Porridge, the 1970’s sitcom set in prison starring Ronnie Barker, Richard Beckensale and Fulton McKay is considered to be one of the finest and most polished comedies of the 1970’s. It is regularly rated in the top ten of British comedy productions and has a much held love and respect among the UK public even to this day. It was so popular that it spawned a feature film and a spin off show called “Going Straight” which covered the life of the two main characters after they had left prison. For this kind of event TV then, as with know you would need a good reception and a TV Aerials Cardiff based firm like https://www.onevisionltd.co.uk/tv-aerial-installation-cardiff can make that a reality.
The show’s origins were not without a considerable amount of controversy. At first it was thought scandalous that a comedy show could be set in a prison. These were society’s worst individuals. How could there be humour here, everyone should be miserable? Would the series create pity in those that only deserved contempt? Why were the guards ridiculed and bested at every turn? Why weren’t the characters more remorseful and soul searching?
The writers Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais had spoken at length to an ex-prisoner who had written a book about his experience and had “gone straight”. They were initially unsure as to how they could write a humorous series when prisons are by their nature bleak. They concentrated on the little victories that a prisoner can have and the natural friction between guard and inmate.