PORRIDGE (TV SERIES)

'''Porridge''' was a British BBC television sitcom (1974–1977), written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais and starring Ronnie Barker and Richard Beckinsale. In a 2004 BBC poll of the 50 greatest British sitcoms, it was voted number 6. It is set in the fictional "HMP Slade" in Cumberland (now Cumbria). "Doing porridge" is British slang for a spell of imprisonment, as porridge was once a traditional breakfast in UK prisons. It was followed by the sequel series, ''Going Straight''.

Contents

History

Television

Basic premise

Cast

Episode list

''Going Straight''

''Life Beyond the Box''

Film

See also

Essential viewing for prisoners

Contributions to the English language

Novelisations

External links

History

''Porridge'' originated from an idea used in a 1973 series, in which Barker starred, called ''Seven of One''. Each of its seven 30-minute episodes saw him playing a new character in a different setting.
In the second instalment, "Prisoner and Escort", a prisoner, Norman Stanley Fletcher (played by Barker), was being escorted from London to Slade Prison by two warders: the easy-going Mr Barrowclough (Brian Wilde) and the stern Mr Mackay (Fulton Mackay).
After a long train journey, Fletch asks to relieve himself at the tiny station where the prison minibus is waiting to take them to the prison. He relieves himself into the petrol tank, and when the van stops in the middle of the moors, Mackay strides off to the prison for help.
Fletch encourages Barrowclough to spend the night in an abandoned cottage. Here, Fletch escapes and spends the night running around the moors. He eventually discovers a second empty property and hides within it. Fletch finds that he is not alone, and prepares to attack his companion. Only then does it become obvious that the other resident is Barrowclough, and that the cottage is indeed the same one from which he had set off.
Back at the prison, Mackay tells Fletch that the petrol tank was fuller than when last checked, and that it was 'definitely not 5-star'. Thus started the humorous conflict between Mackay and Fletch.
A year later, when the BBC were looking for a premise for a sitcom in which Barker could star, this episode was chosen. (The first ''Seven of One'' programme was also developed into a series: ''Open All Hours''.)

Television

Basic premise

The central character of Porridge is Norman Stanley Fletcher, described by his sentencing judge as "an habitual criminal". Fletch's cellmate is Lennie Godber, a naïve inmate serving his first prison sentence, whom Fletch takes under his wing. Mr Mackay is a tough warder whose bark often turns out to be worse than his bite, and with whom Fletch often comes into conflict. Mackay's subordinate, Mr Barrowclough, is more sympathetic and timid — and therefore prone to manipulation by his charges.
Each episode begins with a narration by the judge (voiced by Ronnie Barker):

"Norman Stanley Fletcher, you have pleaded guilty to the charges brought by this court, and it is now my duty to pass sentence. You are an habitual criminal, who accepts arrest as an occupational hazard, and presumably accepts imprisonment in the same casual manner. We therefore feel constrained to commit you to the maximum term allowed for these offences — you will go to prison for five years."

The prison exterior shown in the title sequence (and some episodes) is that of Maidstone Prison, which was also featured in the BBC comedy series ''Birds of a Feather''. In the episode "Pardon Me" Fletcher speaks to Blanco in the prison gardens: this sequence was filmed in the grounds of an old brewery just outside Baldock on the A505 to Royston. The barred windows closely approximated a prison. This property has since been demolished.

Cast

★ Norman Stanley Fletcher - Ronnie Barker

★ Mr Mackay - Fulton Mackay

★ Lennie Godber - Richard Beckinsale

★ Mr Barrowclough - Brian Wilde

★ 'Genial' Harry Grout - Peter Vaughan

★ 'Bunny' Warren - Sam Kelly

★ Jim MacClaren - Tony Osoba

★ Lukewarm - Christopher Biggins

★ Blanco Webb - David Jason

★ 'Horrible' Ives - Ken Jones

★ Harris - Ronald Lacey

★ Geoffrey Venables - 'The Governor' - Michael Barrington

★ Ingrid Fletcher - Patricia Brake

★ The Honourable Mr Justice Stephen Rawley - Maurice Denham

★ Cyril Heslop - Brian Glover

★ Evans - Ray Dunbobbin

★ Reg Urwin 'with a U' - Dudley Sutton

Episode list

Each episode 30 minutes except where stated.


★ Pilot

★
★ "Prisoner and Escort" ''1 April 1973'' (Part of ''Seven of One'')

★ Series 1 ''5 September 1974–10 October 1974''

★
★ "New Faces, Old Hands": It's Godber's first time in prison and Fletcher is going to show him the ropes.

★
★ "The Hustler": Fletch's gambling enterprise runs into trouble at the hands of Ives and Mackay.

★
★ "A Night In": Set entirely in Fletch and Godber's cell, this episode sees the two ponder life in prison.

★
★ "A Day Out": Fletch, Godber, Ives and some other prisoners go out on a work party, but Fletch escapes for a pint.

★
★ "Ways and Means": New prisoner McClaren proves troublesome, and Fletch ends up on the roof.

★
★ "Men Without Women": Fletch fancies himself as a bit of an agony aunt and is called upon by his fellow inmates to help out, before discovering his own marriage is in trouble.

★ Series 2 ''24 October 1975–28 November 1975''

★
★ "Just Desserts": Fletch is appalled when some nerk nicks his tin of pineapple chunks.

★
★ "Heartbreak Hotel": Godber attacks another prisoner after receiving a Dear John letter from his girlfriend.

