Porridge (TV series) 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 two Christmas specials and a feature film of the same name (in the United States, the film was released under the title "Doing Time"). The sitcom focuses on two prison inmates, Norman Fletcher (played by Barker) and Lennie Godber (played by Beckinsale), who are serving time at the fictional HMP Slade in Cumberland. The show's title is a reference to both
Porridge (2016 TV series) "Landmark Sitcom Season" in 2016, which later proved popular with viewers and led to a series being commissioned, with Clement and La Frenais recruited into the show's production team. The first episode premiered on 6 October 2017. The main storylines of the show focus on its central character, Nigel Norman Fletcher, a talented computer specialist, who is sent to the fictional Wakeley Prison in southern England, to serve a five year prison sentence for cyber crimes, the proceeds of which he used to support his now ex-girlfriend's lifestyle. Much like his grandfather, Norman Stanley Fletcher, Nigel has his own personal