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Porridge contains
all the essential ingredients

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needed to make a classic comedy.

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Take a loveable rogue,
pair him with a naive new inmate,

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then add a hard-nosed
prison officer. The result?

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A sitcom which dared to go where
no other sitcom had gone before...

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..prison.

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You see those flasks over there?
I want you to fill one for me.

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What, from here?

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It's 40 years since we enjoyed
our first taste of Porridge.

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Set in Slade Prison, it brought
together the comic talents

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of Ronnie Barker
and Richard Beckinsale.

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Large one, sir?
Mind your own business. Very good.

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With plots revolving around getting
one over on the screws.

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Now what's going on here?

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Just adjusting
the television, Mr Mackay.

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And avoiding grief
from the menacing top dog.

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MUSIC: "The Archers Theme Tune"

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It is the ultimate
us versus them comedy.

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He just became a vegetable.
An incoherent non-thinking zombie.

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What became of him? He joined
the prison service as a warden.

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Porridge was immediately
a sort of favourite and a classic

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as soon as it came out. People
fell in love with it instantly.

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It's still live and vibrant
and those performances

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and those situations are still funny,
they don't stop being funny.

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Here we are 40 years later.
40 years later,

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talking about the fact that
this was a great, great TV series.

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Far from being
confined in one place,

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the story of Porridge
stretches far and wide.

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From the Welsh valleys
to the Geordie shores,

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Notting Hill
to the Hollywood Hills.

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In this definitive series,

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we get the inside stories
from the men who created it.

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Britain's most celebrated
comedy-writing duo,

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Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais.

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There's a lady behind you
taking a photograph of us.

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She thinks they're
remaking Starsky and Hutch.

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Absolutely.
Whom we so closely resemble.

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We hear firsthand the secrets
behind those iconic scripts.

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It was the biggest
challenge for us to write

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because it's getting to the
essence of what the series is about.

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What are you going to
call your book, Fletcher?

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Don't Let The Bastards
Grind You Down, sir.

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And discover what life was really
like inside sitcom's only slammer.

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Take one.

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There was an internal chemistry,
which was very enjoyable

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because everybody was really
enjoying what they were doing.

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I was the first one here today.
7:30. I was here before the cleaners.

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This is the complete story

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of how a comedy went
behind bars just for laughs.

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You can't beat the system,
Mr Barraclough.

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Tonight, Dick and Ian take us back

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to where it all began
and the moment two unlikely lads

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took their first taste of Porridge.

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LAUGHS

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We were quite worried about it
but we reminded ourselves

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it was going to be Ronnie Barker
in this, so that felt reassuring.

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We trace the roots of Porridge

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and take a road trip to locations
used in the rarely seen pilot.

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This is where
Norman Stanley Fletcher

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quite literally took the wee-wee.

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Plus, reveal recordings

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which have never been
broadcast on TV until now.

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Right, this is Fletcher's script,
part one.

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Come with me, Harris!

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But before all that,
let's take a moment to look back

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at Dick and Ian's most
celebrated comic creation,

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Norman Stanley Fletcher.

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Huh, could you Adam and Eve it?

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Go to jail.

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I still, to this day, find myself,
I always repeat one line from it.

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I mean, that's like...

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LAUGHS

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Lovely. Look at that. Oh!

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Norman Stanley Fletcher,
ducker and diver.

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He's a loveable rogue, I suppose.

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"I wish you was here. Oh, well, I
must close now and get on my lover."

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No.

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"I must close now and get on,
my lover." See?

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Sort of, not really a criminal so
much as he's sort of a career man

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whose career happens
to be burglary, you know.

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And again, there's something, you
know, quite affectionate about that.

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I don't know quite
how to put this, gentlemen,

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but there is a thief among us.

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We've always liked characters who
stick two fingers up to authority.

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And he has
a great way of doing that.

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We do love him and that's the genius

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of the writing and Ronnie's
performance, really.

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From the moment he first
appeared on our screens,

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Fletcher stole the show.

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This cynical,
self-centred old scoundrel

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was Ronnie Barker at his finest.

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Balls, Mr Mackay.

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Why the different sizes?
That's life, sir.

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It was very, sort of, him.
Just this, like, kind of naff

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kind of cockney voice and the
ducking and diving villain.

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I mean, he always
looked so comfortable in it.

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He would absolutely be upset
if I called him a comedian.

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He's not a comedian,
he's a comedic actor.

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Alright, Fletcher, just don't let me
catch you thieving, that's all.

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I won't.
You won't what?

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I won't let you catch me, Mr Mackay.

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You know he's always on the con.
That's what's so super about it.

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He's always, you know...
It's only himself that matters.

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But he has generosity and kindness,
which is also very sweet.

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I mean, it's a lovely
rounded character.

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I'm not here to be cajoled or
coerced into doing what you want,

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whenever you want it.
Oh, Mr Barraclough,

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of course you're not.
I mean, would I ever?

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Well, as long as that's
clearly understood then. Yes.

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He knows how to
manipulate the system.

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He knows, you know, he knows the
weak spots of the other characters.
He knows how to prey on them.

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He knows not to mess with the
people he shouldn't mess with.

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So he's a great
barometer of human life.

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There's no doubt that Fletch
is the original king of spin.

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We asked the writers
Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais

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to choose a classic scene
that sums up Fletcher's

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selfish, scheming,
double-dealing ways.

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FLETCHER: Is it worth it?
GODBER: How do you mean.
FLETCHER: I mean, is it worth it?

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All these pull-ups and press-ups
and deep-breathing exercises.

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All this weightlifting. I mean,
it's a bit daft, innit? Eh?

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I mean, it's all punishment, innit?

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"Well, it's for the boxing Fletch."
"Yeah, I know, I know."

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Well, it's a classic prison
situation. Fletcher has to persuade,

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you know, the innocent,
guileless Godber

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to do something
which is extremely immoral.

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"You want some snout?" "No, thanks,
better not." "All right."

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Suit yourself. That reminds me, I've
got some of your favourite chocolate.

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"Look at that.
Fruit & Nut. There you are."

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It's transparent what he's
doing with the chocolate
and snout and everything.

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"Well, thanks very much, Fletch.
That's very kind of you."

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"I'll save it till after the fight."

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Fletcher, he's been manipulated
with force, so he has to do this.

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"Well, they was
wondering you, see..."

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Well, they was insisting...

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He's thinking of his own survival.
He's going to get skinned.

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He's going to lose his balls

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if he doesn't get
the kid to agree to this.

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"What is it you're
trying to say, Fletch?"

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Tomorrow night ain't
going to be your night, Lenny.

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"How?"

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"Big Grouty wants you
to take a dive in the second."

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I can't do that, Fletcher.
I know. I know that. I know that.

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"I respect you for that."
And when he turns him down,

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he respects him.

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And then when he explains why,

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then Fletcher becomes
the one who's morally offended.

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"Well, then why can't you do it?"

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For me?

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I've already promised Billy Moffett
that I'd go down in the first.

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Look what Ronnie does with that.

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Nobody was better than Ronnie
at taking a moment like that

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and using the audience
to tell him how long to play it.

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I mean, in that respect,
I've never seen anybody better.

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You promised Billy Moffett?!
Keep your voice down!

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Well, he's been out-manoeuvred,
so he's furious

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that he's been out-manoeuvred,
which is wonderful.

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There's a marvellous arc
to the scene, which I just love.

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"It's the easy way out!
No skin off my nose."

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It's me that's going to get skinned,
mate. And not off me nose, either!

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BOTH LAUGH

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I think we went to a bistro in South
Ken afterwards. The whole cast.

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I just remember that night

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and the hangover the next morning.

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Coming up,
we look at how Dick and Ian

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were promoted to the
premier league of comedy.

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There was a decision made
to do seven different

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half hours with Ronnie Barker.

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They asked us to write two,
which was very nice.

