List of Porridge episodes
The following is a list of episodes for the British sitcom Porridge, which aired on BBC 1 from 5 September 1974 to 25 March 1977 and was revived from 28 August 2016.
Series overview
| Series | Episodes | Originally aired | Ave. Viewership (millions) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Series premiere | Series finale | |||||
| Pilot | 1 April 1973 | N/A | ||||
| 1 | 6 | 5 September 1974 | 10 October 1974 | N/A | ||
| 2 | 6 | 24 October 1975 | 28 November 1975 | N/A | ||
| Christmas Special | 24 December 1975 | N/A | ||||
| Christmas Special | 24 December 1976 | N/A | ||||
| 3 | 6 | 18 February 1977 | 25 March 1977 | N/A | ||
| Special | 28 August 2016 | 5.68 | ||||
| 4 | 6 | TBC 2017 | TBC 2017 | TBA | ||
Episode list
Pilot (1973)
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | UK viewers (millions) [1] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Prisoner and Escort" | James Gilbert | Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais | 1 April 1973 | TBA |
| Norman Stanley Fletcher, a career criminal, and his escorts – soft-hearted Mr Barrowclough and authoritarian Mr Mackay – make the journey on New Year's Eve from London up to Slade Prison in Cumberland. | |||||
Series 1 (1974)
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | UK viewers (millions) [1] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | "New Faces, Old Hands" | Sydney Lotterby | Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais | 5 September 1974 | TBA |
| It is Lennie Godber's first time in prison, and Fletcher shows him the ropes, as the two go through the checking-in process along with the rather dim-witted Heslop. Mackay explains that Heslop is not too much of a threat, as he is "thick as two short planks"; Godber is young and naive, but Mackay comments that he may be corrupted by the older Fletcher, who has been in and out of jail. Upon meeting the new arrivals, Mackay gets Fletcher to tell Godber and Heslop about prison routine. | |||||
| 3 | "The Hustler" | Sydney Lotterby | Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais | 12 September 1974 | TBA |
| Fletch starts an illicit gambling enterprise that soon runs into trouble. Fletcher along with Lukewarm, Evans and Heslop are in the boiler house for their game of snakes and ladders; however, Mr Mackay and Mr Barrowclough are aware of the game taking place. Barrowclough tries to reason with Mackay that the men would gamble regardless, but Mackay's principles are that "gambling leads to debts, debts lead to antagonism, ill-feeling and lack of discipline" - so Mackay arranges for a special delivery. | |||||
| 4 | "A Night In" | Sydney Lotterby | Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais | 19 September 1974 | TBA |
| Largely set in relative darkness one evening, with 698 nights left for Godber, within the confines of their cell, Fletcher and Godber ponder life in prison and many other aspects of their lives. Fletcher has been informed that Godber is to become his new cellmate. Understandably, Fletcher is not too happy because he had just been given a single cell. Godber soon finds out that Fletcher has rather strict rules about his cell. | |||||
| 5 | "A Day Out" | Sydney Lotterby | Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais | 26 September 1974 | TBA |
| Fletch, Godber, Ives and some other prisoners go out on a work party. Fletcher is even less pleased with the prospect of the day ahead when he finds out that Ives is part of the work party and that Mr Mackay is in charge. However, Mr Barrowclough is coming with them, so this partly reassures Fletcher. After Ives gets stung by a bee, Fletch is able to escape for a pint at the local pub, on the pretext of getting first aid. | |||||
| 6 | "Ways and Means" | Sydney Lotterby | Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais | 3 October 1974 | TBA |
| New prisoner McLaren proves troublesome, and Barrowclough also expresses shock at new prisoner McLaren's prison infraction of assaulting a prison officer by dunking his head in a pot of soup. McLaren says the officer insulted him by calling him a "black bastard", which Fletcher points out is not exactly wrong as McLaren is black and of illegitimate birth. Fletch decides to help out with McLaren, but they both end up on the roof. | |||||
| 7 | "Men Without Women" | Sydney Lotterby | Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais | 10 October 1974 | TBA |
| Fletch fancies himself as a bit of an agony aunt and is called upon by his fellow inmates to help out, before his daughter, Ingrid informs him that his own marriage is in trouble. Prisoner Warren asks Fletcher if he could read him his love letter from his wife, as Warren is unable to read. Fletcher composes a response to this letter and also offers his services to his fellow prisoners, including the homosexual Lukewarm and the dim-witted Heslop. | |||||
Series 2 (1975)
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | UK viewers (millions) [1] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | "Just Desserts" | Sydney Lotterby | Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais | 24 October 1975 | TBA |
| Fletch is appalled when someone steals his tin of pineapple chunks and is determined to catch the culprit. This comes as no surprise, as there are 600 men in Slade Prison, and two-thirds are in for stealing something. Fletcher means there is a thief on the inside, as his tin of pineapple chunks has been stolen. Other prisoners comment that they have had things stolen, such as a jar of gooseberry preserve. This suggests that the thief has a sweet tooth. | |||||
| 9 | "Heartbreak Hotel" | Sydney Lotterby | Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais | 31 October 1975 | TBA |
| After his girlfriend, Denise, breaks up with him via a Dear John letter, Godber assaults a fellow inmate. At the same time, Fletch starts questioning his daughter, Ingrid, over her personal life. Godber asks Fletcher why the BBC never plays prisoners' requests on the radio. Fletcher explains it's because the system is open to abuse, where songs may be a message for someone to help with an escape. | |||||
