Porridge, the classic 1970s prison comedy, is set to be revived by the BBC, but many fans of the original feel it's a dish that shouldn't be reheated.
The original show starred Ronnie Barker and Richard Beckinsale as Fletch and Lennie, two inmates at the fictional HMP Slade prison "doing porridge" – slang for serving a prison sentence. It ran for three series, from 1974 to 1977, attracting audiences of 15 million.
Ian La Frenais, who created the 70s series with co-writer Dick Clement, has confirmed that the BBC asked the pair to work on a modern adaptation of the show, reports The Sunday Times.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Latest Videos FromThe Week
The original set-up saw Barker's lovable lag Fletch take his younger cellmate Lennie Godber under his wing and show him the ropes of prison. The new Porridge project will feature Fletch's grandson, also called Fletch, as a young upstart imprisoned for computer hacking.
The show would apparently be a one-off project for a new season of modern interpretations of classic sitcoms to mark the 60th anniversary of the first television broadcast of Hancock's Half Hour next year, reports the Daily Mail. But if the one-off episode proves a success then Porridge could return for a full series.
But the news of a modern take on this classic show was not well received by die-hard fans, who vented their frustration on Twitter.
Many felt the original stars were irreplaceable.
While others considered the difficulties of updating the show for a modern setting.
Others still pointed to recent unsuccessful BBC remakes to show why it wasn't a good idea.
And one irate twitter user felt that the BBC simply lacked originality.
A few fans looked forward to a new series.
However, in news that could prompt a new wave despair, the Daily Telegraph reports that the BBC is also planning a remake of Keeping Up Appearances with the working title Young Hyacinth.
