Porridge is a British sitcom, starring Ronnie Barker and Richard Beckinsale, written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, and broadcast on BBC1 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 Stanley Fletcher (played by Barker) and Lennie Godber (played by Beckinsale), who are serving time at the fictional HMP Slade in Cumberland. Several characters from Porridge reappear in the sequel series Going Straight (1978) and in the 2003 spoof documentary Life Beyond the Box: Norman Stanley Fletcher. The 2016 sequel series of Porridge has different cast of characters, although Nigel Norman Fletcher in the 2016 series is the grandson of Norman Stanley Fletcher in the original series. Overview Mr Barrowclough Henry Barrowclough is a prison officer, portrayed by Brian Wilde. Unlike Mr Mackay, whose harsh and confrontational methods he disapproves of (though he dare not make this known to Mr Mackay), Barrowclough is a timid, sympathetic man who firmly believes that the role of prison is to rehabilitate rather than punish. He does not share Mackay's tough military background, having done his National Service in Royal Air Force stores in the comfortable surroundings of Singapore. Mr Barrowclough does not seem to be cut out for the life of a prison warder, and he says in the movie version whilst in conversation with a new officer that Slade prison (the officer's club at least) is a "miserable place" and that the only reason he stays is that keeps him away from being at home with his wife. Fletcher and the other prisoners constantly abuse his leniency to acquire more pleasant jobs, cells or special privileges. They also know how to forge his signature. However, despite this, the prisoners do hold a great deal of fondness for Barrowclough. At one point, in an attempt to raise his prestige due to the vicious nature of Mr. Wainwright, the temporary replacement for Mr Mackay, they stage a riot, refusing to stop for even the harshest of threats, including Wainwright himself. But when, on Fletch's suggestion, Barrowclough is called into the hall, they fall silent as he nervously enters, and do not hesitate in obeying his rather timid requests, such as "now, why don't you all put those