History Series / Porridge

* MoralDissonance: Blanco, a kindly older prisoner who insisted for years that he was innocent of murdering his wife, later telling Fletcher it was his wife's lover who had actually done it. As he's now paroled, Fletcher tells him not to go looking for revenge, but Blanco replies that the lover is long dead, and he should know.

* ReformedButRejected: Fletcher's efforts to go straight are sincere, but, doomed to a law-abiding career of menial jobs and surrounded by temptation, he almost becomes this.

* TheDanza: Mr Mackay is played by Fulton Mackay.
* DawsonCasting: Inverted by having the then thirty-five year old Creator/DavidJason play the extremely elderly Blanco Webb.

Named after the then slang for being imprisoned (Doing Porridge) Porridge is a prison comedy that aired on TheBBC between 1973 and 1977 with three seasons, two Christmas specials and [[TheMovie a film.]] Set in the fictional Slade Prison it starred [[TheTwoRonnies Ronnie Barker]] as Fletcher, a career criminal, and Richard Beckinsale as Godber, a naive first time inmate. The plot centred around the prisoners' attempts to get things past the prison wardens (the stern Mr Mackay and the soft Mr Barrowclough mostly), avoid trouble with the Prison Governor (who thinks he runs the place) and avoid the wrath of Harry Grout (an East End gang boss who really does).

Named after the then slang for being imprisoned (Doing Porridge) Porridge is a prison comedy that aired on TheBBC between 1973 and 1977 with three seasons, two Christmas specials and [[TheMovie a film.]] Set in the fictional Slade Prison it starred [[TheTwoRonnies Ronnie Barker]] as Fletcher, a career criminal, and Richard Beckinsale as Godber, a naive first time inmate. The plot centred around the prisoners' attempts get things past the prison wardens (the stern Mr Mackay and the soft Mr Barrowclough mostly), avoid trouble with the Prison Governor (who thinks he runs the place) and avoid the wrath of Harry Grout (an East End gang boss who really does).

Named after the then slang for being imprisoned (Doing Porridge) Porridge is a prison comedy that aired on TheBBC between 1973 and 1977 with three seasons, two Christmas specials and [[TheMovie a film.]] Set in the fictional Slade Prison it starred [[TheTwoRonnies Ronnie Barker]] as Fletcher, a career criminal, and Richard Beckinsale as Godber, a naive new boy. The plot centred around the prisoners' attempts get things past the prison wardens (the stern Mr Mackay and the soft Mr Barrowclough mostly), avoid trouble with the Prison Governor (who thinks he runs the place) and avoid the wrath of Harry Grout (an East End gang boss who really does).

* TheDitz: Heslop

-->[Godber bangs his head on the goalpost]

** To be clear he ''eats lightbulbs''.

* LIsForDyslexia: "Bunny" Warren claims to be in prison because he could not read the sign: "Warning, Burglar Alarm".
** As we see he gets Fletcher to read him letters from his wife, it's implied that he's illiterate.

* ScaryBlackMan: Jock [=McLaren=] (though he's more of a scary Scot who is black).

* ShoutOut: Harry Grout, who bears something of a resemblance to a certain [[NoelCoward Mr Bridger]], is apparently doing time for some sort of [[TheItalianJob job in Italy]]...

* VetinariJobSecurity: When Mr Mackay is promoted a stricter, crueller screw from a prison Fletcher had been in earlier in his life replaces him and bullies both the criminals and [[KickTheDog Mr Barrowclough]]. The prisoners get rid of him by orchestrating a CrowningMomentOfAwesome for Mr Barrowclough and welcome back Mackay with a rendition of "For he's a jolly good fellow".

* JerkwithaHeartofGold: Why Fletch of course!

** Also possibly a case of GettingCrapPastTheRadar, since "naff" was originally, in gay slang, an acronym of "not available for fucking".

* TheRalphWiggum - Heslop.

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Porridge_Logo.jpg
--->''Norman Stanley Fletcher, you have pleaded guilty to the charges brought by this court and it is now my duty to pass sentence. You are an habitual criminal who accepts arrest as an occupational hazard and presumably accepts imprisonment in the same casual manner. We therefore feel constrained to commit you to the maximum term allowed for these offences -- you will go to prison for five years.''

* DawsonCasting: Inverted by having the then thirty-five year old DavidJason play the extremely elderly Blanco Webb.

* Harry Grout - Crime and sentence unknown but required extradition from Italy.

* Keegan - Murder (sentence unknown).
* Jarvis - Football hooliganism (more than five years).

