Porridge (1974 TV series)

Porridge
Main title, showing the main entrance to Slade prison.
Created byDick Clement
Ian La Frenais
Written byDick Clement
Ian La Frenais
Directed bySydney Lotterby
StarringBrian Wilde
Patricia Brake
Ronnie Barker
Richard Beckinsale
Peter Vaughan
Brian Glover
Christopher Biggins
Tony Osoba
Sam Kelly
Fulton Mackay
Ronald Lacey
Ken Jones
David Jason
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series3
No. of episodes21 (list of episodes)
Production
ProducerSydney Lotterby
Production locationBBC Television Centre
Running time30–45 minutes
Production companyBBC
Original release
NetworkBBC1
Release1 April 1973 (pilot)
5 September 1974 (1974-09-05) (series) –
25 March 1977 (1977-03-25)
Related
Going Straight (1978)
Infobox instructions (only shown in preview)

Porridge is a British sitcom, starring Ronnie Barker and Richard Beckinsale, written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, and broadcast on BBC1 from 1974 to 1977. The programme ran for three series and two Christmas specials. A feature film of the same name based on the series was released in 1979.

The sitcom focuses on two prison inmates, Norman Fletcher (played by Barker) and Lennie Godber (played by Beckinsale), who are serving time at the fictional HMP Slade in Cumberland. The show's title is a 1950s British slang term for a prison sentence, derived from the traditional breakfast that used to be served in British prisons.[1]

Porridge was critically acclaimed and is widely considered to be one of the greatest British sitcoms of all time. It is ranked No. 35 on the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes compiled by the British Film Institute in 2000. In 2004, Porridge placed seventh in a poll to find Britain's Best Sitcom.

The series was followed by a 1978 sequel, Going Straight, which saw Barker reprise his character as he tries to avoid going back to prison. Porridge was revived in 2016 under the same name, with Fletcher's grandson beginning a prison sentence.

  1. ^ Prisoners no longer do porridge. oxbridgeapplications.com. Retrieved 11 November 2020.