No Way Out (Porridge) No Way Out (Porridge) "No Way Out" is the first Christmas special of the BBC sitcom "Porridge". It first aired on 24 December 1975. In this episode, prisoner Tommy Slocombe makes an escape attempt in the lead-up to Christmas. Christmas time has come to Slade Prison. Godber with his innocent nature likes the idea of Christmas, but Fletcher tells him that Christmas in prison is not much different from any other day. Godber points out that there are carol singers, but Fletcher remarks that they are used to drown out the sound of Tommy Slocombe's tunneling. Fletcher attempts to visit
Porridge (TV series) him at times. The other is Mr Barrowclough, a far more sympathetic and timid prison officer and Mackay's subordinate, who is more prone to manipulation by his charges because of the nature of his character. The programme's scriptwriters appear, uncredited, outside Fletch and Godber's cell in the episode "No Peace for the Wicked". Ronnie Barker had suggested the part of Lennie Godber for Paul Henry, but the decision to cast Richard Beckinsale was taken by the production team. "Porridge" originated with a 1973 project commissioned by the BBC "Seven of One", which would see Ronnie Barker star in seven different