Double act habitual criminal", Fletcher (played by Ronnie Barker, already famous for his comedy partnership with Ronnie Corbett) and a young, naive, first-time prisoner, Lennie Godber. The two would bicker but endured a relationship of mutual respect. Barker also formed a partnership with David Jason in Open All Hours, with Jason playing Granville while Barker played Albert Arkwright. Many don't see this as a comedy duo, but the straight-man element coupled with Barker's funny-man antics on the show are still compressed into the script. Rik Mayall and Ade Edmondson combined their success in sitcoms ("The Young Ones") and as a double act
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