What a lovely softly spoken man Richard Beckinsale was. Lovely unassuming man, very shy it seems. Ronnie Barker also is very softly spoken when not in character. A brilliant gem here.
No matter how many years pass, or how many miles from Slade to America; I will always miss the absolute magnificent talents of Ronnie & Richard. Two brilliant gems of British comedy!!!
Porridge was a real gem of a series,.......great writing, wonderful acting ,...and some great characters,...and the glue that everything together was comedy genius Ronnie Barker as the unforgettable Fletcher ......Norman Stanley
What a beautiful car the Marcos was and still is. Aesthetically pleasing to the eye and absolutely timeless in design. It's shameful Britain doesn't have an indigenous mass production car manufacturer to take on the world. What could, and should, have been.
What an enjoyable clip. So relaxing. No 'zany' presenter, no short edits and flashing lights, just a fun and interesting interview. Where did it all go wrong?
That's more than likely to be just down to John Noakes - he didn't need all that pulava, because that came around in the 1980s, when television began getting dumbed down. He always struck me as a simple tell-you-the-truth guy. "Here's a job John - we want you to bobsled with the British team, which might involve some bruising, shovel coal on the steam locomotive A2 Blue Peter, or climb a floodlight gantry at Loftus Road football stadium, to replace a lightbulb or even go up Nelson's Column on a ladder to scrape pigeon crap from Lord Horatio's hat, oh and with little or no safety gear!!" This is what made Noakesie the legend he was to us 50-somethings! What makes me sad is that nobody's left from the people who you see in this film. Ronnie, Richey, Fulton and even John himself are all sadly gone now! I'm assuming Sidney Lotterby will be deceased too. Ron Lacey who played Orrible Arris in those scenes has been gone a few years too.
It's fascinating seeing Ronnie Barker dressed as Fletcher but talking as himself. Shows what an astonishing actor he was. When I was a kid I watched this and The Two Ronnies without realizing it was the same person.
Wonderful clip, I hadn't seen this before. What I personally consider to be the best UK sitcom (even beating 'Only Fools...' and 'Dad's Army'). And the golden age of Blue Peter, too! For anyone interested, the 'Porridge' episode seen being filmed is the first episode of series three, 'Storm in a Teacup'.
The episode of Blue Peter this was shown on was broadcast on 17th February 1977, and the episode of Porridge being filmed was first broadcast the next day, the 18th February 1977. According to the Blue Peter archive the behind the scenes film was shot on 4th and 5th January 1977 and was directed by Sarah Hellings.
Bless him.. Look how young he was there.. And poor old Richard.. He didn't have too much longer on the planet.. Such a shame.. And life with hindsight can be so cruel.
Didn't we used to do TV well? Best comedy series ever and children's TV that didn't shout or treat it's audience like they were idiots. More talent in this clip than you'll get in a week's viewing these days.
I remember watching the original transmission of this. The set moving and Ronnie being mistaken for a TV engineer. Makes you aware of the passage of time. This is over 40 years ago.
This clip dates from 1977. For those of you who are interested, the "rushes" they're watching are from "Poetic Justice" (Series 3 Episode 2) and Fulton Mackay's rehearsal on the landing is "A Storm in a Teacup" (Series 3 Episode 1). Series 3 aired in 1977. --- And although Noakes says none of the Porridge filming was done inside a real prison, some of the exterior shots were filmed at a psychiatric hospital and the gatehouse scenes were shot at the former St. Albans Prison. The 1979 Porridge movie (not made by the BBC) was filmed inside the actual Chelmsford Prison which was undergoing renovation work following a riot and a fire.
Clarissa McPigeon Thanks for that extra info! I'm glad to hear more detail. Thanks for taking the time to share your knowledge! Obviously 99.99% of people taking the time to watch this have more than just a passing interest and to the 0.001% who stumbled across this and have taken the time to complain about too much information, well they can just stfu and move on!
Its amazing that this item was included in Blue Peter ? The age range is 6 - 15. Porridge was for Adults. However, John took the item seriously & it makes a nice behind the scene feature. Kids today couldn't cope with this old style long form doco.
When a great comedy is made, It has to have the right people working together, This bunch of reprobates were perfect, From the writers, down to the tea lady. I still watch the show on a regular weekly basis, Comedies like this don't age. Gone, but far from forgotten.
fantastic upload, thankyou very much. remember it from the time and now it brings so many mixed emotions... as many people have noted here - most of these fellas are dead. and i miss them. i'll just say this before i go off and wipe my tears: it's SO strange to see ronnie looking like fletch but speaking like ronnie, lovely to see fulton actually being fulton - by all accounts a lovely and civilised man - and heartbreaking to see richard beckinsale... taken too soon!
