List of Porridge characters
Porridge is a British sitcom, starring Ronnie Barker and Richard Beckinsale, written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, and broadcast on BBC1 from 1974 to 1977.
Several characters from Porridge reappear in the sequel series Going Straight (1978) and in the 2003 spoof documentary Life Beyond the Box: Norman Stanley Fletcher.
He does not share Mackay's tough military background, having done his National Service in Royal Air Force stores in the comfortable surroundings of Singapore.
Fletcher and the other prisoners constantly abuse his leniency to acquire more pleasant jobs, cells or special privileges.
But when, on Fletch's suggestion, Barrowclough is called into the hall, they fall silent as he nervously enters, and do not hesitate in obeying his rather timid requests, such as, "Now, why don't you all put those things down...?"
However nervous his job makes Mr Barrowclough, it is nothing compared to the fear he has of his oft-mentioned but never seen wife, Alice.
Godber often came into conflict with the ever suspicious Mr Mackay, who appeared to find it very hard to believe that Lennie was not up to something.
Even when he was, MacKay found it very hard to pin anything on him, thanks to Godber's penchant for dramatics, and, occasionally, to the cover-up efforts of Fletch and the sympathetic Mr Barrowclough.
Godber works in the prison kitchen where he has ample opportunities to steal valuable commodities, such as butter and pineapple chunks, which Fletcher is fond of.
In the sequel Going Straight, Godber is engaged to Fletcher's daughter Ingrid, having met her whilst she was on a prison visit.
Richard Beckinsale died in 1979, so Godber's absence from the mockumentary is explained by a phone call to his wife saying he was stuck in traffic.
His schemes include running a drugs ring funded by the doctor's office and fixing boxing matches.
In the 2003 mockumentary Life Beyond The Box: Norman Stanley Fletcher, it is revealed that after being released from prison Grouty continued running his "business empire" (although he insisted it was now straight, and no one could prove otherwise), and also became a "celebrity criminal", in a similar manner to Frankie Fraser and The Krays.
Lukewarm is a rotund young man with a calm and personable demeanour, who originates from the Midlands (though during the series, and in Going Straight he is said to be from Middlesbrough).
The circumstances that brought him to be in prison are unknown, although in one episode – the Porridge Christmas Special, "No Way Out" – he relieved Mr Barrowclough of his watch in a manner strongly suggestive of a pickpocket.
He works in the kitchens alongside Godber and is an enthusiastic if notoriously untalented cook, although it was said that he did make good pasties.
Fletcher mentions to McLaren that he received a letter from Lukewarm, stating his case is coming up after he was accused of stealing a woman's handbag, which he claimed was his own.
In the mockumentary "Life Beyond The Box: Norman Stanley Fletcher", his real name is revealed as being Timothy Underwood, although in "Just Desserts" he appears to be addressed by a warder as Lewis.
Fletcher (who called him "Jock") was tasked with enabling him to defeat such abuse and provocation, and to encourage his intelligence and resourcefulness.
Fletcher and Godber frequently remark about his low intellect and Warren is self-conscious of his illiteracy - particularly his inability to read letters from his wife - and sometimes wistfully muses on his desire to (at least try to) learn "new things".
Fletch's sly tactics in misdeeds ranging from fixing boxing matches, stealing pills from the prison doctor and eggs from the prison farmyard right through to finding new and imaginative ways to stick two fingers up at Mackay and get away with it, were specially designed to get up Mackay's nose.
Born into a poor family, Mackay went on to be a drill sergeant (though in Going Straight this is changed to Warrant Officer Class 2) in the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, and ran a boarding house in Peebles with his wife, Marie, before joining the prison service.
Mackay's temper is agitated by the constant suspicion he has of Fletcher, and his despair at the leniency of his optimistic, mild-mannered, kind-hearted colleague Mr Barrowclough.
An elderly inmate, Blanco first appears in the episode "No Peace for the Wicked" where he helps Fletcher steal some Jaffa Cakes.
Also in the hospital is Norris (played by Colin Farrell) — considered "scum" even by the other inmates — who had managed to con Blanco out of his only possessions: an antique silver snuff box, a Japanese wireless radio, and a musical box that played "Waltzing Matilda" when opened.
It were me that killed him!.This however conflicts with the episode "No Peace for the Wicked", where it is implied that he was jailed for an armed robbery on a wages van.
