Porridge creators reflect on 50 years of the classic sitcom: ‘Ronnie Barker was our safety net’

Reflecting back on the incredible journey of Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais’s timeless sitcom Porridge, I find myself reminiscing with a heart full of gratitude and admiration for their unparalleled storytelling prowess. As a fan who has grown up watching this masterpiece, it is an absolute joy to witness the show’s resurgence 50 years on, not only gracing our television screens but also being immortalized in a set of Royal Mail stamps.

This interview was originally published in TopMob magazine.

In the year 1974, the sitcom “Porridge,” created by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, first aired on BBC One. This show eventually garnered three BAFTA awards.

Now, after fifty years, they’re thrilled to see it on television again, and it’s also being honored this month through a series of Royal Mail commemorative stamps.

Talking to TopMob over Zoom from California, they explain how the show came about.

“In my perspective, the production I’m discussing here is a standalone venture derived from a 1973 television series titled ‘Seven of One’. This series consisted of seven distinct episodes, each featuring Ronnie Barker. As a writer, I was fortunate enough to contribute to the creation of two of these captivating episodes.”

One tale revolved around an impulsive Welsh clan with a penchant for gambling, while another, titled “Prisoner and Escort,” saw Fletcher being transported to a northern prison by Mackay and Barraclough (Fulton Mackay and Brian Wilde). Both pilot episodes caught the BBC’s attention, and they inquired about which one we believed would develop into a series.

“Visiting prisons like Brixton, Wandsworth, and Wormwood Scrubs to gather inspiration for a project was initially intimidating due to their bleak atmosphere. Yet, we wondered, could we make something humorous in such settings? However, we found comfort in the thought, ‘It’s Ronnie – he’ll bring the humor.’ He served as our security blanket. And director Syd[ney] Lotterby skillfully assembled the cast.”

According to La Frenais, Syd and the designer delivered an outstanding performance with their setup, which included the walkway, the confined cell, the sound of keys turning in locks and doors banging shut. There was a feeling of a life trapped in limbo. It’s a comedic production driven by character development.

Clement mentions that Fletch often seems grouchy, and he tends to act unkindly towards Godber (Richard Beckinsale) in subtle ways, playing the part of an unwilling mentor figure.

“La Frenais states that it’s about adopting an attitude of ‘work hard and don’t complain,'” adds La Frenais. “Occasionally, you might even snatch a small triumph, like taking an extra spoonful of scrambled eggs when no one is looking.”

Experiencing the process of writing the initial season was thrilling for us. As we were engaged in creating a musical in Manchester, Billy, La Frenais mentioned that we also penned “Porridge” during our breaks at the Midland Hotel while rehearsing.

“Clement mentioned that we had to speak it aloud,” he said, “in order to grasp the flow of the spoken sentence and determine if the scene was clear about its direction.”

The BBC rehearsal room situated in Acton, West London, was not just any ordinary space; it held a cheerful atmosphere. “Ronnie stuck closely to the script during every reading, but he always managed to slip in a joke,” they were later told by Barker. Being a talented writer himself, this comedic addition was hard to resist. Later on, Barker admitted that Fletcher was his most cherished role.

A subtle suggestion of the raw brutality found in actual prisons is present in the character of “Grouty” (Peter Vaughan). It’s common knowledge that it’s best to avoid provoking him.

La Frenais comments, “The highest praise we received was when a guard at Chelmsford Prison, where we filmed the 1979 Porridge movie, stated that for a minor infraction, the punishment was not being able to watch Porridge.” Clement ponders, “He implied that even the prison guards enjoyed it as much as the inmates did.”

Sadly, Beckinsale passed away in 1979 at the young age of 31. As La Frenais recalls, “A truly emotional moment occurred during our filming in Hawaii for a project that his daughter Kate was involved with. She had been just five when he died. What she shared with us was heart-wrenching; she had come to know her father through watching Porridge.”

2024-09-03 02:37

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