When Porridge Came to Chelmsford: How the City's Prison Became HMP Slade

Chelmsford has played host to plenty of television and film productions over the years, but one of the city's most unusual screen appearances came in the late 1970s — when Chelmsford Prison became home to one of British comedy's most famous inmates.

The feature-film version of Porridge, starring Ronnie Barker and Richard Beckinsale, was filmed largely inside HMP Chelmsford.

Released in 1979, the film brought Norman Stanley Fletcher, Lennie Godber and several other familiar characters from the hugely popular BBC sitcom to the big screen.

And for once, the fictional inmates of HMP Slade were inside a real prison.

From HMP Slade to HMP Chelmsford

The original television series was set inside the fictional HMP Slade in Cumberland, but filming inside an operational prison was not practical.

For the 1979 feature film, however, the production team was presented with an unusual opportunity.

Chelmsford Prison was temporarily unoccupied and undergoing refurbishment following a fire in one of its wings.

That allowed the filmmakers to use the real prison as one of the movie's principal locations.

The Essex Film Office confirms that Porridge was partially filmed at HMP Chelmsford while renovation work was taking place, with the production even using the prison's hospital block for its administrative offices.

Much of the movie was therefore filmed within the walls of the actual Chelmsford jail.

Some cell and kitchen scenes were created on sets, while other sequences were filmed elsewhere in the country, but Chelmsford provided the filmmakers with something the television programme could never quite replicate — the atmosphere of a genuine prison.

One of Britain's best-loved sitcoms

By the time the film was made, Porridge was already one of the most popular British sitcoms of the 1970s.

Written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, the programme grew from Prisoner and Escort, a 1973 episode of Ronnie Barker's anthology series Seven of One.

The full series began on BBC1 in September 1974 and ran until 1977, producing three series and two Christmas specials.

At its centre was Ronnie Barker as Norman Stanley Fletcher, an experienced prisoner who knew almost every trick for making life behind bars slightly more comfortable.

Alongside him was Richard Beckinsale as Lennie Godber, the younger and considerably less experienced prisoner who became Fletcher's friend and cellmate.

Their relationship became the heart of the programme.

Rather than relying simply on jokes about prison, writers Clement and La Frenais built the comedy around Fletcher's attempts to achieve small victories over prison life and the authorities.

The formula proved enormously successful.

Decades later, Porridge was ranked 35th in the British Film Institute's list of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes. In the BBC's 2004 Britain's Best Sitcom poll, it finished seventh.

Who starred in Porridge?

Ronnie Barker and Richard Beckinsale were surrounded by a memorable supporting cast.

Fulton Mackay played the formidable prison officer Mr Mackay, whose strict approach frequently put him at odds with Fletcher.

At the opposite end of the spectrum was the mild-mannered and easily manipulated Mr Barrowclough, played by Brian Wilde.

Peter Vaughan appeared as the influential inmate "Genial" Harry Grout — usually known simply as Grouty — while other performers associated with the television series included Christopher Biggins, Tony Osoba, Sam Kelly, Ken Jones, Brian Glover and David Jason.

Many of the familiar faces returned when Porridge made the move from television to cinema.

The Porridge film

The feature film was directed by Dick Clement and written by Clement and Ian La Frenais.

Ronnie Barker returned as Fletcher, Richard Beckinsale as Godber, Fulton Mackay as Mr Mackay and Brian Wilde as Mr Barrowclough.

Peter Vaughan was also back as Grouty.

The plot sees Fletcher and Godber selected for a prisoners-versus-celebrities football match.

Things become considerably more complicated when an escape plan is put into operation — leaving Fletcher and Godber facing the unusual problem of having to break back into prison.

Although Chelmsford provided the principal prison location, filming also took place elsewhere. The escape sequences used locations in Buckinghamshire and Kent, while the gates of Maidstone Prison also briefly appeared.

Filming took place during particularly cold conditions in early 1979.

Richard Beckinsale's final film

The movie also has a poignant place in British television history.

It became one of Richard Beckinsale's final screen appearances.

Beckinsale, who was also hugely popular for playing Alan Moore in Rising Damp, died suddenly in March 1979 at the age of just 31.

He died after filming Porridge had been completed but before the movie reached cinemas later that year.

His performance as Lennie Godber remains one of the roles for which he is best remembered.

A lasting Chelmsford connection

For Chelmsford residents watching the film today, there is an additional reason to take a closer look at the prison scenes.

Behind Fletcher, Godber, Mackay and Barrowclough isn't simply a television set pretending to be HMP Slade.

Much of what viewers are seeing is Chelmsford Prison.

It means one of Britain's best-loved television comedies has an unexpected connection with the city — created by a brief period when an empty prison, a film crew and some of the biggest names in British comedy came together in Chelmsford.

More than four decades later, HMP Chelmsford remains an operational prison.

But for a short period in 1979, its cells and corridors belonged to Norman Stanley Fletcher and the inmates of HMP Slade.