PORRIDGE is perhaps the most successful of the many big screen adaptations of British comedy TV series of the 1970s. It's certainly the funniest. The writing of this film is near-perfect, featuring the same cast that we all know and love and yet expanding the storyline with extra characters and a bigger plot than usual. I thought that it was actually better than the bigger budgeted ESCAPE TO VICTORY which tells almost exactly the same storyline.The film is a success thanks to Ronnie Barker, whose Fletcher remains the life and soul of the party. He's witty, articulate, and always ready with a funny one-liner. The supporting cast of character actors are fine too: Peter Vaughan is reptilian and frightening, Richard Beckinsale warm-hearted and goofy, and Fulton Mackay strict but human. The inclusion of new faces like Julian Holloway, Sam Kelly, and Gorden Kaye is a delight. There isn't a great deal of plotting here, but the football match is well staged and funny and there's never a slow moment - just lots of funny ones.

Increasingly desperate to stay viable, in the 1970's the British film industry grasped at the idea of making movie versions of popular TV comedy shows, figuring audiences would go to the cinema to see what they enjoyed in their own homes every week. At first, these were very successful - the first 'On The Buses' film did better UK box office than 'Diamonds are Forever' in 1971. Soon the formula was stretched paper-thin by repetition and serious mistakes were made (the 'Rising Damp' film version failed because it had to move out of Rigsby's scruffy house, the fantasy of the setting was part of the show's success).Two major exceptions were both written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais. 'The Likely Lads', produced by British Lion in 1976, had a streak of melancholy and a view of human relationships which made for a very downbeat comedy indeed.For the film version of 'Porridge' Clement and La Frenais not only wrote the script but produced (through their own company Witzend) and directed. As a result the characters are not changed or put into the fish-out-of-water situations that were standard for this type of film, such as the staff of Grace Brothers holidaying on the 'Costa Plonka' (yes, that is supposed to make you laugh) in 'Are You Being Served?'.So we are safely in Slade Prison, just with a bit more location work. Fletcher, Godber, McKay, Barrowclough and 'Genial' Harry Grout are all in place. More important, they are still the characters from the TV series, not altered to fit the new medium. The relationships between them are less intimate because of the need to open the story out but it all works. The plot is slightly recycled from a TV Christmas special (Fletcher coerced by Harry Grout into helping in an escape attempt, although this time he does not realise he is being used) but it was worth revisiting.One interesting feature of the film is the lack of any music soundtrack. This keeps the link with the TV version and gives the action an air of reality, even though we are watching a comedy-fantasy version of prison life.Above all, it is funny - laugh out loud, gloriously funny. The TV half-hours are truly great programmes, but this version can stand proudly alongside them and be watched and enjoyed for itself. Very, very highly recommended.

I am also a big fan of Porridge and of all Ronnie Barker's work. Porridge is the absolute best example of a British sitcom (don't care what the public vote was!), and this film didn't disappoint.Although there were a few repeated jokes (the alternative version of 'Scotland the Brave' is a particular favourite), it is the finest example of top comedy actors performing work by top comedy writers.The fact that there are so many top quality quotes on this site from the film says it all. It's also a credit to Ronnie Barker's talent that he can appear in two vastly contrasting sitcoms as completely different characters at the same time (this, and Open All Hours), and be so believable in both roles.There's no coincidence that Olivier said he was his favourite actor!

"Porridge" the movie was made some time after the last episode had been completed-some time, in fact, after the sequel "Going Straight" had been shown. This does not deter at all from the fun, and as TV spin-offs go, this rates as one of the best; due almost entirely to the quality of the original characters from the timeless BBC comedy series. Ronnie Barker was never better than when he assumed the mantle of our anti-hero Norman Stanley Fletcher; aided in no small way by outstanding character support- the wonderful Fulton Mackay as his strutting nemesis Prison Officer Mackay, coupled with the genial Barroclough (Brian Wilde) and a menacing Peter Vaughan as Grouty. Add to this the poignancy of seeing Richard Beckinsale in his last film appearance before his tragically early death at 31 a few weeks after the film's completion and it becomes clear that the film, although no masterpiece in itself, should be treasured keenly by all who value British comedy at its best.