Porridge celebrated via Royal Mail stamps

A set of eight special Royal Mail stamps are being released to celebrate the 50th anniversary of prison sitcom Porridge.

The stamps feature pictures of the characters and also some of the show’s famous quotes, including Fletcher’s “born free, till somebody caught me” and Mr Mackay’s “I treat you all with equal contempt”.

The collectable stamps are set to be released on 3rd September, ahead of the anniversary of the broadcast of the first episode from the first series, 5th September.

Written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais the comedy started as a pilot titled Prisoner And Escort on 1st April 1973, before becoming a series in 1974. The show – which starred Ronnie Barker, Richard Beckinsale, Fulton Mackay and Brian Wilde – ran for three series, with the sequel Going Straight following in 1978.

Speaking about how the show was created, Dick Clement says: “Ian and I told Ronnie that we had come up with the perfect title for the series. He said he had too. We let him go first. ‘Porridge’ he said. We stared at each other and laughed. That was our title too.”

Ian La Frenais adds: “So it was agreed with Ronnie and ourselves that we would write a comedy set in prison. In the interests of research Dick and I visited Wormwood Scrubs, Wandsworth and Brixton, after which we decided that there was absolutely no way a series about Porridge could ever be funny.”

They soon proved their doubts wrong though. 16 million viewers tuned in to the debut episode, and the show went on to become one of Britain’s most loved sitcoms.

David Gold from Royal Mail says: “Porridge continues to resonate with audiences even after five decades thanks to the quality of the writing and the characters the cast brought to the screen. These stamps celebrate British television creativity that is timeless and enduring.”

The stamps – available in a range of collectable formats – can be pre-ordered via royalmail.com/porridge