Porridge (film)
Encyclopedia
Porridge is a 1979
1979 in film
The year 1979 in film involved some significant events.- Major events :* March 5 - Production begins on Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back.* May 25 - Alien, a landmark of the science fiction genre, is released....

 film based upon the television series of the same name
Porridge (TV series)
Porridge is a British situation comedy broadcast on BBC1 from 1974 to 1977, running for three series, two Christmas specials and a feature film. 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...

 which was released under the title Doing Time in the United States.

It was shot entirely on location (Chelmsford Prison
Chelmsford (HM Prison)
HM Prison Chelmsford is a Category B men's prison and Young Offenders Institution, located in Chelmsford, Essex, England. The prison is operated by Her Majesty's Prison Service.-History:...

, Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...

, UK). All the regular sitcom warders and inmates were involved, with the exception of Lukewarm, Heslop, and Harris. There was also a new governor
Prison Governor
In the UK, a Prison Governor is responsible for the management and security of a prison, jail, remand centre and young offenders' institution. In India and Pakistan, the head of a District, Central, Women or special Prison/Jail is called Superintendent of Jail, Superintendent Jail, Senior...

, played by Geoffrey Bayldon
Geoffrey Bayldon
Geoffrey Bayldon is a British actor. After playing roles in many dramas including Shakespeare, he became known for portraying the title role of the children's series Catweazle , after turning down the opportunity to play both the First and Second Doctors in the long-running BBC science fiction...

. The film represented the last finished work by Richard Beckinsale, the actor who played Godber. He died in March 1979, a few weeks after its completion.

Synopsis

Set a year before the final episode of the series, Fletcher
Norman Stanley Fletcher
Norman Stanley "Fletch" Fletcher is the main character in the popular BBC sitcom Porridge, and the less-successful spin-off, Going Straight...

 and Godber
Lennie Godber
Leonard Arthur "Lennie" Godber was a character in the popular BBC sitcom Porridge. He was played by Richard Beckinsale.Godber is from Birmingham, supports Aston Villa F.C., has an O Level in geography, and studies for a history O Level while in prison. Before he was arrested he shared a flat with...

 are forced by another inmate to escape from prison and then have to try to break back in before they're found by the police.

Three one-off characters made an impact in the film. Rudge, played by Daniel Peacock
Daniel Peacock
Daniel Peacock is an English actor, writer and director best known for his work with the team of The Comic Strip Presents.... He is also known as Danny Peacock.-Acting:...

, was a young, timid prisoner in the Godber mould, seen arriving for his three-year stretch for shoplifting
Shoplifting
Shoplifting is theft of goods from a retail establishment. It is one of the most common property crimes dealt with by police and courts....

 at the beginning of the film. He came into his own when he showed his outstanding football skills during the game which led to the breakout. Oakes, played by Barrie Rutter
Barrie Rutter
Barrie Rutter is an English actor and the founder and Artistic Director of the Northern Broadsides theatre company based in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England....

, was the violent armed robber who arrived in the same van as Rudge and was sprung for the breakout, unwittingly taking Fletcher and Godber with him. Beale, played by Christopher Godwin
Christopher Godwin
Christopher Godwin is a British actor who has been active since the late 1960s.He made his TV debut at the age of 25, when he took on the role of PC Grange in an episode of Softly, Softly...

, was a new prison officer who subscribed to the firm approach to the job, but proved easy to manipulate into recommending a celebrity football match.

Production

Unlike the television episodes, the film is not a BBC production, with no references to the corporation on the DVD release (2003).

The opening credits of the film feature the hit "Without You" by Nilsson
Harry Nilsson
Harry Edward Nilsson III was an American singer-songwriter who achieved the peak of his commercial success in the early 1970s. On all but his earliest recordings he is credited as Nilsson...

, and the closing credits contain a more upbeat song by the British singer Joe Brown
Joe Brown (singer)
Joe Brown, MBE is an English entertainer.He has worked as a rock and roll singer and guitarist for more than five decades. He was a stage and television performer in the late 1950s and a UK recording star in the early 1960s...

, entitled "Free Inside".

