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Porridge [1] is a food made by heating or boiling ground, crushed or chopped starchy plants, typically grain, in milk or water. It is often cooked or served with added flavourings such as sugar, honey, fruit, or syrup to make a sweet cereal, or it can be mixed with spices, meat, or vegetables to make a savoury dish.
- Kasha
In English, kasha usually refers to the pseudocereal...
- List of Porridges
List of porridges. A porridge made with millet. Porridge is...
- Porridge (Disambiguation)
Porridge is a dish made by boiling ground, crushed, or...
- Porridge
Porridge is a British sitcom, starring Ronnie Barker and...
- Kasha
List of porridges. A porridge made with millet. Porridge is a dish made by boiling ground, crushed, or chopped starchy plants (typically grains) in water, milk, [1] or both, with optional flavorings, and is usually served hot in a bowl or dish. It may be served as a sweet or savory dish, depending on the flavourings.
- Premise
- Cast
- Production
- Episodes
- Sequels
- International Adaptations
- In Other Media
- Stamps
- Reception
- See Also
The main storylines of the sitcom focus on its central character, Norman Stanley Fletcher, a man from Muswell Hill, London. Fletcher, described as "an habitual criminal" by the judge who sentences him (and whose words, voiced by Barker, are repeated in the show's opening titles), is sent to HMP Slade, a fictional Category C prison in Cumberland, to...
Recurring cast
The programme's scriptwriters appear, uncredited, outside Fletch and Godber's cell in the episode "No Peace for the Wicked". Ronnie Barker had suggested the part of Lennie Godber for Paul Henry, but the decision to cast Richard Beckinsale was taken by the production team.
Development
Porridge originated with the BBC's 1973 project Seven of One, which would see Ronnie Barker star in seven different situation comedy pilot episodes. The most successful would then be made into a full series. One of the episodes was "Prisoner and Escort", written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais about a newly sentenced habitual criminal, Norman Stanley Fletcher (Barker), being escorted to prison by two warders: the timid Barrowclough (Brian Wilde) and the stern Mackay (Fulton Mackay). It was...
Locations
The prison exterior in the title sequence is the old St Albans prison gatehouse and HM Prison Maidstone, which was also featured in the BBC comedy series Birds of a Feather (HMP Slade is referred to in Birds of a Feather when the protagonists' husbands are imprisoned there after reoffending in Series 7). The interior shots of doors being locked were filmed in Shepherds Bush police station – the BBC had a good relationship with officers there. In the episode "Pardon Me" Fletcher speaks to Blan...
Titles and music
The opening credits consist of outside shots of Slade prison and of several doors and gates being closed and locked, which was intended to set the scene. In the first series, there were also shots of St Pancras railway station, which was changed in subsequent series to shots of Fletcher walking around Slade prison. Title music was thought unsuitable for a show set in prison, so instead there is a booming narration (voiced by Barker himself) given by the presiding judge passing sentence on Fle...
Following the pilot episode broadcast on 1 April 1973, the sitcom ran for three series between 5 September 1974(1974-09-05) and 25 March 1977(1977-03-25), with 20 episodes in total. Each episode was 30 minutes except for the two Christmas specials in 1975 and 1976.
Going Straight
A sequel to Porridge, Going Straight, was aired between 24 February and 7 April 1978. Beginning with Fletcher's release from prison on parole, it follows his attempts to "go straight" and readjust to a law-abiding life. Richard Beckinsale reprised his role as Godber, now the fiancé of Fletcher's daughter Ingrid (Patricia Brake), and the couple married in the final episode. Nicholas Lyndhurst also featured as Fletcher's gormless son, Raymond. The series lasted six episodes, and generally was n...
Life Beyond the Box: Norman Stanley Fletcher
On 29 December 2003, a mockumentary follow-up to Porridge was broadcast on BBC Two. It looked back on Fletcher's life and how the various inmates of Slade had fared 25 years after Fletcher's release from prison. Warren is now a sign painter, Lukewarm is married to Trevor, McLaren is an MSP, Grouty has become a celebrity gangster, Horrible Ives collects money for non-existent charities, Godber is now a lorry driver and still married to Ingrid, and Fletcher runs a pub with his childhood sweethe...