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We were sort of on the A-list now.

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Cobblers.

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And discover what makes
these teammates tick.

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They've got this formula
and nobody should mess with it.

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It's about the
sex-starved lady pygmies

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of the southern Malaysian desert.

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What's it called?
Little Women.

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40 years after
the success of Porridge,

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writers Dick Clement
and Ian La Frenais

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are now firmly
established in Hollywood.

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With a string of projects on the go,
the pair are as busy as ever.

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I just had this thought
overnight about the documentary.

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When we start the music section,

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that bit after the Beatles,
remind me what that is.

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We had the Beatles in Washington.
"Please Please Me", if you remember.

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And we... PHONE RINGS
Sorry, hang on. Hello?

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Spielberg.
Tell him to go away, we're busy.

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It's not a good moment, sorry.

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Two choc ices, please.

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I think they're very great writers.

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I think that their writing
is as good as it gets.

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They've done some of
the greatest comedies

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that have ever been seen
on British television.

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Boasting a bulging back catalogue
of classic comedy,

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Clement and La Frenais
can rightfully stake claim

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00:11:00,660 --> 00:11:04,260
to being the best comedy writers
Britain has ever produced.

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00:11:04,420 --> 00:11:06,780
I remember, I poured
a bowl of pink blancmange

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00:11:06,940 --> 00:11:09,780
down Deirdre Birchwood's
brassiere. Do you remember?

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00:11:09,940 --> 00:11:12,700
I remember. Me hand
was down there at the time.

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00:11:13,740 --> 00:11:16,940
I think the great thing that
Dick and Ian did on television,

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00:11:17,100 --> 00:11:18,980
was they connected
with people like me.

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And it felt like
they were speaking to me

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because they put me
in the characters' shoes.

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00:11:24,100 --> 00:11:26,700
I think they're really
in touch with how,

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00:11:26,860 --> 00:11:29,060
for want of a better phrase,
the common man speaks.

204
00:11:29,180 --> 00:11:31,180
The Irish are the blacks of Europe

205
00:11:31,340 --> 00:11:34,060
and Dubliners
are the blacks of Ireland.

206
00:11:34,180 --> 00:11:36,220
So say it once, say it loud,

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00:11:36,340 --> 00:11:38,260
I'm black and I'm proud.

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00:11:41,260 --> 00:11:43,820
Dick and Ian
write dramatic situations

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00:11:43,940 --> 00:11:45,860
out of which comes comedy,

210
00:11:46,020 --> 00:11:49,820
rather than looking for the comedy
and then writing the script.

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00:11:49,980 --> 00:11:52,660
Do you want to kick
his goolies, pommie? Argh!

212
00:11:52,820 --> 00:11:55,660
Oh, no, I never hit a man when
somebody else can do it better.

213
00:11:55,820 --> 00:11:57,540
Oh! Ooh!
Argh! Ugh!

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00:11:57,700 --> 00:12:00,220
Ian and Dick
are the masters of creating

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00:12:00,380 --> 00:12:03,340
huge comedy from people
in confined spaces.

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00:12:03,500 --> 00:12:05,940
Porridge was a classic
trapped situation.

217
00:12:06,100 --> 00:12:08,180
The Likely Lads were trapped
in their situation.

218
00:12:08,300 --> 00:12:10,220
Auf Wiedersehen, Pet,

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00:12:10,380 --> 00:12:13,980
all that gang were
trapped in various ways.

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00:12:14,140 --> 00:12:17,540
The situations they've created, like
the hut in Auf Wiedersehen, Pet.

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00:12:17,660 --> 00:12:20,380
That sort of claustrophobia, again,

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lends itself fantastically
to a situation comedy.

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00:12:23,540 --> 00:12:25,620
I'm not here because I like it, Oz.

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Some of us, like me and Dennis,

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we're only going through this
because we've got a purpose.

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00:12:31,140 --> 00:12:34,460
I thought you had a wife.
I didn't realise you had a
porpoise. What do you feed it on?

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00:12:45,500 --> 00:12:50,300
To trace the origins of Porridge,
we need to go way back to 1964

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00:12:50,460 --> 00:12:54,260
to a backstreet pub in London's
fashionable Notting Hill.

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00:12:54,420 --> 00:12:57,460
And the moment
an ambitious BBC trainee

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00:12:57,620 --> 00:13:00,220
met an out-of-work
market researcher

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00:13:00,340 --> 00:13:02,420
fresh off the train from Newcastle.

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00:13:02,580 --> 00:13:07,540
I remember him mainly because he was
a bit smart and he was very tall.

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00:13:07,700 --> 00:13:10,940
He looked taller because
he wore a very long coat

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00:13:11,100 --> 00:13:15,100
and he had a Lambretta or was
it a...? No, it was a Lambretta.

235
00:13:15,260 --> 00:13:20,100
And it is impossible for a tall
man to look cool on a Lambretta.

236
00:13:20,260 --> 00:13:22,140
Perfectly true.
It's a well-known fact.

237
00:13:22,300 --> 00:13:25,420
I think you can look cool on a
Lambretta maybe if you're in Rome,

238
00:13:25,580 --> 00:13:27,820
you know, with
a pretty girl on the back.

239
00:13:27,980 --> 00:13:30,260
That would look cool, you know.
But... But you weren't.

240
00:13:30,420 --> 00:13:33,620
No. I wasn't in Rome and I didn't
have a pretty girl on the back

241
00:13:33,780 --> 00:13:37,940
and so it wasn't... it wasn't my
coolest phase, it has to be said.

242
00:13:38,100 --> 00:13:41,380
We just came together because Dick,
he was in an amateur review,

243
00:13:41,540 --> 00:13:45,180
and what happened was Dick and I
ended up writing something together.

244
00:13:45,300 --> 00:13:47,420
Sketches, just a little review.

245
00:13:47,580 --> 00:13:51,660
But it started that
kind of relationship between us.

246
00:13:51,820 --> 00:13:56,740
I was working at the BBC. When I got
a chance to direct this test piece,

247
00:13:56,900 --> 00:13:59,140
I said to Ian, I said,
"Look, we can get this made."

248
00:13:59,260 --> 00:14:02,220
And so we expanded it to 25 minutes.

249
00:14:02,380 --> 00:14:04,980
It had only been about
10 minutes before, so we....

250
00:14:05,140 --> 00:14:07,460
But that became
The Likely Lads, actually.

251
00:14:09,500 --> 00:14:12,660
A decade before sending
comedy to prison,

252
00:14:12,820 --> 00:14:15,820
Dick and Ian
took it somewhere equally scary.

253
00:14:15,980 --> 00:14:19,340
The working-class stronghold
of northern England.

254
00:14:19,500 --> 00:14:21,700
I was a teenager when
The Likely Lads came on

255
00:14:21,860 --> 00:14:23,740
and because it was
set in the North East,

256
00:14:23,900 --> 00:14:27,020
I can't think of anything really
that had been North East before,

257
00:14:27,140 --> 00:14:29,060
but we watched it for that reason.

258
00:14:29,220 --> 00:14:31,820
19 and threepence for one round.
Look, Bob, we've got to watch it.

259
00:14:31,980 --> 00:14:33,580
It'll be all right.
It won't be all right.

260
00:14:33,740 --> 00:14:36,260
Not with the drinks they're having.
What about this? Look at it.

261
00:14:36,380 --> 00:14:38,340
It's like an allotment.

262
00:14:39,340 --> 00:14:41,300
Seeing a show with those accents in

263
00:14:41,460 --> 00:14:45,180
made you realise that you didn't
have to sound like a BBC newsreader

264
00:14:45,340 --> 00:14:48,420
and that's what made me
want to be an actor, really.

265
00:14:48,580 --> 00:14:52,220
By the cringe, I haven't half spent
some bloody money tonight.

