of A Family at War, playing a young soldier. The Lovers After being recommended by several other actors for the part, Beckinsale landed his first starring role as Geoffrey in the sitcom The Lovers (1970–71), opposite fellow newcomer Paula Wilcox. The show put both leading performers in the eye of the public and a film version was made in 1973 with both Beckinsale and Wilcox reprising their roles. Porridge From 1974 to 1977, Beckinsale starred as prison inmate Lennie Godber alongside Ronnie Barker in the hit BBC sitcom Porridge. Beckinsale expressed relief at landing the role, owing to his concern about being typecast as Geoffrey from The Lovers. Barker had suggested actor Paul Henry for the role of Godber, owing to Henry’s being from Birmingham (as Godber was meant to be), but director Sydney Lotterby chose Beckinsale instead. Beckinsale initially played Godber with a Birmingham accent, but this was eventually abandoned. Actor Brian Glover, who played the character Cyril Heslop on Porridge, stated that Heslop's line "I read a book once; green it was" from the first episode, New Faces, Old Hands, was actually Beckinsale's idea. Rising Damp While appearing in Porridge on the BBC, Beckinsale simultaneously starred as naive medical student Alan Moore in the ITV sitcom Rising Damp also from 1974 to 1977. Beckinsale was the only member of the cast not to have appeared in The Banana Box, the play on which Rising Damp was based. Writer Eric Chappell stated: "Although not the oldest, he was the most experienced sitcom actor of the quartet, having already appeared in The Lovers and Porridge. This allowed him to be something of a calming influence on the show – a calming influence that was often needed." Beckinsale had previously worked with Leonard Rossiter in the 1974 Johnny Speight drama If There Weren't Any Blacks You'd Have To Invent Them. Because of a scheduling conflict with the musical I Love My Wife, in which he was starring, Beckinsale was unable to appear in the fourth series of Rising Damp. Going Straight In 1977, Porridge was brought to an end with his character of Godber being released from his prison sentence in the final episode. He subsequently starred alongside Barker in Going Straight (1978), a spin-off of Porridge in which the two criminal characters are seen on the outside rebuilding their lives. Tentative plans for further episodes of the spin-off were shelved