The essential episodes of Porridge
Watch these 15 in order and you've got Porridge — each pick states its reason.
- 01
“Twenty-three and you want to go straight? What kind of talk is that? You've got your whole life in front of you!” It's Godber's first time in prison, and Fletch is going to teach him the ways.
- 02
Ives is such a loser that if Elizabeth Taylor had triplets, he'd have been the one in the middle. But there's no way he's going to be left out of Fletch's gambling enterprise.
- 03
Fletch explains to Godber that the best way to cope with his first night in prison, is to see it as just a "quiet night in". Trouble is, Godber's got another 698 to go.
- 04
Who would want to spend eight hours a day sewing fishing nets? Not Fletch, who is hell-bent on a cushy job in the library.
- 05
Fletch fancies himself as a bit of an agony aunt and is called upon by his fellow inmates to help out with affairs of the heart.
- 06
There's an outbreak of petty pilfering from the inmates in Slade prison. Fletcher is disgusted - after all, stealing may be a job on the 'outside', but it's despicable when it happens 'inside'.
- 07
It's Saturday afternoon and Fletcher looks forward to a quiet read. Everyone else seems to have other ideas about how Fletcher should be spending his time.
- 08
Fletcher is having a spell in the prison hospital with a broken ankle. He's sharing a ward with old Blanco, who tells him that another inmate has swindled him out of his belongings in a crooked card game. Fletcher hatches a plan to recover Blanco's belongings and to take revenge on the culprit.
- 09
Godber takes up boxing and wins a place in the prison championship, so Fletcher sees a chance for a bit of a flutter. Then Harry Grout takes an interest and insists that the fight is 'fixed'. When one of Grout's rivals takes a similar interest in Godber's opponent, it looks as if nobody can win. Fletcher, however, has other ideas.
- 10
When a bottle of pills goes missing from the Doctor's surgery, Harry Grout is worried that investigation of the theft by the prison authorities will jeopardise some of his activities. Grout insists that Fletcher must find the pills and return them before the warders can take action.
- 11
Fletcher's new cellmate turns out to be the judge who sentenced him to five years in Slade Prison.
- 12
Fletcher is worried that Judge Rawley might rob him of his main source of income - writing letters for illiterate inmates.
- 13
Old Blanco is doing time for the murder of his wife. He still swears he wasn't guilty. Now he's up before the Parole Board and it looks as if he's sure to be released. Blanco surprises everyone by turning down parole when it's offered to him. He explains that, if he accepts parole, he'll also be admitting that he was guilty of a crime for which he was wrongly convicted. He insists that he'll only leave prison if he's offered a full pardon. Fletcher comes up with a plan to help him.
- 14
Godber is working hard for an extra O-level. Fletcher tries to persuade him that cheating would be a good way of ensuring success in the examination. Godber isn't convinced.
- 15
Godber is due to appear before the parole board, but a fight with another inmate puts his parole in jeopardy. It's up to Fletcher to save the day.
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