Porridge

When talking about the US version of Porridge, writers Clement & La Frenais talked about what was lacking was that their central character was not Norman Stanley Fletcher. The actor cast played some other variation of the written character after it had gone thorough the hands of various network executives.

In this updated reworking the writers know they need Fletcher. Kevin Bishop plays the grandson of Ronnie Barker's character. Nigel Norman Fletcher a younger cyber criminal doing five years porridge at Wakely Prison. He still has some mannerisms of his grandfather, eking out little victories. His new cell mate is an old lag who did time at Slade prison four decades ago with his grandfather and uncle Godber. The only disappointing note for me was Nicholas Lyndhurst (Fletcher's son in the spin off, Going Straight) did not play Nigel's dad.

After that the ingredients are very much like the original series. In this one off, Nigel has to do a favour in cleansing the online records of the prison hardman while staying one step ahead of Prison Officer Meekie.

Officers Meekie and Braithwaite are just thinly disguised versions of MacKay and Barrowclough as the writers know that they were an important part of Porridge hence why the spin off Going Straight did not work as these characters were missing.

There were several laughs here and the one off episode showed promise although I noted the writers themselves pilfered a bit from their original show.

The task of rebooting a classic such as PORRIDGE must have seemed daunting. How can the BBC replace such a versatile character as Ronnie Barker, who could assume bourgeois roles such as Lord Rustless in HARK AT BARKER (1969) and then move seamlessly into the lovable rogue part in Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais's evergreen comedy?

Perhaps wisely, director Dewi Humphreys opted not to recreate the late Seventies atmosphere of the Slade Prison but updated this reboot to the present day. It was not Norman Stanley Fletcher who had been banged up this time, but his grandson Nigel Norman (Kevin Bishop), a cyber- crime specialist with a talent for getting the best for himself in a none-pleasant-environment.

The script-writers for this episode remained the same: as a result, several of the themes that rendered the Barker version so popular were explored here. The claustrophobia of an all-male prison, where only the fittest survive reappeared; whereas it was Genial Harry Grout (Peter Vaughan) in the Barker version, now it was Richie Wekks (Ralph Imison), abetted by his substantial sidekick Scudds (Ricky Grover). Even someone as mentally agile as Norman could not get the better of him. The reboot also explored the ways in which prison brings together men of completely different social, economic, and generational differences and forges bonds between them, as Fletcher developed a rapport with aging old lag Joe Lotterby (Dave Hill), who had known Fletch's grandfather in the dim and distant past. Life in prison forges long-lasting memories, despite its disadvantages.

Clement and La Frenais's script contained some conscious pastiches for those with long memories. The chief screw Mr. Meekie (Mark Bonnar) had a name not too distant from Fulton Mackay's Mr. Mackay in the Barker version; while the ineffectual Mr. Braithwaite (Dominic Coleman) had all the malleability of Brian Wilde's Mr. Barraclough. Yet these parallels did not detract from the overall quality of the episode, which remained as goodhearted yet underlyingly serious in tone as the original series forty years ago. If the BBC should consider extending this one-off into a series, then the idea I am sure would work extremely well.

Same old Equity faces wheeled out... similar plot lines and characters... annoying laughter track to cover up the lack of actual laughs... The original writers have been wheeled out and it shows... still trapped in the 70s but with new trendy terminology added for the kids.

If you have never seen the original this may pass as watchable if you can get past the torturous interference of the laugh track. (Although, not quite as annoying as the show-killing laugh track on Blackadder Goes Forth.)

If you have seen the original series then you may enjoy the novelty of the references to the original. But you'll probably be disappointed with this thin copy of a classic and timeless favorite.

Times have changed and while this episode would have slotted in quite nicely with the original 40 years ago, today it looks a bit... well, naff!

The BBC will probably commission a series out of this pilot because it no longer has a clue what comedy is. Auntie Beeb is now a toothless and irrelevant temple of political correctness and left- wing ideology... famous for not finding humor in anything... so this remake will fit well into their brief.

In the end this re-boot needs kicking into touch.

Unlike the Are you being served return, they opted for present day, with a host of new characters, albeit a set of characters that mirror those from the original run very closely.

I've always liked Kevin Bishop, he's a very funny actor who seems to have been around a good while, he made a good job of bringing the new 'Fletch' to us.

The show was definitely stolen by Mark Bonnar who played Mr Meekie brilliantly, very reminiscent of Mr Mr Mackay, not just in name, but delivery, he was fantastic.

One thing I've learned watching this and AYBS is the format of the show is that successful, that somehow it just works. For it to work it has to have good characters, funny moments and stand the test of time.

This was funny, and I can see this working well as a series.

More Fletch please. 7/10

The difference between porridge in the 1970's and now is the fact that Ronnie Barker was a proper funny comedy actor, with the odd exception most actors now are products of talent shows. The other problem is that back in the 70's all you had to do was concentrate on the comedy, now, the first thing is making sure the programme is politically correct and the humour is non funny and non offensive.