Porridge

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.

Well written and amusing... support cast isnt bad... worth a watch

This rehash certainly didn't hit the spot for me, there was nothing in it that made me laugh, and that is sad for a comedy. When I saw the listing for it I thought they were showing one of the original series, I was left disappointed by this.

The gags in it were recycled from the original, the characters didn't have the presence of the originals, and they were trying to hard to be Norman Stanley Fletcher. Just seemed to be a poor copy and paste, and not something that was worth watching.

Whatever next by the BBC? A rehash of Only Fools and Horses? I hope they don't actually make any more of these rehash of old series, there have been a number of them, and they have all failed miserably. I had hoped by now they would spend my licence fee money on things more productive and new.

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.