Porridge

Men Without Women - S1-E6

Factual error: Throughout the whole show Godber, 'Bunny' Warren, McLaren, the Prison Governor and many of the guards refer to Fletcher as a Cockney. He even identifies himself as a Cockney on a number of occasions. However, in several episodes he refers to his upbringing in Muswell Hill and in this episode he refers to his having been born there - and we see his old stamping ground in that episode when he gets a weekend's compassionate leave. Nobody from Muswell Hill would ever refer to himself as a Cockney - Muswell Hill isn't even in East London!

Final Stretch - S3-E6

Factual error: Lennie Godber goes before the parole board on a Monday morning and is in his cell that afternoon telling Fletcher the good news - he made parole. That is impossible. The parole board will meet, interview the prisoner, then take depositions from other interested parties - the prison governor, psychologists, and so on. They will then consider their decision and if they approve parole they will then pass their recommendation on to the Home Office who will approve or decline it. All this takes three or four days at least, so there is no way for Godber to know that day, nor to pass the news on to Fletcher.

A Test of Character - S3-E5

Plot hole: Fletcher and Warren steal what they think is the right paper, so Godber can study it before he sits the exam. They are adamant that he has a very short time to go through it as they have to put it back before anyone misses it. After Godber refuses to cheat by reading it, Fletcher berates him, throws the paper on the cell floor, and storms out. What happened to replacing the stolen exam paper?

More mistakes in Porridge

Mackay: There are only two rules in this prison: 1 - do not write on the walls. 2 - You obey all the rules.

More quotes from Porridge

Trivia: Fletch has a teenage son by the name of Raymond who was never actually featured in the show. He did turn up in the follow-up, "Going Straight", and was played by Nicholas Lyndhurst, aka Rodney Trotter from Only Fools and Horses.

More trivia for Porridge

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.