Porridge

Very funny. I have been watching this since I was a child (early 90s reruns) and it makes me laugh every time. this has to be ronnie barkers best outing (which tells you something). richard beckinsale is great and went too soon. Wilde and Mackay are perfect in their roles and the 'backup cast' like McLaren and Ives really polish it off to leave it the perfect specimen of British comedy along with Only Fools and Horses and the Blackadder collection.

Easily one of the best sitcoms of all time with Ronnie Barker never better as the inmate Norman Stanley Fletcher, cocky inmate of Slade prison.

Richard Beckinsale was also superb as the wet-behind-the-ears Birmingham cook and Fulton McKay priceless as draconian Scots warder MacKay.

Each script by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais was a gem and the series became a firm favourite with Sean Connery who re-used one of the gags in Never Say Never Again.

(007 has to give a urine sample and is stood across the room) Doctor: I'd like a sample.

Bond: From here?

Barker's version is arguably a lot funnier.

Good support came from David Jason, Peter Vaughan and Brian Wilde and the big screen version (released in the States as Doing Time) was also a hoot.

This is one of the very best comedies ever. The stars are Ronnie Barker and Fulton Mackay but there is a very strong supporting cast It is repeated all the time on UK Gold but I enjoy watching it still, even when you know the jokes are coming. My favourite....Mr Mckay " There are only 2 rules in this prison 1. Do not write on the walls 2. Obey all the rules.

This show is definately one of the top ten best sitcoms in Britain and maybe even in the world. Ronnie Barkers best piece of comedy ever. One of the best points about it is the originality and imagination put into the idea of it being set in a prison. Not many 70's sitcoms do very well but this along with Fawlty Towers are exceptions of that decade. Highly recommended to anyone with a decent sense of humour. I just wish we had things like this now instead of "The office" and "Office Gossip", both of which can make a coffee-addicted insomniac fall asleep. Watch this show whenever its on. Best quote:

Mckay: Where's (can't remember name)?

Fletcher: Oh hes outside desecrating holy ground.

Mckay: He's what?

Fletcher: He's having a slash in a church yard.

I've seen some great sitcoms in my time - and some not so great. But this is definitely one of the great ones. The very idea of a comedy set in prison doesn't sound like it can work. But it does - and how!

Ronnie Barker is perfect as Fletch. He's nobody's fool, and doesn't suffer other people who are fools, but underneath is a heart of pure gold - he just doesn't show it very often. This is to his credit when it is displayed, for Godber (Richard Beckinsale) or Blanco (David Jason). As with everything, Barker's timing is superb, and the simplest little line can have the viewer in stitches. This man will always be the guv'nor!

Richard Beckinsale as the first-offender Lennie Godber is just as wonderful. He takes it at a slower pace, highlighting the contrast between the two characters. A gentler man for the role it is hard to envisage. And who would want to!

Not forgetting Fulton Mackay (Mr Mackay) and Brian Wilde (Mr Barrowclough) - similarly fast and slow-paced. There is never any doubt that Mackay is an authority figure over them, and can make their lives hell if he chooses to, whereas the long-suffering Barrowclough is the perfect foil, like Sgt Wilson to Cpt Mainwaring.

This is of course due first to the wonderful writing of Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, whose names grace the credits of many wonderful shows. They have created a masterpiece. A wonderful with believable characters. Everything fits together perfectly. Not one line needs changing.

Great cast, great writers. 12/10! The best sitcom ever!