Eric George Chappell (25 September 1933 – 21 April 2022) was an English television comedy writer and playwright who wrote or co-wrote some of the UK's biggest sitcom hits over a more than quarter-century career, first gaining significant notice in the 1970s.

Early life

Chappell was born in

Grantham Grantham () is a market and industrial town in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England, situated on the banks of the River Witham and bounded to the west by the A1 road. It lies some 23 miles (37 km) south of the Lincoln and ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-we ...

, and educated at Grantham boys’ central school. He worked as an auditor for the

East Midlands Electricity Board The East Midlands Electricity Board (EMEB) was formed in 1947 as one of the United Kingdom's twelve area electricity boards specified under the Electricity Act 1947. In 1990 it was floated on the stock market as East Midlands Electricity plc, w ...

for 22 years beginning in 1951, only becoming a full-time writer in 1973. He had written several novels which were rejected by publishers, before deciding to become a playwright.

Career

Chappell wrote the play ''The Banana Box'', which was given a staged reading at the

Hampstead Theatre Club Hampstead Theatre is a theatre in South Hampstead in the London Borough of Camden. It specialises in commissioning and producing new writing, supporting and developing the work of new writers. Roxana Silbert has been the artistic director since ...

in 1970. A production at the Phoenix Theatre in Leicester in 1971, with

Wilfrid Brambell Henry Wilfrid Brambell (22 March 1912 – 18 January 1985) was an Irish television and film actor, best remembered for playing the grubby rag-and-bone man Albert Steptoe alongside Harry H. Corbett in the long-running BBC television sitcom '' ...

in the role of the landlord, and was later produced in the West End in 1973, with

Leonard Rossiter Leonard Rossiter (21 October 1926 – 5 October 1984) was an English actor. He had a long career in the theatre but achieved his highest profile for his television comedy roles starring as Rupert Rigsby in the ITV series '' Rising Damp'' fro ...

now in the role. This play later became the basis for sitcom ''

Rising Damp Structural dampness is the presence of unwanted moisture in the structure of a building, either the result of intrusion from outside or condensation from within the structure. A high proportion of damp problems in buildings are caused by ambient ...

'', which aired on

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

from 1974 to 1978 and won the 1978 BAFTA for Best Situation Comedy. ''The Banana Box'' had a brief run at the Hudson Guild Theater in New York in 1979. A film version of ''

'' was released in 1980 and won several ''Evening Standard'' British Film Awards, although he admitted the screenplay was based on television scripts. Chappell's earliest sitcom was ''

The Squirrels The Squirrels are a novelty pop band based in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1984 by lead vocalist Rob Morgan (founder, as well, of the ''Poplust'' zine), the band went through numerous lineups, but has stuck to the aesthetic that Peter Blecha ...

'' (1974–77), an office comedy which ran for three series. Chappell wrote only half of the scripts for the series, these were later remade as '' Fiddlers Three'' (1991). His other series included '' Only When I Laugh'', ''

The Bounder ''The Bounder'' is a British sitcom which ran from 16 April 1982 to 28 October 1983, made by Yorkshire Television. The series starred Peter Bowles (of ''To the Manor Born'' fame) as Howard Booth, an ex-convict who served two years in jail. He li ...

'', ''

Duty Free A duty-free shop (or store) is a retail outlet whose goods are exempt from the payment of certain local or national taxes and duties, on the requirement that the goods sold will be sold to travelers who will take them out of the country, wh ...

,'' ''

Singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

'', '' Haggard'', and ''

Home to Roost ''Home to Roost'' is a British sitcom produced by Yorkshire Television between 19 April 1985 and 19 January 1990. Written by Eric Chappell, it stars John Thaw as Henry Willows and Reece Dinsdale as his teenaged son Matthew. The premise is th ...

''. Chappell married Muriel Elizabeth Taylor in 1959; the couple had two children.

Work

Television

*''

'' *''

'' *'' Only When I Laugh'' *''Misfits'' *''

'' *''

'' (with Jean Warr) *''

'' *''

'' (with Jean Warr) *''Natural Causes'' *'' Haggard'' *'' Fiddlers Three''

Plays

*''The Banana Box'' (basis for ''Rising Damp'') *''Dead Reckoning'' *''Double Vision'' *''False Pretences'' *''Father's Day'' (spin-off of ''Home to Roost'', 2011) *''Fiddlers Three'' *''Ground Rules'' *''Haggard'' (with Michael Green) *''Haunted'' *''Haywire'' *''Heatstroke'' (aka ''Snakes and Ladders'') *''It Can Damage Your Health'' (basis of ''Only When I Laugh'') *''Last of the Duty Free'' *''Mixed Feelings'' *''Natural Causes'' *''Passing Strangers'' *''Side Effects'' *''Sitting Tenants'' *''Something's Burning'' *''Summer End'' *''The Night in Question'' *''Theft'' *''Up and Coming'' *''We're Strangers Here'' *''Wife after Death''

Film

*''

References

External links

Eric Chappell Productions website

*
"I Deserve More Than This: The Work of Eric Chappell"
27 March 2019 by Anna Cale * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chappell, Eric 1933 births 2022 deaths English comedy writers English television writers People from Grantham