266
00:14:53,780 --> 00:14:55,980
We both shared one thing in common.
We both loved

267
00:14:56,140 --> 00:15:00,140
all these new-wave
movies that were coming out.

268
00:15:00,340 --> 00:15:03,780
Saturday Night And Sunday Morning.
Albert Finney.
They were all our generation.

269
00:15:03,940 --> 00:15:07,740
We were so excited about seeing
this kind of working-class movie.

270
00:15:07,900 --> 00:15:11,220
Don't let the bastards grind you
down, that's one thing I've learned.

271
00:15:11,340 --> 00:15:13,380
It was a whole new part of Britain

272
00:15:13,540 --> 00:15:16,780
that was getting its attention
for the first time.

273
00:15:16,940 --> 00:15:20,180
So we wanted to jump
on that bandwagon

274
00:15:20,340 --> 00:15:23,380
but use it with comedy
as opposed to drama, you know.

275
00:15:23,540 --> 00:15:27,100
All right, but it's just as well to
have a bit on you for emergencies.

276
00:15:27,260 --> 00:15:30,060
Emergencies? If I spend
more than ten quid on a woman

277
00:15:30,180 --> 00:15:32,100
it'd be a bloody catastrophe.

278
00:15:32,260 --> 00:15:37,060
Watched by 27 million viewers,
that was half the population,

279
00:15:37,220 --> 00:15:41,500
The Likely Lads turned
Bob and Terry into national icons,

280
00:15:41,620 --> 00:15:45,100
spawned even more successful sequel,

281
00:15:45,220 --> 00:15:48,300
before leaping to the big screen.

282
00:15:48,420 --> 00:15:50,820
It was after two series and a movie

283
00:15:50,980 --> 00:15:56,900
when I changed my passport
from "student" to "writer".

284
00:15:58,620 --> 00:16:01,540
You had to put a profession
in those days in your passport.

285
00:16:01,700 --> 00:16:04,620
You still do on an immigration form
when you come into the UK.

286
00:16:04,780 --> 00:16:07,980
Nobody puts "drug dealer", do they?
Very few.

287
00:16:08,140 --> 00:16:12,380
By 1973, Dick and Ian were
hoovering up hit after hit.

288
00:16:12,540 --> 00:16:16,580
So when the BBC were looking for
the cream of comedy writing talent

289
00:16:16,740 --> 00:16:19,820
to whip up a new series
for their latest star,

290
00:16:19,940 --> 00:16:22,100
the boys were top of the list.

291
00:16:22,260 --> 00:16:26,500
There was a decision made
to do seven different half hours

292
00:16:26,660 --> 00:16:30,660
with Ronnie Barker.
I guess the BBC were thinking

293
00:16:30,820 --> 00:16:33,180
at least one or two of these
would turn into series.

294
00:16:33,340 --> 00:16:35,900
I'm sure that was the theory.
They asked us to write two,

295
00:16:36,060 --> 00:16:38,340
which was very nice.
It was nice to be on that list.

296
00:16:41,340 --> 00:16:46,500
The BBC realising they'd got a
master character actor on the books,

297
00:16:46,660 --> 00:16:51,580
decided they would do seven
one-off pilots all starring him.

298
00:16:51,740 --> 00:16:55,500
Ronnie Barker was, in 1974,
was a big star

299
00:16:55,620 --> 00:16:57,380
because, of course, the Two Ronnies.

300
00:16:57,540 --> 00:17:02,820
The Two Ronnies were absolutely
Saturday night family-time watching

301
00:17:02,980 --> 00:17:06,100
and the BBC
obviously knew his capability

302
00:17:06,260 --> 00:17:08,660
because he was such
a good comedy actor.

303
00:17:08,820 --> 00:17:11,380
Hello, Spotty.
Oh, darling Magnus.

304
00:17:11,540 --> 00:17:13,980
LAUGHS
Mwah!

305
00:17:14,980 --> 00:17:17,940
There's not a spot on her face.
Who mentioned her face?

306
00:17:19,100 --> 00:17:22,060
Regularly attracting
over 20 million viewers,

307
00:17:22,220 --> 00:17:25,660
the two Ronnies were kings
of Saturday night TV.

308
00:17:25,820 --> 00:17:29,860
Ronnie taught me the business
about voices and accents

309
00:17:30,020 --> 00:17:34,700
and character playing and I taught
him a bit about vaudeville

310
00:17:34,860 --> 00:17:37,260
and putting on ladies'
dresses and things.

311
00:17:41,580 --> 00:17:47,620
So we came together and made more
complete performers of each other.

312
00:17:47,780 --> 00:17:52,260
At the same time as getting on
very well as friends, you know.

313
00:17:52,420 --> 00:17:54,580
Now who's this silly arse
with an ugly daughter?

314
00:17:54,700 --> 00:17:56,620
I beg your pardon?

315
00:17:56,780 --> 00:17:58,660
I said, would you kindly pass
the jug of water?

316
00:17:59,580 --> 00:18:02,380
What I've always wanted to achieve
is to become somebody else

317
00:18:02,540 --> 00:18:06,140
and Ronnie, despite the fact that
maybe he looked like himself,

318
00:18:06,260 --> 00:18:08,700
he was just brilliant at it.

319
00:18:08,820 --> 00:18:10,740
Just becoming a different person.

320
00:18:12,740 --> 00:18:16,620
Seven Of One gave Ronnie the
perfect opportunity to become

321
00:18:16,780 --> 00:18:20,740
seven different characters
in seven different situations.

322
00:18:20,860 --> 00:18:23,100
Oh, gawd!

323
00:18:23,260 --> 00:18:27,100
Dick and Ian's first focused
on a Welsh gambling family

324
00:18:27,260 --> 00:18:30,740
who would have a flutter
on absolutely anything.

325
00:18:30,900 --> 00:18:34,380
No, no. It's my dad, see.
Oh, I'm sorry, is it serious?

326
00:18:34,540 --> 00:18:37,620
Oh, yes. He's fading fast. I was
saying to Mortlake only this morning,

327
00:18:37,780 --> 00:18:39,660
I bet a fiver he doesn't
last the week.

328
00:18:40,580 --> 00:18:46,100
It was based on a quote I saw
in an article in the Guardian.

329
00:18:46,260 --> 00:18:50,460
And it was an article about
an old man on his deathbed,

330
00:18:50,620 --> 00:18:54,020
he was very contrite about the fact
that he'd caused his family

331
00:18:54,180 --> 00:18:57,540
an enormous amount of suffering over
the years because of his gambling.

332
00:18:57,700 --> 00:19:01,340
And he'd confessed this
to the local priest.

333
00:19:01,500 --> 00:19:05,540
When I get up to heaven,
when I go with the angels, like,

334
00:19:05,660 --> 00:19:08,220
will I have wings, like?

335
00:19:08,380 --> 00:19:12,220
Yes, yes. I'm sure you will,
Mr Owen.

336
00:19:12,380 --> 00:19:15,060
And when you get up there too,
will you have wings and all?

337
00:19:15,180 --> 00:19:17,820
Well, I hope so.

338
00:19:17,940 --> 00:19:20,660
I'll fly you for a quid, then.

339
00:19:22,500 --> 00:19:24,700
So when the grandfather dies,

340
00:19:24,860 --> 00:19:29,300
they knew that in his possession
was a winning betting slip.

341
00:19:29,460 --> 00:19:33,060
The whole dilemma of trying
to recapture this ticket,

342
00:19:33,260 --> 00:19:37,300
which they're convinced,
is clasped in his fist when he died.
It's in the coffin.

343
00:19:37,460 --> 00:19:39,900
So they then had to open
the coffin and try and find it.

344
00:19:40,060 --> 00:19:42,740
And they feel...
And all the guilt they feel.

345
00:19:42,900 --> 00:19:45,420
Here we are, look,
tell you what, a petal at a time

346
00:19:45,580 --> 00:19:47,620
and the one left with
the last petal can have it.