Loved porridge the series....and love the movie aswell....sadly mostly have passed over ...but they live forever in our hearts, and in the tears of laughter we still shed for this wonderfully written, and brilliantly acted gem
I remember watching this episode and wondering what John was driving as it looked to me at the time to be the coolest thing I had ever seen. It's actually 1969/70 Marcus Mantula.
The days when we had proper programmes like this to watch. Instead of all the fixed reality competition rubbish and endless junk fixing shows that we have today.
Wow, many thanks for this. I've never seen this before only being 32. I hope this remains forever, as I'm a huge fan of Porridge and all of Ronnies work.
I love classic British Television shows, Fawlty Towers, U.F.O, Only Fools And Horses and Porridge... I wonder why we don't make quality shows like them anymore?
My dad had a dental practice in Sunningdale West of London. Richard Beckonsale was a client. Dad said he was a very polite and caring fellow. Always interested in others. Dad asked him what Ronnie Barker was like to work with. He said he was a wonderful fellow, and funnily enough he mentioned about the coffee ☕ drinking just like he did on this documentary. Anybody who asked Ronnie how he kept going, he would hold up a coffee ☕ and say that the coffee ☕ was what kept him going. God bless 💎
Fantastic. Blue Peter seems to be a treasure trove of these featurettes - I've got a few DVDs with this sort of thing as extras. Shame this one never made the Porridge DVD - it's a lovely piece. It's the first time I've seen Richard out of character anywhere - it was such a shock when he died as I'd grown up watching him on TV when I was little. I'm also reminded of how surprised I was to see Ronnie as Fletch for the first time; so different to the man on The Two Ronnies, and I was further shocked when he did Open All Hours; different again. What a talent. Great to see the 'real' Fulton too - didn't he do 'Fraggle Rock' as well?
Shouldn't forget Fulton McKay or Ronald Lacey here, (Orrible Arris) who had been Terry Collier's brother in law in Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads, Todt in Raiders & The Bishop of Bath & Wells in Blackadder II. Poor fellow always played fools, sneaks or nasties.
Porridge series and Porridge film are my stock "can't sleep" programs. I've watched each and every episode billions of times, seeing this footage is messing with my mind!! Something so familiar, deconstructed. It's like your Nan dropping her accent and talking very fluently in Tunbridge Wells clipped tones about the rigours of method acting. NAN STOP IT YOU'RE SCARING ME!
Everyone in this clip will be fondly remembered for years to come,even the bit part actor ‘arris’ went on to star in one of the most famous scenes in movie history (the face melting scene in raiders of the lost ark). It’s a shame barraclough wasn’t included though. Loved his character, so out of his depth as a prison officer 😆
If you ever needed convincing as to what a great actor Ronnie B. was, just look at his utterly different persona when he was being interviewed compared to when he was playing Fletcher.
As a Aussie teenager living in England when this show came out i consider myself very fortunate. Blighty was doing it tough and shows such as this and the wealth of comic genius of that time were a salve and the glue of a nation. There was always a great show worth waiting to see. The two Ronnies, Morecambe and Wise, Dick Emery, Mike Yarwood, are you being served, Tommy Cooper and so many other entertainers. When times are a tough the British know what to do. HAVE A GOOD LAUGH.
I was 9 or 10 and I wrote a 12 page essay on our future in space and then added multiple space craft with a ton of detail. I was an odd kid. Sent it to B. Baxter. Got a nice note back and a badge. @@simpleminded1uk
Can't believe I've stumbled over this! Watching this when it as on Blue Peter decades ago and distinctly remember the background canvas of the prison been brushed against and moving!
Every single one sound so warm and lovely. A nice clip and seeing them out of character is a strange expirence but in a good way. Also don't want to damping anyone mood at this lovely clip. But did anyone mishear and had to listen again when he was talking to Fulton Mackay ?
I was just watching the BBC tribute to John Noakes which led me to see what was on youtube,and here to this gem of a recording. Thankyou this is amazing
Three giants of British TV and all sadly no longer with us. Ronnie Barker is a true legend in comedy, he has no equal. Richard Beckinsale (I share a birthday with him, he was 14 the day I was born) was taken from us all far too soon. John Noakes (and Shep) was one of the great Blue Peter presenters of my youth, along with Valerie Singleton and Peter Purves. When you look at the total dross being output by TV companies in Britain today, you can't help but mourn the loss of these true greats that bit more. I no longer possess a TV since I refuse to pay for the drivel they output today.
