Porridge
Comedy
Porridge is a British situation comedy broadcast on BBC1 from 1974 to 1977, running for three series, two Christmas specials and a feature film also titled Porridge. Written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, it stars Ronnie Barker and Richard Beckinsale as two inmates at the fictional HMP Slade in Cumberland. "Doing porridge" is British slang for serving a prison sentence, porridge once being the traditional breakfast in UK prisons. The series was followed by a 1978 sequel, Going Straight, which established that Fletcher would not be going back to prison again. Porridge was voted number seven in a 2004 BBC poll of the 100 greatest British sitcoms.
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Seasons & episodes
1New Faces, Old Hands5 Sept 1974 · 30m · ★ 8.1“Twenty-three and you want to go straight? What kind of talk is that? You've got your whole life in front of you!” It's Godber's first time in prison, and Fletch is going to teach him the ways.
2The Hustler12 Sept 1974 · 30m · ★ 7.9Ives is such a loser that if Elizabeth Taylor had triplets, he'd have been the one in the middle. But there's no way he's going to be left out of Fletch's gambling enterprise.
3A Night In19 Sept 1974 · 30m · ★ 8.9Fletch explains to Godber that the best way to cope with his first night in prison, is to see it as just a "quiet night in". Trouble is, Godber's got another 698 to go.
4A Day Out26 Sept 1974 · 30m · ★ 7.7The rest of the working party are thrilled to have a day out, but Fletch is masking indifference - what's so exciting about digging a ditch anyway?
5Ways and Means3 Oct 1974 · 30m · ★ 8.3Who would want to spend eight hours a day sewing fishing nets? Not Fletch, who is hell-bent on a cushy job in the library.
6Men Without Women10 Oct 1974 · 30m · ★ 8.5Fletch fancies himself as a bit of an agony aunt and is called upon by his fellow inmates to help out with affairs of the heart.
Details
- Created by
- Dick Clement, Ian La Frenais
- First aired
- 5 Sept 1974
- Last aired
- 25 Mar 1977
- Status
- Ended
- Language
- English
- Network
- BBC One
- Episodes
- 18
- Votes
- 57 on TMDB
Cast
Ronnie BarkerNorman Stanley Fletcher
Richard BeckinsaleLennie Godber
Fulton MackayMr. Mackay
Brian WildeMr. Barrowclough