347
00:19:49,340 --> 00:19:51,780
Why did we make it Welsh, I wonder?
Um...

348
00:19:51,980 --> 00:19:55,300
I suppose it was because
they thought, "They'll do
another northern thing". Yeah.

349
00:19:55,460 --> 00:19:59,020
I like the Welsh family. I like the
daughter. She was very sexy and she

350
00:19:59,180 --> 00:20:01,540
was a beauty queen.
She'd been runner-up

351
00:20:01,660 --> 00:20:03,780
in the Miss South Wales Water Board.

352
00:20:03,940 --> 00:20:06,140
I'll put your tea down here,
Mr Pugh, OK?

353
00:20:06,300 --> 00:20:08,300
COUGHS
Oh!

354
00:20:08,460 --> 00:20:11,580
Thank you.
You all right, Mr Pugh?

355
00:20:11,740 --> 00:20:16,500
Oh, yes. I was really admiring your
dress. Very suitable, I thought.

356
00:20:16,660 --> 00:20:20,780
After I'll Fly You For A Quid, we
still had to write another script.

357
00:20:20,940 --> 00:20:24,300
And Ronnie wanted to do
something to do with prison.

358
00:20:24,460 --> 00:20:28,300
We were very daunted when
we really started to think

359
00:20:28,420 --> 00:20:30,580
about the reality of prison.

360
00:20:30,740 --> 00:20:32,620
So we started to try
and write a really good

361
00:20:32,780 --> 00:20:36,700
half-hour piece of television
but we had the advantage

362
00:20:36,820 --> 00:20:39,700
of having a megastar in it.

363
00:20:39,820 --> 00:20:41,700
Comedy was about to do time.

364
00:20:47,500 --> 00:20:50,620
Still to come, the birth of
Britain's favourite old lag.

365
00:20:50,780 --> 00:20:54,100
I spy with my little eye,
something beginning with C.

366
00:20:54,300 --> 00:20:57,780
You come up with a joke like that,
you feel like having the rest
of the day off, you think,

367
00:20:57,940 --> 00:21:00,140
"We won't come up with anything
better than that today."

368
00:21:00,300 --> 00:21:03,740
Location hunting with
a Porridge aficionado.

369
00:21:03,900 --> 00:21:09,060
Ronnie stood right here,
41 and three-quarter years ago.

370
00:21:09,220 --> 00:21:12,340
And we continue to
chew the fat with the boys.

371
00:21:12,500 --> 00:21:15,100
I'm grateful to this little pub
for actually being this place

372
00:21:15,260 --> 00:21:17,540
where we started this journey.
It's still a nice pub.

373
00:21:17,700 --> 00:21:21,380
It has no Chilean sea bass
on the lunch menu.

374
00:21:21,540 --> 00:21:23,420
No satays on sticks.
It has no satays on sticks.

375
00:21:23,540 --> 00:21:25,900
This is a real good pub.

376
00:21:26,060 --> 00:21:30,140
I can't believe it's 50 years
since we've been here.

377
00:21:46,730 --> 00:21:51,730
Being banged up isn't a barrel of
laughs but in 1973 Ronnie Barker

378
00:21:51,890 --> 00:21:56,170
had an idea that would take comedy
to where it had never been before.

379
00:21:56,330 --> 00:21:58,210
The idea to do a prison
series was mine.

380
00:21:58,370 --> 00:22:00,970
Originally, I'd imagined it
would be a bit more jokey,

381
00:22:01,130 --> 00:22:04,050
sort of smuggling women over the
wall and that sort of thing.

382
00:22:04,210 --> 00:22:06,130
But Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais,
the writers,

383
00:22:06,290 --> 00:22:08,250
quite rightly saw it
as an opportunity

384
00:22:08,410 --> 00:22:12,850
to get some reality into the piece.
Not all jokes, some feeling

385
00:22:13,010 --> 00:22:15,850
of the sterner realities
of these dreadful places.

386
00:22:24,130 --> 00:22:27,410
Clement and La Frenais'
second script for Seven Of One

387
00:22:27,570 --> 00:22:30,730
was Prisoner And Escort,
which follows wily old lag

388
00:22:30,890 --> 00:22:35,530
Norman Stanley Fletcher's
eventful trip to Slade Prison.

389
00:22:35,690 --> 00:22:38,770
He's all yours then and
a happy New Year to you, Fletcher.

390
00:22:38,930 --> 00:22:42,050
Oh, yes, very witty.
Very droll, yeah.

391
00:22:42,210 --> 00:22:44,810
We thought a long journey
would be helpful

392
00:22:44,970 --> 00:22:47,450
so that you have time
to get to know them.

393
00:22:47,610 --> 00:22:51,850
That's why we chose the...
We set the prison in Cumberland.

394
00:22:52,010 --> 00:22:57,050
So it was a long way away. It was a
train ride and then a ride in a van.

395
00:22:57,210 --> 00:22:59,490
Yeah, it was sort of
Euston to Carlisle.

396
00:22:59,650 --> 00:23:02,490
You can have a look at my Angling
Times if you like? No, he can't!

397
00:23:02,650 --> 00:23:04,730
God Almighty!
Mollycoddling him already.

398
00:23:04,890 --> 00:23:09,090
People seem to forget what prison is
for. He's paying a debt to society.

399
00:23:09,250 --> 00:23:11,410
Not having an
all-expenses-paid holiday

400
00:23:11,530 --> 00:23:13,450
with privileges and magazines.

401
00:23:13,610 --> 00:23:18,530
And it's basically a three-hander
between Fletcher and the two guards.

402
00:23:18,690 --> 00:23:22,890
I was actually surprised
at how edgy it is at times.

403
00:23:23,050 --> 00:23:26,650
I spy with my little eye,
something beginning with C.

404
00:23:29,570 --> 00:23:33,050
I must be getting this wrong.
That can't be the joke?

405
00:23:33,210 --> 00:23:37,210
They didn't have that word
in the '70s, did they?

406
00:23:37,330 --> 00:23:39,770
Now you watch it, sonny. Watch it.

407
00:23:41,650 --> 00:23:43,610
Constable.

408
00:23:45,050 --> 00:23:47,250
Making sure Fletch gets up to
no funny business en route

409
00:23:47,410 --> 00:23:52,330
are prisoner officers
Mr Mackay and Mr Barraclough,

410
00:23:52,490 --> 00:23:55,210
played by Fulton Mackay
and Brian Wilde.

411
00:23:55,370 --> 00:23:58,250
We never looked specifically
for comic actors.

412
00:23:58,410 --> 00:24:03,490
We didn't... With The Likely Lads,
particularly, we wanted good actors.

413
00:24:03,650 --> 00:24:07,290
We didn't know Fulton.
Fulton did some serious theatre.

414
00:24:07,450 --> 00:24:11,850
It's dreadful having to go now
but I have an engagement.

415
00:24:13,450 --> 00:24:15,970
With your great friends.

416
00:24:16,130 --> 00:24:20,610
No, no. General Campion.
Mr Sandbach, of course.

417
00:24:20,730 --> 00:24:23,730
And Brian was... Brian? Comedy?

418
00:24:23,890 --> 00:24:27,090
He'd always been a sort of
serious lugubrious person

419
00:24:27,250 --> 00:24:30,490
or slightly sinister
and so it seemed a strange choice.

420
00:24:30,650 --> 00:24:33,130
I will give you two minutes,
my French friends.

421
00:24:33,290 --> 00:24:36,770
In that two minutes, you will
either give me this information

422
00:24:36,890 --> 00:24:38,810
or I will have you killed.

423
00:24:41,090 --> 00:24:42,530
SHOUTS

424
00:24:42,690 --> 00:24:45,170
Representing polar ends
of the prison system,

425
00:24:45,330 --> 00:24:49,450
Mr Barraclough believes in
rehabilitation rather than reproach.

