Ronnie Barker same year, determined not to be remembered only as Fletcher, Barker opted to end "Porridge" after three series and instead focused on the second pilot "Open All Hours", alongside David Jason. Barker starred as Arkwright, a money-grabbing, stuttering shopkeeper. Arkwright's stutter was not in the script; Barker was inspired to use it by Melvyn's performance and use of a stutter in a 1955 play the two performed at the Palace Theatre called "Hot Water". "Open All Hours" aired one series in 1976 on BBC Two but was not renewed due to low ratings. As a result, Barker backtracked on his
Ronnie Barker by Roy Clarke) and "Prisoner and Escort" (written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais) became series. "Prisoner and Escort" became "Porridge", airing from 1974–1977, with Barker starring as the cynical and cunning prisoner Norman Stanley Fletcher. "Porridge" was the first sitcom to take place in a prison; "The Times" said the show "was about what it took to survive in prison, the little day-to-day triumphs over the system that kept the prisoners sane." The opening sequence of the programme showed Fletcher being directed to his cell, as prison doors are locked behind him, all the while the judge can