Product Description

Regarded by many critics as Britain's best sitcom, Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais' tales of life inside Slade Prison first hit the screens in 1973 and ran until 1977. But it has never faded from the nation's consciousness. Ronnie Barker as Fletch the old lag and Richard Beckinsale as Godber the naive first-time offender are comic creations as fine as any in the history of television.

Now, for the first time, Richard Webber has brought together the original scripts from all three series of PORRIDGE to make this the essential souvenir for all the many fans of this much-loved classic comedy.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #433469 in Books
• Published on: 2004-09-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 416 pages

About the Author
Richard Webber's knowledge of British television sitcoms is second to none and he has written a number of bestselling books on the subject as well as contributing to many newspapers and magazines over the years.

Customer Reviews

Excellent display of the craft of comedy
Porridge is one of the finest sitcoms ever to have graced the British screen. The collected scripts show that it wasn't just the superb acting of Barker, Beckinsale, McKay and the rest that made it so brilliant, but the tautness and economy of the scripts. There isn't a wasted word in Clement and La Frenais' scripts - they're densely plotted and full of twists and turns. What's also evident is how much the writers loved language - constrained by what was acceptable on pre-watershed television they still managed to get a kind of bizarre lyric poetry out of the bowdlerised version of prison slang that they could get away with.

These scripts read brilliantly - many sitcoms don't translate well to the printed page because they're so dependent upon physical comedy. Porridge was always wordy and these scripts really do read like perfect little plays.

And most important of all, they're still hilarious.

So, nurks, scroats and assorted miscreants, pilfer yourselves a copy of this.

Not quite what I expected
I bought this book largely to clear up a few words/phrases which I could never quite work out from endlessly watching my Porridge DVDs. I have found however that on every page, and sometimes on virtually every line, without grossly exaggerating, the script as printed is not what one hears on the DVD. Now don't get me wrong, obviously all lines in the book are as near as dammit the same as what one hears on the DVDs, but there are so many examples of it not being word-for-word the same, which is what I WAS expecting, that it grated a bit. I must assume, in order to be fair, that these are indeed the official scripts, but that the actors were naturally ad-libbing slightly away from the exact words of their lines when the final takes were recorded. So this is not meant as a criticism of the book, just fair warning that it isn't word-for-word. Maybe this is normal for script books; this is the first I've bought. The humour still shines through and what I have said doesn't detract from the book once you accept the differences I've described. Also the episode guide is a most useful feature. Even the script of the pilot is included, but not that of the film.

On the other hand, sometimes I have found myself wondering if the book was written by somebody who simply watched the DVDs and just wrote down what they thought they heard, in which case the editing of the book is terrible. E.g. in the very first episode of the first series, Mackay says about Heslop "there'll be no answers with that one." In the book "answers" has become "ulcers" (!)

One final thought - an appeal for help. In the "No Way Out" Christmas Special, Fletcher comments on Barrowclough's manner towards the "nurse" who turns out to be the bearer of the passport. Now the phrase I could never work out by watching the episode, is, according to the book, "Chapel Hat Pegs" (just before Barrowclough offers Fletcher a biscuit.) Given what I've said about the book, I have no certainty this is exactly what Fletch is saying, but even if it is, can someone please tell me what on earth it means?!!