Named for the then slang for being imprisoned (Doing Porridge) Porridge is a prison comedy that aired on TheBBC between 1973 and 1977 with three seasons, two Christmas specials and [[TheMovie a film.]] Set in the fictional Slade Prison it starred [[TheTwoRonnies Ronnie Barker]] as Fletcher, a career criminal, and Richard Beckinsale as Godber, a naive new boy. The plot centered around the prisoners attempts get things past the prison wardens (the stern Mr Mackay and the soft Mr Barrowclough mostly), avoid trouble with the Prison Governor (who thinks he runs the place) and avoid the wrath of Harry Grout (an East End gang boss who really does).

* Fletcher - Probably breaking and entering, although a speech that may have been a joke claims it was the theft of a lorry. (five years)
* Godber - Breaking and entering. (two years)
* Blanco - Wrongly convicted of murdering his wife, although in the episode "Pardon Me" he claimed he did kill his wife's lover, a crime for which he was not convicted. (sentence unknown, had served 17 years by the time he was released)

* Heslop - Robbery (three years)
* [=McClaren=] - Crime unknown (three years)
* Keegan - Murder (sentence unknown)
* Jarvis - Football hooliganism.(more than five years)
* Harris - Mugged an old lady but it went wrong when he found she had a brick in her handbag and successfully pinned Harris down. (sentence unknown)
* Rawley - Three charges: "Party to criminal conspiracy, forgery of legal documents under the Forgery Act of 1913 - 1948, and accepting an illicit payment as an officer of the crown" (three years, quashed at appeal, the judge who sent Fletcher down.)

* TheDanza: Mr. Mackay is played by Fulton Mackay.

* DecisionDarts: Fletcher mentions that in his previous prison they used to run roulette by bribing a warden to turn a blind eye, blindfolding the "croupier" and spinning him around when he threw a dart at a dartboard covered with a list of numbers. Until the spinning is a little too vigorous and the warden "turned a blind eye to everything after that."
* GoshDangItToHeck: The prisoners use the words "Naff" or "Naffing", depending on context, for viewer-friendly swearing.

* LuxuryPrisonSuite: We see Harry Grout only three times, each time in his large, well furnished cell. Apparently when he was extradited he paid for himself and the policeman to be bumped up to first class.

* MoralDissonance: Blanco, a kindly older prisoner who insisted for years that he was innocent of murdering his wife, later telling Fletcher it was his wife's lover who had actually done it. As he's now paroled, Fletcher tells him not to go looking for revenge, but Blanco replies that he's long dead, and he should know.

* TheMovie: aka ''Doing Time'' in the U.S. Made in 1979, featuring the same cast and writers but with no BBC involvement. Not as well-received as the series, though not as bad as some TV spinoffs. This was Richard Beckinsale's last performance before his untimely death.

* TheOldConvict: Fletcher to some extent, but Blanco plays this more straight. He's completed a replica of Muffin the Mule in the prison workshop: "You know, him what's on television." (''Muffin the Mule'' was broadcast from 1946 to 1957. The ''Porridge'' episode was broadcast in 1975.)

* PetHomosexual: "Lukewarm"

* ScaryBlackMan: Jock [=McLaren=] (though he's more of a scary Scot who just ''happens'' to be black).
* ScaryMinoritySuspect: Ditto
* SecondEpisodeIntroduction: Godber and all other prisoners except Fletcher himself do not appear in the pilot.

* VetinariJobSecurity: When Mr Mackay is promoted a stricter, crueler screw from a prison Fletcher had been in earlier in his life replaces him and bullies both the criminals and [[KickTheDog Mr Barrowclough]]. The prisoners get rid of him by orchestrating a CrowningMomentOfAwesome for Mr Barrowclough and welcome back Mckay with a rendition of "For he's a jolly good fellow."

** To be clear he ''eats lightbulbs''

* NoodleIncident: The hotelier who gives Fletch a job has never regretted giving prisoners a second chance "except on two unfortunate occasions".

* CharacterOutlivesActor: Ingrid (Fletch's daughter, who married Godber in ''Going Straight'') gets a phone call from her husband that he can't make it back for the documentary. Richard Beckinsdale died shortly after ''Going Straight'' completed filming.

* CriminalProcedural: Of the convict verity.

* ScaryBlackMan: Jock [=McLaren=]

* CrimeTimeTV: Of the convict verity.

* OddCouple: Both Fletcher (cynical old timer) and Godber (naive young criminal) and Mackay (strict and nasty as they com) and Barrowclough (Soft as ice cream in a Californian heatwave.)

* DiedOnABus: Ingrid (Fletch's daughter, who married Godber in ''Going Straight'') gets a phone call from her husband that he can't make it back for the documentary. Richard Beckinsdale died shortly after ''Going Straight'' completed filming.