Watch Order
0 / 3 watchedMain series, parole sequel, then the cinema film.
About Porridge
Written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais for BBC1, Porridge ran for three series and 20 episodes plus two Christmas specials between September 1974 and March 1977, after a 1973 Seven of One pilot. Ronnie Barker plays habitual offender Norman Stanley Fletcher at Slade Prison, with Richard Beckinsale as cellmate Lennie Godber, Fulton Mackay as Mr Mackay and Brian Wilde as Barrowclough. The humour comes from small scams and defiance inside a strict regime.
Going Straight followed in 1978 for six episodes on BBC1, catching Fletcher on parole as he tries to stay clean while Godber marries his daughter Ingrid. The Porridge film arrived in 1979, shot at Chelmsford prison, and puts Fletcher back inside for a feature-length escape plot. Watch the main series, then Going Straight, then the film.
Good to know
Release order is the intended path and tracks Fletcher from Slade to parole and back for the film. The 1979 film is a standalone caper rather than strict canon, so treat it as an extra after the series. This guide stops at 1979 and leaves out the 2016 revival about Fletcher grandson, which belongs to a separate continuity and has its own viewing question.