426
00:24:49,610 --> 00:24:52,770
I've always thought that the way to
encourage trust was to show trust.

427
00:24:52,930 --> 00:24:56,210
They're criminals, man.
Ah, but they're also human beings.

428
00:24:56,370 --> 00:24:58,650
All right,
but criminal human beings.

429
00:24:59,450 --> 00:25:03,130
Whereas former
drill sergeant Mr Mackay

430
00:25:03,290 --> 00:25:07,410
exercises military order to keep
Slade on the straight and narrow.

431
00:25:07,570 --> 00:25:12,610
I'm not one of your mealy-mouthed
liberals. I harbour grudges.

432
00:25:14,970 --> 00:25:20,170
Did we specify that
the hard-nosed PO was a Scot?

433
00:25:20,330 --> 00:25:22,210
Yeah. I'm sure we...
Yes, we did.

434
00:25:22,370 --> 00:25:26,170
And we didn't specify
where Barraclough was from.

435
00:25:26,330 --> 00:25:28,170
I think the phrase
for Mackay for me would be,

436
00:25:28,330 --> 00:25:30,370
"Pull yourself together,
Mr Barraclough".

437
00:25:30,490 --> 00:25:33,530
And Brian Wilde, no particular one.

438
00:25:33,730 --> 00:25:37,090
"Well, I think you're
being very unfair to a very
well-meaning body of people."

439
00:25:37,250 --> 00:25:40,930
That's good, yes. That's very Brian.
He was an appeaser.

440
00:25:41,130 --> 00:25:44,450
Even some of the most
cynical and hardened criminals
have changed at this place.

441
00:25:44,610 --> 00:25:46,890
Well, you see, they respond
to our methods, you see,

442
00:25:47,050 --> 00:25:50,730
which are not based on correction
or punishment but on sympathy

443
00:25:50,850 --> 00:25:52,770
and understanding.

444
00:25:54,130 --> 00:25:57,490
Ah, thank you. I forget
whether you take sugar or not

445
00:25:57,650 --> 00:26:02,210
but it makes no difference because I
spilt most of yours on the way back.

446
00:26:02,370 --> 00:26:05,130
The three central characters,
Ronnie's character Fletcher

447
00:26:05,290 --> 00:26:09,050
and Barraclough and Mackay were
established very, very quickly

448
00:26:09,170 --> 00:26:11,490
in that Prisoner And Escort one-off.

449
00:26:11,650 --> 00:26:14,930
It works so strongly.
I mean, it is absolutely...

450
00:26:15,090 --> 00:26:18,570
You get all the characterisations
and you know what's going to happen

451
00:26:18,730 --> 00:26:21,450
in the future and, of course,
it did. It was fantastic.

452
00:26:21,610 --> 00:26:24,370
Just show me some respect, keep your
nose clean, you'll be all right.

453
00:26:24,530 --> 00:26:27,410
I'm hard but fair.
Yeah? Like Leeds United.

454
00:26:37,530 --> 00:26:40,850
Although mostly confined
to a studio set,

455
00:26:41,010 --> 00:26:44,730
Ronnie and co got a taste of
freedom in Prisoner And Escort.

456
00:26:47,650 --> 00:26:51,930
Travelling in this '70s police van
is a celebrity convict,

457
00:26:52,130 --> 00:26:57,090
charged with finding the
little-known locations used
during the filming of the pilot.

458
00:27:00,330 --> 00:27:02,250
First stop is a small train station

459
00:27:02,410 --> 00:27:04,770
nestled in the valleys
of South Wales.

460
00:27:07,850 --> 00:27:11,250
Welsh-born actor,
comedian and Porridge uber-fan

461
00:27:11,410 --> 00:27:15,090
Keith Allen has returned
to the scene of the crime.

462
00:27:15,250 --> 00:27:17,450
This station is famous
for nothing...

463
00:27:20,290 --> 00:27:22,610
..except one thing.

464
00:27:23,570 --> 00:27:26,730
This is where
Norman Stanley Fletcher,

465
00:27:26,890 --> 00:27:30,170
quite literally,
took the wee-wee.

466
00:27:31,490 --> 00:27:34,130
Round the back.
Thanks, Mr Mackay.

467
00:27:36,490 --> 00:27:40,690
There's the moment in it where he
suddenly asks to go and have a pee

468
00:27:40,850 --> 00:27:43,650
and he goes round
and sees the petrol cap.

469
00:28:03,810 --> 00:28:09,450
It was irresistible for Fletcher
to not do something to stir it up.

470
00:28:20,170 --> 00:28:22,130
ENGINE COUGHS

471
00:28:27,250 --> 00:28:28,850
Plugs, is it? Ignition?

472
00:28:29,970 --> 00:28:31,930
Put the bracelets on him.

473
00:28:33,050 --> 00:28:36,970
So Fletcher has successfully
managed to sabotage the journey

474
00:28:37,090 --> 00:28:39,410
from the station to Slade Prison

475
00:28:39,570 --> 00:28:44,570
and the van has broken down here
on Gelligaer Mountain.

476
00:28:44,730 --> 00:28:49,770
Slade Prison was supposed
to be set in Cumberland.

477
00:28:49,930 --> 00:28:54,250
But those of you who know anything
about mysterious languages

478
00:28:54,410 --> 00:28:58,890
will know that Gelligaer is not
actually Cumberlandese, it's Welsh.

479
00:28:59,010 --> 00:29:01,330
And of course we are here in Wales.

480
00:29:01,490 --> 00:29:03,890
ENGINE SPLUTTERS
Sounds like the carburettor.

481
00:29:05,410 --> 00:29:08,050
Have to get the bus then, wont we?
What bus?

482
00:29:08,210 --> 00:29:11,810
Interestingly enough, I was
a very naughty boy when I was young

483
00:29:11,970 --> 00:29:16,370
and I attended lots of institutions
at the pleasure of Her Majesty.

484
00:29:16,530 --> 00:29:21,330
Um, one of which was a detention
centre not very far from here.

485
00:29:21,450 --> 00:29:24,370
Usk. And, funnily enough,

486
00:29:24,530 --> 00:29:28,130
I was driven from Cardiff Prison
to Usk Detention Centre

487
00:29:28,290 --> 00:29:30,690
in one of these.
Exactly one of these.

488
00:29:31,850 --> 00:29:34,890
And I'll never forget
the screw in the back,

489
00:29:35,010 --> 00:29:37,730
he actually offered me a cigarette,

490
00:29:37,850 --> 00:29:39,770
which was pretty surprising.

491
00:29:39,930 --> 00:29:42,450
When I took it, he said,
"Make the most of it, boy,

492
00:29:42,610 --> 00:29:45,330
"it's the last one you'll
be having for a long time".

493
00:29:45,490 --> 00:29:49,050
I'm going onto the prison.
Now listen to me, you do not move,

494
00:29:49,210 --> 00:29:53,570
you do not move from here and you do
not take the bracelets off of him.

495
00:29:53,730 --> 00:29:56,010
Right?
Right, Mr Mackay.

496
00:29:59,290 --> 00:30:03,650
So you have to remember Mackay had
disappeared you know, off marching.

497
00:30:03,810 --> 00:30:06,050
He's always marching
everywhere, Mackay.

498
00:30:06,210 --> 00:30:08,730
Which obviously means that Fletcher
is left with Barraclough.

499
00:30:08,890 --> 00:30:10,970
A very significant moment
in the history of Porridge

500
00:30:11,130 --> 00:30:15,170
because they go to the farmhouse,
which I think is just over there,

501
00:30:15,290 --> 00:30:18,690
and you see the relationship

502
00:30:18,850 --> 00:30:22,530
between Barraclough and Fletcher
established very, very early.

503
00:30:22,690 --> 00:30:26,570
And what a fantastic relationship
it turns out to be.

