Porridge: Pardon Me


8:40 pm - 9:20 pm, Friday, May 8 on U&Yesterday (27)

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About this Broadcast

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Pardon Me
Season 3, Episode 4

The inmates decide on a wager as the parole board gathers, with Blanco odds-on favourite for release. However, the old lag turns down his freedom and leaves Fletcher in danger of losing a small fortune. Prison comedy, starring Ronnie Barker and David Jason


subtitles
Movie/Drama Sitcom

Cast & Crew

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Ronnie Barker (Actor) .. Norman Stanley Fletcher
Richard Beckinsale (Actor) .. Lennie Godber
Brian Wilde (Actor) .. Mr Barrowclough
Fulton Mackay (Actor) .. Mr Mackay
David Jason (Actor) .. Blanco
Sam Kelly (Actor) .. Warren
Christopher Biggins (Actor) .. Lukewarm
Michael Barrington (Actor) .. Governor

More Information

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Did You Know..

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Ronnie Barker (Actor) .. Norman Stanley Fletcher
Born: September 25, 1929 in Bedford
Best Known For: Porridge and The Two Ronnies.
Early-life: Ronald William George Barker was born in Bedfordshire on September 25, 1929. He developed a love of theatre as a child when he attended plays with his family, and frequently waited outside stage doors to collect autographs. He attended Donnington Junior School and then the City of Oxford High School for Boys. After leaving school, he trained as an architect but gave it up after six months. Harbouring dreams of becoming an actor, he worked in amateur dramatics for 18 months while employed as a clerk in a bank.
Career: Barker joined the Oxford Playhouse in 1951 and other theatrical work in the West End followed. His theatrical success led to radio work, and he featured in 300 episodes of radio sitcom The Navy Lark, which ran from 1959 to 1977. His big break on TV came in the late 1960s when he appeared alongside Ronnie Corbett and John Cleese on The Frost Report. Barker went on to star in Porridge, Open All Hours, and, with Ronnie Corbett, formed one of the best-loved double acts of the 1970s and 1980s as The Two Ronnies. He also appeared with Sean Connery and Audrey Hepburn in the film Robin and Marian, a bleak version of the Robin Hood legend. Barker retired from acting in 1987 to run an antiques business, but returned briefly to star as Winston Churchill's butler in acclaimed 2002 TV movie The Gathering Storm, and alongside Maggie Smith in My House in Umbria in 2003. He died of heart failure at a hospice in Oxfordshire on October 3, 2005, at the age of 76.
Quote: 'The toilets at a local police station have been stolen. Police say they have nothing to go on.'
Trivia: He was awarded an OBE in 1978.
Richard Beckinsale (Actor) .. Lennie Godber
Brian Wilde (Actor) .. Mr Barrowclough
Fulton Mackay (Actor) .. Mr Mackay
David Jason (Actor) .. Blanco
Born: February 02, 1940 in London
Best Known For: His role as Del-Boy in Only Fools and Horses.
Early-life: Born David John White in Finchley, north London, on February 2, 1940, the son of a cleaner and a porter. As a child, he blossomed after appearing in a school play, but he followed his father's wishes and became an electrician. He remained a member of an amateur theatre group until a local newspaper critic advised him he had real talent and should turn professional. He signed up for drama school and joined actors' union Equity, only to be told they already had a David White on their books.
Career: After stints in local theatre, Jason graduated to TV, joining Michael Palin, Eric Idle and Terry Jones for Do Not Adjust Your Set in 1967. In the early 1970s, he appeared in the films White Cargo and Under Milk Wood and played the lead in TV comedy A Sharp Intake of Breath, before being cast opposite Ronnie Barker in the popular sitcom Open All Hours. He worked with the comedian again in 1975 in Porridge when he played old man Blanco, a performance that prompted producers to invite him to audition for the role of Grandad in Only Fools and Horses in 1981. The show's makers decided to cast him as Del-Boy instead after noticing his obvious chemistry with on-screen brother Nicholas Lyndhurst. It turned him into a household name. In the 1980s, he also provided the voices for animated children's favourites, including Danger Mouse and Count Duckula. Jason's huge success continued in the 1990s with The Darling Buds of May and A Touch of Frost. Even though he retired from the role of Det Insp Jack Frost in 2008, after playing the character for 16 years, he claimed to have no plans to retire himself from acting. His recent work includes The Royal Bodyguard and Still Open All Hours.
Quote: 'I've never 'felt my age', whatever that means. I think there are a lot of people who feel 22 when in fact they're 62, and there are a lot of youngsters who behave as if they were four times their age. It's an attitude of mind, isn't it?'
Trivia: He was knighted by the Queen in December 2005.
Sam Kelly (Actor) .. Warren
Christopher Biggins (Actor) .. Lukewarm
Best Known For: His outlandish personality.
Early-life: Christopher Kenneth Biggins was born in Oldham, Lancashire, on December 16, 1948, but grew up in Salisbury, Wiltshire. He took elocution lessons as a child and dreamed of becoming a vicar, a chef or an actor. He decided to concentrate on acting after playing the lead role in a local amateur dramatics production. The reviews were so good, he was offered a position with a repertory theatre company - and hasn't looked back since.
Career: Biggins made his TV debut in a 1971 episode of sitcom Doctor at Large, and has been making audiences laugh ever since. There have been forays into drama with the likes of I, Claudius, The Duchess of Duke Street, Poldark and Upstairs, Downstairs, but his gregarious nature has been put to good use in a variety of comedies. Among his most famous projects are Porridge, Rentaghost, Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em, Cluedo and Psychoville. He was also a co-host on Cilla Black's Surprise Surprise. Biggins won the 2007 series of I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! His most recent big-screen credit is the critically panned Britflick Run For Your Wife, and he continues to appear on stage in both plays and panto.
Quote: "I'm perfectly happy being me, thank you, and I happen to know that I am afforded enormous respect from everybody I know."
Trivia: Biggins and his partner, Neil Sinclair, formed a civil partnership in 2006.
Michael Barrington (Actor) .. Governor
Dick Clement (Writer)
Ian La Frenais (Writer)
Sydney Lotterby (Producer)

Before / After

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Porridge
8:00 pm
Porridge
9:20 pm