Cast

  • Ronnie Barker
    Ronnie Barker
    Ronald William George "Ronnie" Barker, OBE was a British actor, comedian, writer, critic, broadcaster and businessman...

     as Norman Stanley Fletcher
  • Richard Beckinsale
    Richard Beckinsale
    Richard Arthur Beckinsale was an English actor, best known for his roles as Lennie Godber in the popular BBC sitcom Porridge and Alan Moore in the British sitcom Rising Damp....

     as Lennie Godber
  • Fulton Mackay
    Fulton Mackay
    Fulton Mackay OBE was a Scottish actor and playwright, best known for his role as prison officer Mr. Mackay in the 1970s sitcom Porridge.-Early life:...

     as Mackay
  • Brian Wilde
    Brian Wilde
    Brian George Wilde was an English actor, best known for his roles in television comedy, including Mr Barrowclough in Porridge and "Foggy" Dewhurst in Last of the Summer Wine...

     as Barrowclough
  • Peter Vaughan
    Peter Vaughan
    Peter Vaughan is an English character actor, known for many supporting roles in a variety of British film and television productions. He has worked extensively on the stage, becoming known for roles such as police inspectors, Soviet agents and similar parts...

     as Grouty
  • Geoffrey Bayldon
    Geoffrey Bayldon
    Geoffrey Bayldon is a British actor. After playing roles in many dramas including Shakespeare, he became known for portraying the title role of the children's series Catweazle , after turning down the opportunity to play both the First and Second Doctors in the long-running BBC science fiction...

     as Treadaway - Governor
  • Christopher Godwin
    Christopher Godwin
    Christopher Godwin is a British actor who has been active since the late 1960s.He made his TV debut at the age of 25, when he took on the role of PC Grange in an episode of Softly, Softly...

     as Beal
  • Barrie Rutter
    Barrie Rutter
    Barrie Rutter is an English actor and the founder and Artistic Director of the Northern Broadsides theatre company based in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England....

     as Oakes
  • Daniel Peacock
    Daniel Peacock
    Daniel Peacock is an English actor, writer and director best known for his work with the team of The Comic Strip Presents.... He is also known as Danny Peacock.-Acting:...

     as Rudge
  • Sam Kelly
    Sam Kelly
    Sam Kelly is an English actor who has appeared in television, radio and theatre.-Career:He has had roles in British sitcoms such as Porridge as Bunny Warren, Allo 'Allo! as Captain Hans Geering leaving after series three, On the Up as Dennis Waterman's chauffeur and We'll Think of Something as Les...

     as Warren
  • Julian Holloway
    Julian Holloway
    Julian Holloway is an English actor now based in Hollywood, CA, United States. He is the son of the comedy actor and singer Stanley Holloway and former chorus dancer and actress Violet Lane...

     as Bainbridge
  • Ken Jones
    Ken Jones (actor)
    Ken Jones is an English actor. Jones was born in Liverpool, England and after working as a signwriter and amateur acting, he trained at RADA and joined Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop...

     as Ives
  • Philip Locke
    Philip Locke
    Philip Locke was an English actor.He is possibly best known for his role as villainous SPECTRE underling Vargas in the 1965 James Bond film Thunderball...

     as Banyard
  • Gorden Kaye
    Gorden Kaye
    Gorden Kaye is a BAFTA-nominated English comic actor, best known for playing René Artois in the British TV comedy Allo 'Allo!.-Early life:...

     as Dines (coach driver)
  • Karl Howman
    Karl Howman
    Karl Howman is an English actor and also a British voice-over artist.He is well known but notable to many television viewers for his work as Jacko in the mid-1980's and early-90's BBC TV sitcom Esmonde and Larbey's Brush Strokes and as the title character in the series Mulberry .However Howman first...

     as Urquhart
  • Derek Deadman
    Derek Deadman
    Derek Deadman is a British actor. He appeared as Rankin in two episodes of the RAF sitcom Get Some In! in 1975 and 1978. He played Ringo in 39 of the 66 episodes of the TV series Never the Twain between 1981 and 1991, and appeared as the barman of The Leaky Cauldron, Tom, in Harry Potter and the...

     as Cooper
  • Tony Osoba
    Tony Osoba
    Tony Osoba is a Scottish actor best known for his role as Jim 'Jock' McClaren in the popular 70s British sitcom Porridge, and appeared in its sequel Going Straight. Osoba was the first black Scottish actor to appear on primetime television when he appeared in the series.His other roles include...

     as McClaren
  • Oliver Smith
    Oliver Smith (actor)
    Oliver Smith is an English actor. He is probably best known for playing the role of Frank The Monster from the original Hellraiser film in 1987, as well as Mr. Browning and Skinless Frank from Hellbound: Hellraiser II film in 1988...

     as McMillan
  • Zoot Money
    Zoot Money
    George Bruno Money, known as Zoot Money is a British vocalist, keyboardist and bandleader best known for his playing of the Hammond organ and association with his Big Roll Band...

    as Lotterby
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