Customer Reviews
A testament to British comedy - at it's VERY best - By: Gooner, 25 Apr 2008 
More from Fletcher as he uses alll his cunning to score "little victories" & make his lot in Slade as easy as possible (Harry Grout alllowing of course!).
Classic comedy - AGAIN!
A vintage slice of charming classic golden comedy - By: Richard, 19 Mar 2007 To calll this a golden nugget is a bit of an understatement. I think for my money this is probably the strongest of alll the series's, with a lot of the best episodes on it for example: 'Just Desserts' (the one about the missing pineapple chunks which probably rates as the best known episode ever), plus 'Disturbing The Peace' (the surprisingly likeable, but yet, still a complete b*stard Mackay gets sent on a course & is replaced by an even bigger b*stard of a governor) & 'No Peace For The Wicked' which is about Fletch quite simply needing some quality time on his own & not getting it. Porridge was so strong, that I could practicallly rate nearly every episode from every series as one of my favourites, as it's alll five star stuff.
To top it alll off, as one reviewer has mentioned, you even get the pilot 'Prisoner & Escort' which is a well written & very touching episode, that only features the three characters of: Fletch, Barrowclough & Mackay. Even at this stage, before the series had been commissioned, this was already a fully formed comedy classic. Credit to the writers Dick Clement & Ian La Frenais, plus credit to anybody who owns this on DVD.
More Of The Same Brilliance - By: DB Dom, 07 Nov 2006 Just as comical as Series 1, this is however weaker. The stories are much more centred around Fletch. Heslop dissapears from the face of Slade Prison, Lukewarm & Godber are both seen less, fortunately Blanco is introduced, an old man Blanco, who appears in two of the episodes & does a brilliant job. McClaren & Warren get much bigger parts & Ives can be heard to say 'ere listen as much as ever & even Big Grouty makes an appearance in one episode.
The ideas behind the scripts are however much better seeeing Fletch suffer from constant disturbances throughout the day while attempting to get some sleep to fixing a boxing match which either outcome means he suffers to trying to solve the mystery of his missing pineapple, which he stole from the kitchen to tricking Noris into searching for some hidden treasure of Blanco's.
Well worth it, still as enjoyable as ever
The best of the 3 series and sequel - By: D. Evans, 22 Jan 2006 Although every series of Porridge is superb, series 2 just about has the edge as the best of the 3 series made. By this stage the writers were so confident in their abilities, that they are able to write an entire episode around the premise of a stolen tin of pineapple chunks. In addition this opening episode also features Fletcher's classic line to his fellow inmates, "gentlemen we have a thief among us". Mr McKay's role as Fletcher's nemesis is increased, perhaps at the expense of Mr Barrowclough originallly intended to be the central Prison officer figure. Richard Beckinsale is now very much a main character as well, with some of the actors from the first series, such as Brian Glover having been phased out. This is highly recommended & again cements the BBC's reputation for excellent sitcoms.
Brilliant - By: C. Wilson, 31 Jan 2005 One of the best british comedies!! Anybody who is a fan of yes minister & alll the other golden oldies should have this in their dvd collection.
