Porridge News
Any news related to Porridge, Going Straight or anyone involved with the Production will be announced and archived here. I intend to keep this page as up-to-date as possible. If you know of any news items I have missed then please email me at ian@porridge.org.uk.
28 May 2022 - Sadly, it has been announced that Patricia Brake has died at the age of 79. Apparently she had been battling cancer for some time. This was confirmed by her son on Twitter.
16 September 2018 - Sadly it has been announced today that Dudley Sutton (Urwin with a "U") has died at the age of 85.
13 October 2017 - New Website! Today a new version of the Porridge website has been launched. The previous design dated back to 2003 so was looking very dated to say the least. So I have modernised it and made it suitable for mobiles and tablets. I hope you enjoy the new look. I am open to any suggestions and comments.
6 October 2017 - New series. Following from the success of last year's one-off special, a brand new series of Porridge starts today. Nobody will be able to live up to the standards set by Barker and Beckinsale but it's still great fun!
28 August 2016 - Porridge is back! Kevin Bishop stars in this one-off special as Fletch's grandson, Nigel Norman Fletcher.
15 June 2014 - Sam Kelly who played Bunny Warren has died today after a long ilness. He was perhaps more famous for his role as Captain Hans Geering in that great sitcom Allo Allo. But we will always remember him as the dyslexic Bunny Warren from the Porridge series and film: "But we haven't got a canary!"
14 February 2014 - Ken Jones who played "Horrible" Ives has sadly passed away today at the age of 83. He was in many sitcoms in the 70s and beyond but will always be affectionately remembered as the very funny character Ives in bth the Porridge series and the movie.
5 March 2012 - Sadly, another Porridge actor has passed away today. Philip Madoc who was in the first series has died after a short illness.
21 October 2010 - Sadly, it has been reported today that Graham Crowden has died at the age of 87. Graham played the doctor in the Christmas special No Way Out in 1975.
20 March 2008 - Sadly, it has been reported today that Brian Wilde has died. This sadness is only worsened by the fact that some members of his family had been in touch a few weeks before to let me know his true date of birth and also that he was in excellent health.
28 July 2007 - I have finally put together a page about Porridge on Danny Baker's Sitcom Showdown.
14 March 2007 - UK Gold finally showed the episode of Sitcom Showdown where I appear. Watch this space for a few clips!
13 September 2006 - There have been developments with the Brian Wilde date of birth scandal!!
13 September 2006 - I am sorry that my guest book has been out of action for some time. I had major problems with spammers hi-jacking it. Everything is OK now but you must have JavaScript running to be able to make a submission.
25 May 2006 - Unfortunately my 15 minutes of fame didn't happen last Saturday. For some reason UK Gold saw fit to show Wallace and Grommet instead of the Sitcom Showdown that I appeared in. I spoke with the TV company who made the show and was promised the series would be re-launched on UK Gold 2. I'll let you know if it happens (or you could let me know if you see it first!).
12 May 2006 - Thanks to Andrew Welsh for letting me know that the Sitcom Showdown that I appear in is going to be shown on Saturday 20 May at 6pm on UK Gold. Look out for the embarrassing bit where I make a fool of myself!
21 April 2006 - Tomorrow (Saturday 22 April) at 6pm, UK Gold will be showing a new series called "Sitcom Showdown". It will be shown every Saturday at 6pm. One of the episodes features yours truly in a team supporting Porridge! I will let you all know when this is due to be shown.
29 January 2006 - I was at the MTV studios in Camden last week at the filming of a new quiz show for UKTV G2. It is called "Sitcom Showdown" and will be shown in March or April. My team was composed of a mate of mine, Colin and a celebrity guest, the gorgeous Jenny Powell. We were competing against a team of Fawlty Towers fans that included guest celebrity Rowland Rivron. The show was hosted by Danny Baker. It was fantastic fun and I'll keep you up-to-date as to when it will be aired.
28 November 2005 - John Dair's grandaughter got in touch today to let me know that sadly John has passed away. John played Crusher in the series and Samson in the movie.
7 November 2005 - In June 2006 the Tring Festival Company will be putting Porridge on the stage! They have previously made successful adaptations of Dad's Army and It Ain't Half Hot Mum. Ian Gower and Paul Carpenter will be adapting the scripts and using original lines and situations from the series. I will let you all know more closer to the date.
9 October 2005 - Thanks to Mark who signed my Guest Book and let us all know about the forthcoming Ronnie Barker DVD releases. They include Seven of One (the series that contained the pilots for Porridge and Open All Hours), The Magnificent Evans and the long overdue Clarence! They will be available from 31 October 2005.
4 October 2005 - It is with great sadness that I learned today that Ronnie Barker has died. A comedy legend will be much missed. My guest book has been flooded with tributes. RIP Ronnie, you will be sorely missed.
27 March 2005 - John Dair who played Crusher in Porridge has kindly been in touch with me and sent me some Photos. I have now added a mini biography of him to the site.
27 February 2005 - Quite a while since my last update. Apologies for those of you who waited some weeks before appearing in my guest book! I've now added some clips from my interview to the Porridge at 30 page.
28 November 2004 - Latest news on availablility of Porridge and Going Straight on DVD and Video
17 October 2004 - Thanks to Philip Madeley for some new Biographies he submitted as part of the Porridge Open Source Project. You can read these on the cast page.
19 September 2004 - Exciting news!! Porridge is going open source! If you are interested in contributing then please go to my Porridge Open Source Project page.
4 September 2004 - The Porridge @ 30 weekend has arrived. It includes some liong overdue transmissions of Going Straight as well as some clips of your very own Porridge Webmaster!
15 August 2004 - Happy Birthday Porridge!
28 March 2004 - The voting is over for Britain's Best Sitcom. Unfortunately Porridge came only seventh. Read about the predictable winner and the surprises on the way.
22 February 2004 - Read about Johnny Vaughan's case for Porridge transmitted on Saturday 21 February 2004.
15 February 2004 - The BBC have got all their dates mixed up on their Britain's Best Sitcom site. However, it appears that the case for Porridge will actually be transmitted on 21 February. Don't forget to vote for Porridge!
6 January 2004 - The BBC are starting a season of programmes to try and discover Britain's Best Sitcom. Remember to vote for Porridge!
28 Nov 2003 - Ronnie Barker gives inmates advice
20 October 2003 - The unseen endings of Sitcoms
17 October 2003 - Porridge back on our screens
3 August 2003 - Read about UK Gold's production of Battle of the lovable rogues
1 August 2003 - Read about the Brian Wilde date of birth scandal!