| 10 | "Disturbing the Peace" | Sydney Lotterby | Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais | 7 November 1975 | TBA |
| The prisoners are overjoyed when Mackay leaves on a promotion course, until they meet his replacement, Mr Wainwright, whom Fletcher remembers from a previous stretch in Brixton. He's a harsh prison officer who soon recognises Fletcher and starts bullying the prisoners. His antics included punishing Godber for accidentally dropping mashed potatoes on his shoe and purposely treading on Fletcher's hand. | |||||
| 11 | "Happy Release" | Sydney Lotterby | Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais | 26 September 1975 | TBA |
| Mackay is appalled to discover that Fletch has been severely injured and is in the hospital wing, and Blanco devises a plan for revenge on Norris, who had stolen his possessions some time before Fletch arrived. | |||||
| 12 | "The Harder They Fall" | Sydney Lotterby | Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais | 21 November 1975 | TBA |
| Fletch, under Genial Harry Grout's orders, tries to rig a boxing match so that Godber, who is favourite to win, loses, only to discover Godber is taking orders from one of Grouty's rivals. | |||||
| 13 | "No Peace for the Wicked" | Sydney Lotterby | Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais | 28 November 1975 | TBA |
| With everyone watching a football match, Fletch attempts to snatch a few precious minutes of peace and quiet, only to suffer constant interruptions, among whom are Mackay and visiting members of the Home Office, who then insist on questioning Fletch about his views on the penal system. | |||||
Christmas Special (1975)
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | UK viewers (millions) [1] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 | "No Way Out" | Sydney Lotterby | Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais | 24 December 1975 | TBA |
| A planned escape causes all kinds of trouble just before Christmas, and Fletch attempts to spend some valuable time in the infirmary. | |||||
Christmas Special (1976)
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | UK viewers (millions) [1] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 | "The Desperate Hours" | Sydney Lotterby | Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais | 24 December 1976 | TBA |
| Fletcher, Godber, Barrowclough and the governor's secretary are held hostage by a mad prisoner with a homemade gun attempting to escape. | |||||
Series 3 (1977)
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | UK viewers (millions) [1] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 | "A Storm in a Teacup" | Sydney Lotterby | Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais | 18 February 1977 | TBA |
| After a capsule containing pills that Harris stole goes missing, Grouty attempts to locate them and Fletch is recruited to help, not realising that they are in his mug of tea. | |||||
| 17 | "Poetic Justice" | Sydney Lotterby | Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais | 25 February 1977 | TBA |
| Fletch is incensed to discover that he is getting a new cell-mate. To make matters worse, it turns out that the cell-mate is the judge that sentenced him. | |||||
| 18 | "Rough Justice" | Sydney Lotterby | Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais | 4 March 1977 | TBA |
| After the judge's watch is stolen, everyone is convinced that Harris is the culprit, and so a kangaroo court is set up in an effort to convict him of the crime. | |||||
| 19 | "Pardon Me" | Sydney Lotterby | Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais | 11 March 1977 | TBA |
| Blanco refuses parole after serving a life sentence for a murder he's always claimed he never committed, so Fletch sets up an appeal committee to get him pardoned. | |||||
| 20 | "A Test of Character" | Sydney Lotterby | Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais | 18 March 1977 | TBA |
| Fletch is determined to help Godber pass his History O-level, so he has Warren steal the papers, only to discover that Godber doesn't want them. Meanwhile, a debate flares up over a claim of Warren's that, at a certain scale, the nearest star from the Sun would be in Johannesburg. | |||||
| 21 | "Final Stretch" | Sydney Lotterby | Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais | 25 March 1977 | TBA |
| With his parole meeting less than a week away, Godber has a fight with Jarvis, a football hooligan, and Fletch realises that he will have to risk solitary confinement and loss of his own remission to prevent it. Meanwhile, Fletch is suspicious of his daughter's holiday plans. | |||||
Special (2016)
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | UK viewers (millions) [1] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22 | "Porridge" | Dominic Brigstocke | Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais | 28 August 2016 | 5.68 |
| Fletch's grandson Nigel is sentenced to five years in Wakely prison for cyber crimes. Kindly officer Braithwaite does deals with him but his harsh Scots colleague Officer Meekie is rather more vindictive. Nigel is given a cell-mate, the elderly Joe, who, forty years earlier was a fellow inmate of his grandfather whilst wing daddy Weeksy wants Nigel to use his hacking skills to help his parole chances. When this fails to go to plan and the prison's whole computer system crashes Nigel is able to save the day for a grateful governor and get one over on Meekie. | |||||
Series 4 (2017)
The series will return for six new episodes in 2017.
References
External links
- List of Porridge episodes at BBC Programmes
- Porridge at the Internet Movie Database
- List of Porridge episodes at British Comedy Guide.
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