504
00:30:26,730 --> 00:30:29,210
Ain't there any farms
or houses around here?

505
00:30:29,370 --> 00:30:32,730
Well, there's a cottage not far.
Well, let's go there then.

506
00:30:32,890 --> 00:30:36,970
Oh, no. We can't do that. Mr Mackay
said we had to wait in the van.

507
00:30:37,130 --> 00:30:39,250
Oh, well, we'll die in the van then,
I don't care.

508
00:30:40,530 --> 00:30:42,730
Ah, but anyway,
it'll be all locked up.

509
00:30:42,890 --> 00:30:45,090
I mean, they only use it
in the summer. So what?

510
00:30:45,250 --> 00:30:48,450
Well, how would we get in?
Oh, Mr Barraclough.

511
00:30:48,610 --> 00:30:51,010
I'm only a flaming housebreaker,
ain't I?

512
00:30:58,450 --> 00:31:02,090
Just a stone's throw away
is Clywdtrowsky Farm,

513
00:31:02,250 --> 00:31:05,090
where Fletcher and Mr Barraclough
sought sanctuary.

514
00:31:09,330 --> 00:31:11,890
Is whisky medicinal?
Oh, yeah.

515
00:31:12,050 --> 00:31:13,930
Well, I always feel better
when I've had a few.

516
00:31:14,610 --> 00:31:16,850
Oh, well, if it's medicinal then.
Yeah.

517
00:31:17,010 --> 00:31:19,490
It's while he's getting
him drunk that you come to

518
00:31:19,650 --> 00:31:25,490
learn about Mr Barraclough's
relationship with his wife.

519
00:31:25,610 --> 00:31:27,650
I mean, he's so downtrodden.

520
00:31:27,810 --> 00:31:30,090
In the end, we went to see
a marriage guidance counsellor.

521
00:31:30,210 --> 00:31:32,010
Oh, yeah. That help, did it?

522
00:31:33,090 --> 00:31:35,010
Well, it helped her.
She ran off with him.

523
00:31:38,250 --> 00:31:40,170
And, in fact, I think
Fletcher actually does,

524
00:31:40,330 --> 00:31:42,530
which was amazing at the time
and I didn't remember this,

525
00:31:42,690 --> 00:31:45,930
he actually calls her an old slag.
LAUGHS

526
00:31:46,090 --> 00:31:48,770
You're well out of an old slag
like that, ain't you, eh?

527
00:31:49,810 --> 00:31:51,770
She's come back.

528
00:31:52,730 --> 00:31:56,130
Typical of Dick and Ian's writing.
Just beautifully disguised

529
00:31:56,330 --> 00:32:00,370
because I don't think anyone
who ever watched it for the
first time would see that coming.

530
00:32:00,530 --> 00:32:04,450
And then Fletcher works things
so that Barraclough

531
00:32:04,610 --> 00:32:07,050
eventually falls asleep
and Fletcher escapes

532
00:32:07,210 --> 00:32:09,890
and charges off across the
countryside. Very, very funny.

533
00:32:10,010 --> 00:32:11,930
Mr Barraclough?

534
00:32:21,130 --> 00:32:25,570
This farm has been in the Jones'
family for three generations.

535
00:32:25,730 --> 00:32:29,690
Today, Judith and
husband Clwyd tend the land.

536
00:32:29,850 --> 00:32:33,810
It's a very cold November evening
and you're in your farmhouse.

537
00:32:33,970 --> 00:32:36,370
And who did you see
running across here?

538
00:32:36,530 --> 00:32:38,530
Well, it was very exciting,
of course.

539
00:32:38,690 --> 00:32:42,810
I was a student at the time
and the wall there,

540
00:32:42,970 --> 00:32:47,050
Ronnie Barker was running
across there in the darkness.

541
00:32:47,170 --> 00:32:49,090
It was so exciting.

542
00:32:49,210 --> 00:32:51,130
SHEEP BLEAT

543
00:32:53,450 --> 00:32:58,170
Of course, those were some scenes
that were later put into Porridge.

544
00:32:58,330 --> 00:33:01,650
Were you making tea for them all?
Well, no, that was one of the joys.

545
00:33:01,810 --> 00:33:05,210
There was a catering van...
Phwoar! ..and it was...

546
00:33:05,370 --> 00:33:09,610
Can we get one today? I'm freezing!
Yes, please. BOTH LAUGH

547
00:33:09,770 --> 00:33:11,650
There was one on
the yard at one time.

548
00:33:11,810 --> 00:33:14,090
Of course, my mother
thought this was wonderful

549
00:33:14,250 --> 00:33:16,890
because my father,
my mother and myself,

550
00:33:17,050 --> 00:33:19,050
we went up there for food
and we didn't have to cook.

551
00:33:19,210 --> 00:33:21,090
So she was quite
pleased about that.

552
00:33:24,010 --> 00:33:27,850
I think there's a great moment in it
when Fletcher does go on the lam

553
00:33:28,010 --> 00:33:30,690
and then he goes round and round
and breaks back into a hut.

554
00:33:35,530 --> 00:33:37,490
COUGHING

555
00:33:43,290 --> 00:33:45,250
Are you out here, Fletcher? Oh!

556
00:33:46,370 --> 00:33:50,170
We had to be very careful to conceal

557
00:33:50,330 --> 00:33:53,330
from the studio audience
that this was the same set

558
00:33:53,490 --> 00:33:57,410
because, if they were ahead of you,
you wouldn't have got the laugh.

559
00:34:00,090 --> 00:34:02,050
Mr Barraclough?!

560
00:34:02,210 --> 00:34:04,930
Oh, my God! You did give me a
fright. What are you doing here?

561
00:34:05,050 --> 00:34:06,970
That's what I'd like to know.

562
00:34:08,290 --> 00:34:10,530
So I remember we had to
go through a lot of thinking.

563
00:34:10,690 --> 00:34:12,530
It was a different room
in the same hut

564
00:34:12,690 --> 00:34:15,090
but it was a very,
very big laugh indeed.

565
00:34:15,250 --> 00:34:17,770
You look terrible, you know, as
though you've been up all night.

566
00:34:17,890 --> 00:34:19,810
Well, I couldn't sleep, could I?

567
00:34:22,370 --> 00:34:25,370
Ronnie stood right here

568
00:34:25,490 --> 00:34:28,210
41 and three-quarter years ago,

569
00:34:28,330 --> 00:34:30,250
overlooking all of this.

570
00:34:30,410 --> 00:34:34,330
Well, yeah, look at it.
It's a bit bleak, desolate.

571
00:34:34,490 --> 00:34:37,050
I can quite understand
why he'd have done a runner.

572
00:34:37,210 --> 00:34:39,090
But thank God he
ran around in circles,

573
00:34:39,250 --> 00:34:41,850
otherwise we wouldn't have had
the series, would we? LAUGHS

574
00:34:45,170 --> 00:34:48,610
Coming up,
heated discussions at BBC HQ

575
00:34:48,770 --> 00:34:51,850
leave Fletcher's future
hanging in the balance.

576
00:34:52,010 --> 00:34:53,890
This is not going to work.
How can this work?

577
00:34:54,050 --> 00:34:57,250
This is not a...
Being in prison is not funny.

578
00:34:57,410 --> 00:34:59,810
Plus, never-before-broadcast
recordings

579
00:34:59,970 --> 00:35:04,330
of Ronnie Barker's final turn
as Norman Stanley Fletcher.

580
00:35:04,450 --> 00:35:07,490
This is Fletcher's script, part one.

581
00:35:07,650 --> 00:35:12,490
Here's your opportunity
to break out. In a sweat, that is.

582
00:35:27,480 --> 00:35:32,720
By 1973, Ronnie Barker had seven
comedy pilots in the can.

583
00:35:32,880 --> 00:35:36,400
Clement and La Frenais had delivered
I'll Fly You For A Quid.

