Porridge - The Christmas Specials [1975] [1976] [DVD]

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Meanwhile Fletch, has plans of his own for Christmas, namely getting himself a stay in the prison hospital for Christmas.

Webber, Richard (2005). Porridge: The Complete Scripts and Series Guide. London: Headline Book Publishing. ISBN 0-7553-1535-9 Production [ edit ] Development [ edit ] The frontage of the former St Albans Prison was used as the fictitious H.M. Prison Slade in Cumberland. The building is now a register office. The main storylines of the sitcom focus on its central character, Norman Stanley Fletcher, a man from Muswell Hill, London. Fletcher, described as "an habitual criminal" by the judge who sentences him (and whose words, voiced by Barker, are repeated in the show's opening titles), is sent to HMP Slade, a fictional Category C prison in Cumberland, to serve a prison sentence for his latest crime. The sitcom also follows his cellmate Lennie Godber, a naïve inmate from Birmingham serving his first sentence, whom Fletcher takes under his wing. Each episode's story focuses on their time in prison and the various issues they endure while serving their prison sentences. The BBC was forced to look around for locations because the Home Office refused permission for any production filming inside or outside a real prison. Instead the main gatehouse of the disused St Albans prison (in the town's Victoria Street) was used in the opening credits. Exteriors were first filmed at a psychiatric hospital near Watford. However, after the completion of the second series, the hospital withdrew permission for more filming following complaints from patients' families. Another institution near Ealing was then used for the third series. [6] Scenes within cells and offices were filmed at the BBC's London studios, but for shots of the wider prison interior, series production designer Tim Gleeson converted an old water tank, used at Ealing Studios for underwater filming, into a multi-storey set. [7]

Mr Barrowclough is given the job of escorting Fletcher to hospital, although he finds the very edgy Fletcher's grumbling a dampener on his day. At the hospital, a young nurse gives Fletcher a "Christmas card", which turns out to be a fake passport for Tommy Slocombe. Grouty also asks that Fletcher and Godber help with the choir, but also insists that Fletcher provides him with a bicycle. Novelisations of the three series of Porridge and the film were issued by BBC Books, as well as an adaptation of Going Straight. BBC Enterprises released an LP record featuring two Porridge episodes, "A Night In" and "Heartbreak Hotel" in 1977.(REB 270) Two volumes of audio cassette releases ('Porridge' and 'More Porridge') comprising four episodes each, including the two episodes from the vinyl release, were issued in the mid-1990s, and later re-released on CD. A third volume of four episodes ('A Third Helping') was released on cassette in 2002. That was on BBC2 last night. It is still so watchable, script timing and the characters are all fabulous. Porridge like other well remembered comedies of the last century endure because they pretty much had to be designed for a family audience. Especially Porridge given its setting. Thus it becomes a warm family memory. Harry Grout is planning an escape for a fellow prisoner Tommy Slocombe. Everybody has a part to play in Grouty’s masterplan as members of the prison choir.

Subsequently, Barker is reported to have said that he regretted recording himself as the judge, [ citation needed] a role subsequently played by Maurice Denham in two episodes of the third series. Vicar of Dibley up to a point-the episode where she tries to eat 3 Christmas dinners probably my favourite.

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Watts, Halina (29 August 2016). "Porridge fans ask for more servings". Daily Mirror . Retrieved 6 October 2016. 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. It has been established that Warren cannot read. However, he is seen holding a hymn book while singing in the choir. It could be however, that due to the choir singing the same four carols over and over, that he has memorised the lyrics as he is not seen reading from the book itself.

The Desperate Hours" is the second Christmas special of the BBC sitcom Porridge. It first aired on 24 December 1976. [1] In this episode, Fletcher and Godber are in trouble for brewing liquor in the lead-up to Christmas, but are caught up in a hostage situation in the Governor's office. It was the only episode of Porridge to air in 1976. During the 1970’s festive editions of popular sitcoms were very popular, with both BBC and ITV running festive editions of their most popular sitcoms. Porridge was no exception. Porridge was immensely popular with British prisoners. Erwin James, an ex-prisoner who writes a bi-weekly column for The Guardian newspaper, stated that: A genuine neologism was "nerk", which was used in place of the more offensive " berk". "Berk" has changed meaning since its inception and is generally used now to mean "fool" while the original rhyming slang meaning refers to female genitalia (via 'Berkeley Hunt'). Another term was "scrote" (presumably derived from scrotum), meaning a nasty, unpleasant person.

Unfortunately he finds himself putting his own plans on hold as Harry Grout enlists his help. However sometimes things don’t always turn out so bad. of an unfortunate Fletch who has plans of his own for Christmas, namely getting himself a stay in the prison hospital for Christmas. Ronnie Barker was the author of Fletcher's Book of Rhyming Slang (Pan, 1979), which includes an introduction by 'Fletch'. Christmas has come to Slade Prison. Godber, with his innocent nature, likes the idea of Christmas, but Fletcher tells him that Christmas in prison is little different to any other day. Godber points out that there are carol singers, but Fletcher remarks that they are there to drown out the sound of Tommy Slocombe's tunnelling. Id add votes for OFAH-Jolly Boys Outing is a peak memory for many I think simply because it features the whole cast going full on for the laughs. Didn't matter at all that it was set in summer. Obviously a number of other contenders-the Batman clip was an instant legend.