Porridge – Specials
Episodes
Prisoner and Escort - Pilot
Norman Stanley Fletcher, a career criminal and his escorts - soft-hearted Mr Barraclough (Brian Wilde) and authoritarian Mr Mackay (Fulton Mackay) going up to prison.
No Way Out
An escape plan is being hatched and Fletcher wants to stay well out of it. Perhaps spending Christmas in the prison hospital might help to keep him out of trouble
The Desperate Hours
Fletcher and Godber have spent months fermenting "Chateau Slade". They don't get chance to drink it, however, when the "screws" discover it's whereabouts. It begins to look as if Fletcher will be spending Christmas in solitary confinement.
Porridge - The Movie
This prison comedy is based on the popular British televison series of the same name. Long time Slade prison inmate Fletcher (Ronnie Barker) is ordered by Grouty (Peter Vaughan) to arrange a football match between the prisoners and an all-star celebrity team. Fletcher is unaware that the match is only a diversion so that an escape can take place. When Fletcher and his cell mate Lennie (Richard Beckinsale) stumble on the escape, they are taken along, and find themselves having to break back into prison to avoid getting into trouble.
Case for Britain's Best Sitcom
Johnny Vaughan argues the case for Porridge in BBC Britian's Best Sitcom "'Porridge' is set in the grimmest place imaginable - a prison. And yet still manages to be both gritty and witty". "Why? The scripts of course… and it doesn't hurt that Fletcher - the most brilliant sitcom creation of all time - is played by the comedy guvnor himself Ronnie Barker". "Fletch laid down the template for comedy rogues which Del Boy and 'Fools and Horses' followed shamelessly. David Jason even studied Ronnie Barker on the set of 'Porridge'". "And who could be a better comedy foil for Barker than doe-eyed innocent Richard Beckinsale. The pair made episode 'A Night In' the best ever two-hander to ever appear in a British sitcom". "'Porridge' had proper villains too! No sitcom has ever had a character quite as mean as the man who really runs Slade Prison - Harry Grout. And prison officer Mackay, played to neurotic perfection by Fulton Mackay, very nearly stole the show from under the convicts' noses". "And the show was ahead of its time. 'Porridge' had straight, black, white and gay all living together relatively harmoniously. Slade was - strangely - a tolerant utopian vision of society. Except for Grouty, that is". "'Porridge' is rich, satisfying, and packed with goodness. Never past its sell-by date, and guaranteed no artificial additives like labyrinthine plots, rubbish title music and stereotypical nagging wives." http://www.bbc.co.uk/sitcom/advocate_porridge.shtml
Interview with Ronnie Barker
Ronnie Barker looks back on the classic sitcom.
Life Beyond the Box: Norman Stanley Fletcher
Spoof documentary looking at the life of Normal Stanley Fletcher, the star of 1970s sitcom Porridge played by Ronnie Barker. Featuring fictional footage and interviews with the character's family, friends and associates, the film documents Fletcher's chequered career.
Porridge: Inside Out - Sent Down
A making-of documentary celebrating the 40th anniversary of the television sitcom Porridge (Episode 1 of 3).
Porridge: Inside Out - Banged Up
A making-of documentary celebrating the 40th anniversary of the television sitcom Porridge (Episode 2 of 3).
Porridge: Inside Out - Good Behaviour
A making-of documentary celebrating the 40th anniversary of the television sitcom Porridge (Episode 3 of 3).