Porridge

Regarded by many critics as Britain's best sitcom, Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais' tales of life inside Slade Prison first hit the screens in 1973. Three series were transmitted before the prison show finally closed its doors in 1977. But it has never faded from the nation's consciousness. Ronnie Barker as Fletch the old lag and Richard Beckinsale as Godber the naive first-time offender are comic creations as fine - and as well-loved - as any in the history of television. But no book has ever told the behind-the-scenes story of how the series came to be made (it was filmed inside a real, working prison), until now...