp, Mr Chappell went on to write Home to Roost, which aired from 1985 to 1990 and starred John Thaw, who played a divorcee whose life is upturned after his teenaged son, played by Reece Dinsdale, moves into his bachelor pad.
Mr Dinsdale, 62, announced Mr Chappell’s death in a tweet yesterday.
He wrote on the social media platform: ‘Just heard that Eric Chappell, the writer of #HomeToRoost, #RisingDamp & many other shows died on Thursday,
‘Thank you for everything you did for me, Sir… your scripts were a complete joy to play. Great times!
‘My love & deepest sympathies to his friends & family RIP Eric.’
Mr Chappell, who died on April 21, worked for 22 years as an auditor for East Midlands Electricity Board, and he wrote several novels that were rejected before he got his break in playwrighting.
‘RIP Eric Chappell, one of the all-time greats’, tweeted Jed Mercurio, the creator of BBC’s Line of Duty.
Mr Mercurio continued: ‘His brilliant comedies entertained millions, week in week out, for decades.’