Porridge
On Sunday 28 August 2016, a one-off sequel to the original series, also titled Porridge, was broadcast on BBC One. It starred Kevin Bishopas Nigel Norman Fletcher, Norman Stanley Fletcher's grandson, serving five years in prison for computer-hacking. The special was written by the original creators and writers of Porridge, Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais. It gained praise from both viewers and TV critics, with many calling for a full series to be made. The overnight ratings showed an estimate...
An American version entitled On the Rocks (1975–76) ran for a season, while a Dutch version Laat maar zitten (a pun: the title has several meanings, like "Don't mention it" and "Let it be", but in this case it can also be interpreted as "Let them do time") ran from 1988 to 1991; later episodes of the Netherlands version were original scripts, the s...
Film adaptation
Following the example of other sitcom crossovers, such as Dad's Army, Steptoe and Son and The Likely Lads, a feature-length version of Porridgewas made in 1979. Barker again starred as Fletcher, and most of the supporting cast also returned. Unlike the television series, it was actually filmed at a real prison as HMP Chelmsford was temporarily vacant following a fire.
Novelisations and audio
Novelisations of the three series of Porridge were issued by BBC Books: Porridge by Jonathan Marshall (1975), Another Stretch of Porridge by Paul Victor (1976), and A Further Stir of Porridge by Paul Victor (1977). Going Straight was novelised under that title by Paul Victor in 1978. The three Porridge novelisations were published as the collected volume Three Helpings of Porridge (1984), republished as The Complete Porridge(1990). BBC Enterprises released an LP record featuring two Porridgee...
Stage show
In 2009 Porridge was adapted into a stage show, also written by Clement and La Frenais, starring former EastEnders actor Shaun Williamson as Fletcher and Daniel West as Godber. Peter Kay, a fan of the show, was previously offered the role but turned it down. It opened in September 2009 to positive reviews.
A set of special stamps celebrating the TV show is due to be issued by Royal Mailon 3 September 2024.
Popularity with prisoners
Porridge was immensely popular with British prisoners. Erwin James, an ex-prisoner who writes a bi-weekly column for The Guardiannewspaper, stated that: He also noted:
Contributions to the English language
The script allowed the prisoners to swear without offending viewers by using the word "naff" in place of ruder words ("Naff off!", "Darn your own naffing socks", "Doing next to naff all"), thereby popularising a word that had been virtually unknown and the first recorded use of which was in 1966. Ronnie Barker did not claim to have invented it and in a television interview in 2003 it was explained to him on camera what the word meant, as he did not have a clue. The word is used in another Cle...
- 1 April 1973 (pilot), 5 September 1974 (series) –, 25 March 1977
- BBC1
- 21 (list of episodes)
- BBC
Feb 10, 2023 · Porridge is a dish of cooked whole grains, cereal or legumes. It can be made with a variety of grains and legumes, such as oats, quinoa, barley, farro or wild rice. Learn how to make porridge with different types of grains and legumes, and how it differs from oatmeal. Get our favorite sweet and savory porridge recipes.
- Food Network Kitchen
Oct 27, 2016 · Porridge, The Food That Built Empires, Stages A Savory Comeback : The Salt Globally, this humble dish was one of the first ways humans learned to unlock the nutrition in grains. Now, chefs are ...
Porridge is a hot dish made by boiling grains or legumes in milk or water until thick and soft. Learn about different types of porridge, such as oatmeal, grits, polenta, and congee, and how they are served and flavored.
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Porridge is a food which is made with a cereal, usually oats. The oats are boiled in water or milk, or both. It is usually served hot in a bowl or dish. Some people add things to their porridge such as sugar or syrup. In Scotland salt is often added. Porridge is a traditional food in many countries in Northern Europe. It is usually eaten for ...
