Does anyone know the name of a mockumentary that was made following the life of small-time crook Norman Stanley Fletcher after his release from prison in the seventies and what he got up to in the mean time. It was made a year or so ago. I remember Patricia Brake and Ken Jones reliving their old roles to camera and I think Ronnie Barker may have made a brief appearance at the end.
Also, is this an extra on any of the DVD releases of Porridge.
It was called 'Life Beyond the Box: Norman Stanley Fletcher' but I'm not sure if it's on DVD in its own right or as an extra.
Ronnie Barker was in it, briefly, as were his daughter Ingrid, McClaren, Ives, Grouty, Lukewarm, and Warren.
"Deserves has got nothing to do with it"
No sign of a DVD release for it that I know of. It's not on any of the Porridge/Going Straight DVDs as an extra, and it's not the sort of thing that's hugely likely to be released in its own right when you think about it.
shareIt is definately not on the Porridge Boxset...I also don't think it is on the Ronnie Barker Boxset either
shareThis is due to be repeated on Saturday 23rd July - BBC2 at 2.55-3.45 pm.
It was supposed to be screened on Saturday 9th July, but was unfortunately pulled at the last minute by some cretin of a scheduler. In its place viewers were treated to repeat highlights of the BBC's coverage of women's gymnastics.
Fingers crossed that they don't pull this broadcast from the schedules for a second time, possibly in favour of the highlights of the Inter-Counties basket weaving semi-finals, or something equally unmissable.
It's quite likely that this repeat of the 'Life Beyond the Box' special will be censored due to its daytime slot. It was originally broadcast uncut in 2003 in a late evening slot. The section of the programme where a present day McLaren (played once again by the wonderful Tony Osoba), comments upon Fletcher's racial attitudes - backed up by clips from original 'Porridge' episodes - will probably be considered by the BBC to be too controversial for afternoon audiences to stomach.
The BBC have been quietly cutting repeat episodes of 'Porridge' in the Saturday teatime slot over the past few weeks. The very 1970's racial attitudes and terminology have been excised because of the time of day they now go out at. The series has hitherto been broadcast uncut on BBC television for more than thirty years. The BBC are now also cutting out all politically incorrect material from repeat broadcasts of the early 'Only Fools and Horses' episodes for their daytime weekday slots.
Update : Yes they screened it as scheduled, and yes, some (arguably) racist and homophobic remarks were cut out. A pity that the programme wasn't screened uncut in a later evening BBC2 time slot.
They should never cut anything!
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I remember seeing this at the time and being really disappointed by it.
I'm a huge Porridge fan, but I think it was a big mistake to re-visit the character. You can't go back.
It wasn't even as though they'd made an effort to do an actual episode. It was just a kind of cynical documentary-style thing, which I felt was short on real laughs, and was completely without any charm or affection for the character or the programme. I just found it really sad, and I wouldn't want to see it again.
If I recall rightly, the same programme-makers also did an update of a few other comedy characters of the '70s - one of which was Margo from The Good Life. Now, don't get me wrong. TGL wasn't in the same league as Porridge. But it was OK, and Margo was an enjoyable character. The problem with the update was the same: she was older (obviously) and seemed to have lost all the charm and likeability that she had in TGL. The character was completely out of context without the others, and seemed lost in a modern setting. In her case the 'back-story,' we were casually told, was that she had divorced her husband Jerry - which just seemed gratuitous and sad. I mean, why do that? :(
That's my opinion anyway. If anyone loves Porridge and Going Straight, I recommend you just enjoy them as they were: enshrined in their perfect 1970s capsule. and try and avoid seeing this aberration.
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"Maybe I should go alone"
- Quint, Jaws.