★
★ "Disturbing the Peace": The prisoners are overjoyed when Mackay leaves on a course. Until they meet his replacement.

★
★ "No Peace for the Wicked": Fletch's attempts to get a bit of peace and quiet are constantly interrupted.

★
★ "Happy Release": Mackay is desperate to prove that Fletch is faking an injury to get out of work, and Blanco devises a plan for revenge.

★
★ "The Harder They Fall": Grouty chooses Godber's boxing match to fix.

★ Special ''24 December 1975 (45 minutes)''

★ Special ''24 December 1976 (40 minutes)''

★ Series 3 ''18 February 1977–5 March 1977''

★
★ "A Storm in a Teacup": Grouty recruits Fletch to solve a problem regarding some missing pills.

★
★ "Poetic Justice": Fletch is irate to discover that his new cell-mate is the judge that sentenced him.

★
★ "Rough Justice": A kangaroo court is set up to convict Harris for stealing the judge's watch.

★
★ "Pardon Me": Blanco refuses parole, so Fletch sets up an appeal committee to get him pardoned.

★
★ "A Test of Character": Fletch is determined to help Godber pass his History O-level, so he has Warren steal the papers.

★
★ "Final Stretch": Godber is finally released on parole, but Fletch is suspicious about his daughter's holiday plans.

''Going Straight''

In 1978, a follow-up series to ''Porridge'' was made, entitled ''Going Straight''. This featured Fletch having been paroled and attempting to remain on the straight and narrow. It also featured Richard Beckinsale returning as Godber, in a relationship with Fletch's daughter, Ingrid. The series lasted six episodes, and generally was not as well received as its predecessor. Following the death of Beckinsdale, Ronnie Barker decided not to proceed with a seventh episode though the first series did win a BAFTA in March 1979.

''Life Beyond the Box''

In 2003, a spoof documentary, ''Life Beyond the Box'', was produced. It detailed how Fletch's life had panned out in the 25 years since his release. The majority of the programme featured the surviving cast members, in character, with Ronnie Barker featuring in the last few minutes as Fletcher.

Film

The last "episode" of ''Porridge'' was made in 1979 as a feature film, shot entirely on location and without an audience. All the regular sitcom warders and inmates were involved, with the exception of Lukewarm and Harris. There was also a new governor, played by Geoffrey Bayldon.
In the film, Fletch and Godber are forced by another inmate to escape from prison and then have to try to break back in before they're found by the police. Because Godber had been released in the final series episode, and yet was back in the same prison and in the same cell with the same cellmate again, the film fits into the original run of the show, and not after.
Three one-off characters made an impact in the film. Rudge, played by Daniel Peacock, was a young, timid prisoner in the Godber mould, seen arriving for his three-year stretch for shoplifting at the beginning of the film. He came into his own when he showed his outstanding football skills during the game which led to the breakout. Oakes, played by Barrie Rutter, was the violent armed robber who arrived in the same van as Rudge and was sprung for the breakout, unwittingly taking Fletcher and Godber with him. Beal, played by Christopher Godwin, was a new prison officer who subscribed to the firm approach to the job, but proved easy to manipulate into recommending a celebrity football match.

See also

★ List of British sitcoms turned into films

Essential viewing for prisoners

''Porridge'' was immensely popular with British prisoners. Erwin James, an ex-prisoner who writes a bi-weekly column for ''The Guardian'' newspaper, stated that:

"What fans could never know, however, unless they had been subjected to a stint of Her Majesty's Pleasure, was that the conflict between Fletcher and Officer Mackay was about the most authentic depiction ever of the true relationship that exists between prisoners and prison officers in British jails up and down the country. I'm not sure how, but writers Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais [...] grasped the notion that it is the minor victories against the naturally oppressive prison system that makes prison life bearable."

He also noted:

"When I was inside, ''Porridge'' was a staple of our TV diet. In one high-security prison, a video orderly would be dispatched to tape the programme each week. If they missed it, they were in trouble."

Contributions to the English language

The script allowed the prisoners to swear without offending viewers by using the word "naff" in place of ruder words ("Naff off!", "Darn your own naffing socks", "Doing next to naff all"), thereby popularising a word that had been recorded at least as early as 1966.^[1] Ronnie Barker did not claim to have invented it, and in a television interview in 2003 it was explained to him on camera what the word meant, as he hadn't a clue.
Later, ''Red Dwarf'' was inspired by this fake-swearing to make up its own futuristic (and often repeated) expletive, "Smeg!" The TV show ''Friends'' also incorporated this notion of swearing-by-not-swearing with Ross's hand signals as substitutions for giving his parents the finger as a teenager.
A genuine neologism was "nerk", which was used in place of the more offensive "berk" (Cockney rhyming slang, short for "Berkeley Hunt"). Another term was "scrote" (presumably derived from scrotum), meaning a nasty, unpleasant person.

Novelisations

Novelisations of the three series of ''Porridge'' were issued by BBC Books, as well as an adaptation of ''Going Straight''.

External links

★ BBC Comedy Guide

★ 100 Greatest Sitcoms: ''Porridge''

★ ''Porridge'' at IMDb

★ British Film Institute Screen Online

★ ''Porridge'': The Unofficial Homepage

★ British Sitcom Guide

★ ''Porridge'' at www.phill.co.uk

★ Erwin James (prisoner) article on ''Porridge'' in ''The Guardian'' (reg. required)