Characters of Porridge (TV series) episode Mackay asks Fletcher whether he felt he was working class. Fletcher responds 'I did, until I visited Glasgow. Now I think I'm middle class.' Mackay appears in the first episode of "Going Straight", where it is revealed he has left Slade Prison after reaching the compulsory retirement age for prison officers. During the series Mackay regularly wore his army service ribbons on his uniform. During the run of the series he wore the General Service Medal 1918-1962, the Korea Medal, and the UN Korea Medal. For the film this was inexplicably expanded to an additional row containing the 1939-1945
Porridge (TV series) "Porridge", a slang term for prison; Barker, Clement and La Frenais actually came up with the same title independently of each other. In their research, Clement and La Frenais spoke to Jonathan Marshall, a former prisoner who had written a book, "How to Survive in the Nick", and he advised them about prison slang, dress and routines. Struggling to think up plots and humour for such a downbeat, confined environment, a particular phrase used by Marshall – "little victories" – struck a chord and convinced them to base the series on an inmate who made his daily life in prison