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Porridge
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Porridge
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- 1979
- Dick Clement
- 89 mins
- PG
Summary
Comedy based on the popular BBC TV series, starring Ronnie Barker and Richard Beckinsale. Detained at Her Majesty's pleasure, cell-mates Fletcher and Godber become unwilling accomplices to an escape attempt during a football match.
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IMDB
Review
A star rating of 3 out of 5.
Andrew Collins
While some half-hour sitcoms feel stretched over the running time of a spin-off movie, Porridge, a relatively belated big-screen promotion for the Ronnie Barker prison chamber piece (the series had ended in 1977 while sequel Going Straight had been and gone), feels entirely comfortable in its extended form. This is largely thanks to a tightly focused plot from series creators Dick Clement (who also directs) and Ian La Frenais, involving an escape arranged to correspond with an inmates-versus-celebrities football match. Barker's Fletch and Richard Beckinsale's Godber are haplessly mixed up in this plot (designed to spring an armed robber) and have to break back into prison. Series regulars Peter Vaughan, Brian Wilde, Fulton Mackay and Sam Kelly are joined by younger lags Daniel Peacock and Karl Howman (and the Godot-like presence of David "Diddy" Hamilton, one of the celebs), but all feels reassuringly familiar in terms of affable pace and laconic tone. As with the best of the TV show, the presence of a firearm provides a shocking jolt of reality amid the genial knockabout.
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7.2/10
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Credits
Cast
rolenameNorman FletcherRonnie BarkerLennie GodberRichard BeckinsaleMackayFulton MackayBarrowcloughBrian Wilde"Grouty"Peter VaughanBainbridgeJulian HollowayGovernorGeoffrey BayldonBealeChristopher GodwinOakesBarrie RutterRudgeDaniel PeacockWarrenSam KellyMcClarenTony OsobaMorganPaul Barber
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Crew
rolenameDirectorDick Clement
Details
Released on
1979-08-10
Languages
English
Available on
video and DVD
Formats
Colour
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