584
00:35:36,600 --> 00:35:40,600
I was saying to Mortlake
only this morning, I'll bet
a fiver he doesn't last the week.

585
00:35:40,720 --> 00:35:42,600
And Prisoner And Escort.

586
00:35:42,760 --> 00:35:46,760
What are you doing here?
That's what I'd like to know.

587
00:35:46,880 --> 00:35:48,680
Now a tough decision lay ahead.

588
00:35:48,840 --> 00:35:52,120
Which would be developed further
and which would be discarded.

589
00:35:52,280 --> 00:35:54,200
The BBC had turned to us
and they said,

590
00:35:54,360 --> 00:35:57,400
"Which one of these would
you like to turn into a series?"

591
00:35:57,560 --> 00:36:02,560
So there was a debate between us all,
including Ronnie.

592
00:36:02,720 --> 00:36:06,400
I think we all thought that
I'll Fly You For A Quid

593
00:36:06,560 --> 00:36:09,440
would be the one because
it had so much going for it.

594
00:36:09,600 --> 00:36:13,520
I think Ronnie particularly wanted
to do I'll Fly You For A Quid.

595
00:36:13,680 --> 00:36:16,040
I wanted to pick
the Welsh one as a series

596
00:36:16,200 --> 00:36:19,840
but I was persuaded by one of the
bosses to do the prison series.

597
00:36:19,960 --> 00:36:22,200
How glad I am he persuaded me.

598
00:36:22,360 --> 00:36:27,680
From Seven Of One,
the BBC green-lit two sitcoms.

599
00:36:27,840 --> 00:36:31,080
Open All Hours and
Clement and La Frenais' Porridge.

600
00:36:32,240 --> 00:36:36,880
But for Dick and Ian, going behind
bars was no laughing matter.

601
00:36:37,040 --> 00:36:41,200
We went round a lot of prisons
and they're not funny.

602
00:36:41,320 --> 00:36:43,240
They're not funny at all.

603
00:36:43,400 --> 00:36:45,880
We looked at three prisons.
We saw Pentonville, the Scrubs.

604
00:36:46,040 --> 00:36:50,600
But Brixton they showed us around
more thoroughly. Wish they hadn't.

605
00:36:50,760 --> 00:36:53,400
We were quite worried about it,
then we reminded ourselves

606
00:36:53,560 --> 00:36:57,760
it was going to be Ronnie Barker
in this, so that felt reassuring.

607
00:36:59,240 --> 00:37:02,920
Introducing us to the
ultimate trapped situation,

608
00:37:03,080 --> 00:37:07,920
Dick and Ian gave us a taste of
how scary prison life could be

609
00:37:08,080 --> 00:37:11,560
as Fletcher is joined by
first-time offender Lenny Godber.

610
00:37:11,720 --> 00:37:13,600
Godber, Leonard Arthur, 23.
First offender.

611
00:37:13,760 --> 00:37:17,120
Two years breaking and entering.
Seems somewhat naive.

612
00:37:17,280 --> 00:37:19,680
Could be corrupted,
possibly by this one.

613
00:37:19,840 --> 00:37:25,040
Fletcher, Norman Stanley, 42.
Five years.

614
00:37:25,200 --> 00:37:27,280
The opening episode was called
New Faces, Old Hands.

615
00:37:27,440 --> 00:37:30,000
Fletcher being the old hand.
Fletcher knowing it,

616
00:37:30,160 --> 00:37:32,960
or been there, done that.
Here it was, knew the routine,

617
00:37:33,120 --> 00:37:35,280
knew everything
that was going to happen,

618
00:37:35,440 --> 00:37:38,480
which he then imparted to Godber,
who was the new fish.

619
00:37:38,600 --> 00:37:40,520
That's an American slang.

620
00:37:40,680 --> 00:37:45,440
Telling Godber his way of
surviving... Telling the audience.

621
00:37:45,600 --> 00:37:47,760
And tell him how
the average day begins.

622
00:37:47,880 --> 00:37:50,280
Starts off at 7am.

623
00:37:50,440 --> 00:37:52,680
You'll be woken by a persistent
and deafening bell,

624
00:37:52,840 --> 00:37:55,200
then all the screws come round.
I beg your pardon?

625
00:37:55,360 --> 00:37:58,720
All the prison officers come round,
offering such advice as,

626
00:37:58,880 --> 00:38:01,640
"Wakey, wakey, get your socks on.
Move, you horrible creatures."

627
00:38:01,800 --> 00:38:04,200
We reply to this badinage
with such remarks as,

628
00:38:04,320 --> 00:38:06,240
"Good gracious, is that the time?"

629
00:38:07,720 --> 00:38:11,920
Almost 17 million viewers
tuned in to see Lenny Godber,

630
00:38:12,080 --> 00:38:14,400
played by 27-year-old
Richard Beckinsale,

631
00:38:14,560 --> 00:38:19,040
take his first lecture from Fletcher
on how to beat the system. Why?

632
00:38:19,240 --> 00:38:24,000
If you say you was a Muslim, you see,
if you was a Muslim you could get
special food sent in from outside.

633
00:38:24,120 --> 00:38:26,040
Don't like Chinese food.

634
00:38:27,360 --> 00:38:29,680
It's not Chinese.
Muslims ain't Chinese.

635
00:38:29,800 --> 00:38:31,720
What's Muslim food then?

636
00:38:31,840 --> 00:38:33,760
Well, it's, um...

637
00:38:33,920 --> 00:38:37,600
Well, it's a damn sight better than
he rubbish you get in here, innit?

638
00:38:37,760 --> 00:38:39,760
His character was loved
by one and all.

639
00:38:39,920 --> 00:38:43,400
As indeed he was as a man
and he twinkled, he twinkled.

640
00:38:43,560 --> 00:38:46,840
Twinkle in his eye during the
performance, which was irresistible.

641
00:38:46,960 --> 00:38:49,800
We all got on so well from the first.

642
00:38:49,960 --> 00:38:53,440
I think it was inspirational
to bring in Richard Beckinsale.

643
00:38:53,560 --> 00:38:55,480
Hello, Fletch.

644
00:38:55,600 --> 00:38:58,040
Who was one of the most

645
00:38:58,200 --> 00:39:02,360
clever, kind, considerate
people I have ever met.

646
00:39:02,520 --> 00:39:06,960
I've always been a fan
of the subtle and the natural

647
00:39:07,080 --> 00:39:09,680
and the kind of un-showy.

648
00:39:09,840 --> 00:39:13,720
And I think he was
an absolute master at that.

649
00:39:13,880 --> 00:39:16,440
So I did the flat next door
because I knew he'd be away, like,

650
00:39:16,600 --> 00:39:19,160
because he drives a juggernaut
from West Bromwich to Brussels.

651
00:39:19,320 --> 00:39:21,240
Only, he got a puncture
just outside Coventry

652
00:39:21,360 --> 00:39:23,280
and come home and kicked me head in.

653
00:39:23,400 --> 00:39:25,800
Although effortlessly performed,

654
00:39:25,960 --> 00:39:29,640
this first episode presented
Beckinsale with a problem.

655
00:39:29,760 --> 00:39:30,800
Here!

656
00:39:30,960 --> 00:39:33,320
Godber was from Birmingham and
Richard was from Nottingham

657
00:39:33,480 --> 00:39:35,320
and they're not exactly
a million miles apart

658
00:39:35,480 --> 00:39:39,080
but very different in terms
of the actual accent.

659
00:39:39,240 --> 00:39:42,760
I think, at the time, the BBC
had a record library of accents

660
00:39:42,920 --> 00:39:44,840
and you could go in
and hear all number of things.

661
00:39:45,000 --> 00:39:47,080
And he would play it
and play it and play it.

662
00:39:47,240 --> 00:39:50,680
And I remember that
first episode. Um...

