Richard Beckinsale subject of an episode of "This Is Your Life". Beckinsale quit "Rising Damp" in 1977, the same year that "Porridge" was brought to an end with his character of Godber being released from his prison sentence in the final episode. He subsequently starred alongside Barker in "Going Straight", a spin-off of "Porridge" in which the two criminal characters are seen on the outside rebuilding their lives. In 1977, he starred in a radio comedy series called "Albert and Me" with Pat Coombs and John Comer. At the beginning of 1979, Beckinsale made a film version of "Porridge". It was to
Porridge (TV series) the word meant, as he hadn't a clue. A genuine neologism was "nerk", which was used in place of the more offensive "berk". "Berk" has changed meaning since its inception and is generally used now to mean "fool" while the original rhyming slang meaning refers to female genitalia. Another term was "scrote" (presumably derived from scrotum), meaning a nasty, unpleasant person. Porridge (TV series) Porridge is a British sitcom, starring Ronnie Barker and Richard Beckinsale, written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, and broadcast on BBC One from 1974 to 1977. The programme ran for three series, and included