Although these four are the main protagonists, several regular characters make up the mix, notably the effete prison governor, various inmates, and, most frighteningly, Harry Grout, who runs a criminal empire from within the prison and who has as much sway within the walls as the governor himself. It is the plots where Fletcher and Godber find themselves caught between the wardens and Harry Grout that feature the most rewarding twists and turns.

Porridge was the brainchild of veteran sitcom writers Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, who had first shone in the genre with their 1960s comedy The Likely Lads (BBC 1964–66). In the 1970s they perfected their technique with two comedy classics, Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads (BBC 1973–74) and Porridge. The banter between Fletcher and Godber was vibrant, funny, and superbly constructed. It also helped that the scripts were played by two skilled actors doing their best work. Ronnie Barker, already a major TV comedy star with a string of sitcom successes and a popular sketch show (The Two Ronnies BBC 1971–97, with comedy partner Ronnie Corbett), played Fletcher. Richard Beckinsale, a likable young actor who had already made a splash playing a confused suitor in an earlier sitcom, The Lovers (Granada 1970–71), played Godber. The series was attracting huge audience figures shortly after its debut, regularly topping the ratings (during its repeat run in the 1980s, it placed even higher in the ratings).

Clement and La Frenais toyed with calling the series Bird (London East End rhyming slang for a prison sentence: Bird Lime–Time) before settling on Porridge, another slang word for doing time (from the ubiquitous prison breakfast). Eventually, they penned 21 episodes of the series before Fletcher had done his time and left to join the outside world. But the story did not end there. The writers decided to see how Fletcher would fare “outside,” and his adventures were continued in Going Straight (BBC 1978), which also featured Lennie Godber, likewise released and now courting Fletcher’s daughter, Ingrid. The series failed to sparkle like its predecessor and only ran to one season of six episodes. The character, however, had one last bow, this time on the big screen in the 1979 movie spin-off Porridge, which featured the original cast in a caper wherein Fletcher and Godber are unwittingly involved in a jail break and, desperate not to ruin their chances of parole, strive to break back into the prison before their absence is noticed. Tragically, the young Richard Beckinsale died of a heart attack before the feature film was released.

There was a U.S. version of Porridge: On The Rocks (ABC 1975–76) with Jose Perez in the lead as Latino Hector Fuentes incarcerated in Alamesa Minimum Security Prison. It failed to duplicate the resonance of the U.K. version, however, and bowed out after a few months. It spawned a pilot, I’ll Never Forget What’s Her Name (ABC 1976), featuring Rita Moreno as Hector’s cousin Rosa, but this failed to graduate to a series. The British Porridge remains a mainstay of the schedules, and Norman Fletcher has taken his place in the British sitcom hall of fame alongside such characters as Alf Garnett, Basil Fawlty, Edmund Blackadder, and Victor Meldrew.