663
00:39:50,840 --> 00:39:54,720
I think he says something,
like "Yaow been here before?"

664
00:39:54,880 --> 00:39:57,600
And it was a "yaow"
and he'd been practising "yaow".

665
00:39:57,720 --> 00:39:59,640
Know all the form, don't you?

666
00:39:59,800 --> 00:40:02,920
Yaow been here before?
No, never been here before

667
00:40:03,080 --> 00:40:05,400
but it's all the same, innit?
Porridge is porridge, innit?

668
00:40:05,560 --> 00:40:07,680
He was very nervous before
the first recording.

669
00:40:07,840 --> 00:40:14,440
And then came out going, "Oh,
I think the accent came off OK".

670
00:40:14,600 --> 00:40:18,200
Just keep your nose clean, bide your
time, do your Porridge. All right?

671
00:40:18,360 --> 00:40:20,240
I'm only here
due to tragic circumstances.

672
00:40:20,400 --> 00:40:22,280
Oh, which were?
I got caught.

673
00:40:27,640 --> 00:40:31,280
As Godber discovered,
the first day of prison is daunting.

674
00:40:31,440 --> 00:40:34,600
And not every new face
benefits from the wisdom

675
00:40:34,720 --> 00:40:36,640
of an old hand like Fletcher.

676
00:40:38,000 --> 00:40:40,680
That is until 2003,

677
00:40:40,840 --> 00:40:43,880
when Ronnie Barker brought
Fletch out of retirement

678
00:40:44,040 --> 00:40:49,040
to record a series of inside guides
to help new inmates adjust to life

679
00:40:49,160 --> 00:40:51,080
at Her Majesty's pleasure.

680
00:40:51,200 --> 00:40:54,480
OK? Just a little... All right.

681
00:40:54,600 --> 00:40:57,160
This is Fletcher's script, part one.

682
00:40:57,280 --> 00:41:00,000
This is the first time these tapes

683
00:41:00,160 --> 00:41:03,120
have ever been
broadcast on television.

684
00:41:03,280 --> 00:41:06,000
All right?
You must be new around here.

685
00:41:06,160 --> 00:41:09,600
The name is Fletcher. Norman
Stanley Fletcher. Fletch for short.

686
00:41:09,760 --> 00:41:13,480
I've been asked to introduce this
here information centre to you

687
00:41:13,640 --> 00:41:16,240
on account of the fact that
I have had some experience

688
00:41:16,400 --> 00:41:18,880
of being an involuntary guest
of Her Majesty, see?

689
00:41:19,040 --> 00:41:22,240
We had developed
a touchscreen system

690
00:41:22,400 --> 00:41:25,640
for providing prisoners
with information

691
00:41:25,800 --> 00:41:30,480
that would comfort them when
they first came into prison.

692
00:41:30,640 --> 00:41:33,400
We simply did not have
the time or the staff

693
00:41:33,560 --> 00:41:36,520
to talk to them about everything
that they needed to know.

694
00:41:36,640 --> 00:41:38,560
The wonderful part was that Ronnie

695
00:41:38,720 --> 00:41:42,240
was absolutely
adamant about helping.

696
00:41:42,400 --> 00:41:47,200
He was able to understand
what the prisoners needed.

697
00:41:47,400 --> 00:41:51,400
When I did my Porridge,
although I don't suppose
you call it that nowadays, do you?

698
00:41:51,560 --> 00:41:55,080
Well, anyway, when I served my time,
I remember first going into prison

699
00:41:55,240 --> 00:41:59,680
and how anxious I felt
in this new unfamiliar setup.

700
00:41:59,800 --> 00:42:00,840
DOOR SLAMS

701
00:42:01,000 --> 00:42:04,720
What he did was introduce
this information

702
00:42:04,880 --> 00:42:08,920
in a very light-hearted
Fletcher-like way.

703
00:42:09,080 --> 00:42:11,600
If you walk with a stammer,
speak with a limp

704
00:42:11,760 --> 00:42:14,360
or hear with a lisp,
you might want to see a specialist.

705
00:42:14,520 --> 00:42:19,440
He would describe about
letter-writing to the family

706
00:42:19,560 --> 00:42:21,480
and how visitors could come in.

707
00:42:21,640 --> 00:42:25,640
You can invite your loved ones to
visit and the mother-in-law as well.

708
00:42:25,760 --> 00:42:27,040
BUZZER

709
00:42:27,160 --> 00:42:28,880
Prisoners worked out a system

710
00:42:29,040 --> 00:42:32,680
whereby, if they pressed
the button twice, very quickly,

711
00:42:32,840 --> 00:42:36,280
they could just get Ronnie
and have a whole series

712
00:42:36,400 --> 00:42:38,840
of icons of Ronnie being Fletcher.

713
00:42:39,000 --> 00:42:42,400
Here's your opportunity to break
out. Don't hold your tongue,

714
00:42:42,560 --> 00:42:45,240
especially when you're talking,
because you won't be understood.

715
00:42:45,400 --> 00:42:48,520
Pentonville in the year that
this system was introduced

716
00:42:48,680 --> 00:42:53,440
had no suicides at all,
which for a massive London local,

717
00:42:53,600 --> 00:42:57,840
with a turnover of 48,000 movements
through reception per annum,

718
00:42:58,000 --> 00:43:00,760
that was a
magnificent piece of work.

719
00:43:00,920 --> 00:43:03,840
The re-offender. What's the
re-offender doing? LAUGHS

720
00:43:03,960 --> 00:43:05,600
The back of the car.

721
00:43:11,520 --> 00:43:14,680
40 years on, Norman Stanley Fletcher

722
00:43:14,840 --> 00:43:17,400
continues to dole out
advice on doing time

723
00:43:17,560 --> 00:43:21,600
and his antics on the inside
continue to make us laugh.

724
00:43:21,760 --> 00:43:24,200
Wait for it, wait for it.
Two, three, knickers down.

725
00:43:26,280 --> 00:43:30,600
No other sitcom has ever dared
to make light of prison life,

726
00:43:30,720 --> 00:43:32,880
except one, Porridge.

727
00:43:33,000 --> 00:43:34,480
Anybody we know?

728
00:43:34,680 --> 00:43:40,240
Porridge was the best thing
I ever did, I think.
The best thing I ever did.

729
00:43:40,360 --> 00:43:43,320
All right then, I owe you one.

730
00:43:44,400 --> 00:43:49,640
Next time on Porridge: Inside Out,
we meet sitcom's hardest hard nut.

731
00:43:49,800 --> 00:43:52,280
When I was in Parkhurst
I had a pigeon.

732
00:43:52,440 --> 00:43:55,800
What did you do with it when
you had to move, like? I ate it.

733
00:43:57,080 --> 00:44:02,280
I played hard nuts for many years,
many years before and after.

734
00:44:02,440 --> 00:44:06,120
Discover the exact
location of Slade Prison.

735
00:44:06,280 --> 00:44:09,400
Well, the most famous thing about
this gate is it is the gate

736
00:44:09,560 --> 00:44:12,800
used in the opening
credits of Porridge.

737
00:44:15,840 --> 00:44:19,960
And discuss all things Porridge
with the Porridge cast.

738
00:44:20,120 --> 00:44:22,480
I have Porridge every morning.
So do I. Yeah.

739
00:44:22,640 --> 00:44:25,520
I have mine with double cream.
Do you have it with salt?

740
00:44:25,680 --> 00:44:28,960
No, double cream! Oh, I love it
when you talk dirty, Sam.

741
00:44:29,080 --> 00:44:31,000
ALL LAUGH

742
00:44:43,200 --> 00:44:46,240
you might like to know

743
00:44:46,400 --> 00:44:49,760
she says no

744
00:44:49,920 --> 00:44:54,200
you got one walk

745
00:44:57,120 --> 00:44:59,040
Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd