Porridge (U.S. title: Doing Time) is a 1979 British comedy film directed by Dick Clement and starring Ronnie Barker, Richard Beckinsale, Fulton Mackay and Brian Wilde.

Most of prison officers and inmates from the original series appear in the film, with the notable exceptions of Lukewarm, Blanco, Heslop, and Harris.

The film, set a year before the final episode of the TV series, includes one of the last appearances by Richard Beckinsale, the actor who played Godber.

Oakes approaches the prison's 'Mr Big', (Genial) Harry Grout - also known as "Grouty" - and using a cut from his last job before being caught, asks for his escape to be arranged.

The prisoners are notably underwhelmed when it is explained that their hopes for one of The Goodies on the team have not been met, the nearest they have to a famous face being a weather presenter from Anglia Television.

As the other inmates question Fletch on what really happened, Grouty subtly tells him that he will be rewarded for his efforts and for keeping his mouth shut.

Mr Mackay visits them and tells them that, while the Governor believes that they have been locked in the storeroom all day, it doesn't explain the mysterious "UFO" sightings in the village (unidentified fleeing objects), and the various happenings that they created on their journey.

The resulting delays to the filming schedule meant that the part written for Tony Osoba had to be reduced because he had a commitment to appear in Charles Endell Esquire and his lines were given to other actors.

[9] The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Adapted from their own very successful television series by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, Porridge falls prey to all the familiar dangers of expansion from the small screen to the large: a half-hour idea stretched fatally to ninety minutes; softening of the characters ...and slow pacing of an over-wordy script with consequently poor timing of the jokes (many of them, rightly or wrongly, carrying a ring of déja entendu) ...The film's few attempts to open out the restricting TV formula are mildly successful, notably the introduction of Grout, played with convincing (and long practised) menace by Peter Vaughan, and the central joke of the all-star show-business football team, which fails to produce Rod Stewart, one of The Goodies, David "Diddy" Hamilton and Michael Parkinson as promised and can only come up with a Welsh scriptwriter and a red-haired weatherman from Anglia.

He's excellent and this is one of the best of its kind, thanks to a tightly focused plot from series creators Dick Clement (who also directs) and lan La Frenais. ...

"[11] Leslie Halliwell said: "Genial expansion of a successful TV series to the big screen; alas, as usual the material is stretched to snapping point, and the welcome irony of the original becomes sentimentality.