Going Straight

Going Straight is a BBC sitcom created and written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, and starring Ronnie Barker and Richard Beckinsale. The programme was a direct spin-off to the sitcom Porridge, which all four were involved in, with its premise surrounding the exploits of Barker's character Norman Stanley Fletcher following his release from prison and his attempts to not commit another crime for the sake of his family, despite the allure that crime brings. The programme also featured the appearance of Patricia Brake, reprising her role in Porridge, and Nicholas Lyndhurst. Both Fulton Mackay and Tony Osoba guest starred in the first episode, also reprising their earlier roles.

For other uses, see Going Straight (disambiguation).

Going Straight
Going Straight main title
Created by
Written by
  • Dick Clement
  • Ian La Frenais
Directed bySydney Lotterby
Starring
Country of originUnited Kingdom
No. of episodes6 (list of episodes)
Production
ProducerSydney Lotterby
EditorBill Wright
Running time30 mins
Release
Original networkBBC1
Original release24 February (1978-02-24) –
7 April 1978 (1978-04-07)
Related

A single series of six episodes was made and aired across 1978, attracting an audience of over 15 million viewers[1] and winning a BAFTA TV Award for Best Situation Comedy in March 1979. Plans for further episodes were shelved after the premature death of Beckinsale in 1979.

Episodes
Main article: List of Porridge episodes § Going Straight

Six episodes of Going Straight, all written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, were produced for the BBC. The show began airing on 24 February and ended on 7 April 1978. All episodes had a running time of approximately 30 minutes.

Theme tune

The theme tune, sung by Ronnie Barker, detailed Fletch's determination to go straight, an ambition first laid out in the Porridge episode "Men Without Women":[2] This was released as 7-inch single by EMI records. The B-side is a track called "The String Bean Queen'"

Cast
See also: List of Porridge characters

Main cast

Recurring cast

Guest cast

Notes
  1. There is a problem with Fletch’s age in this series. Dialogue spoken by Fletch in several episodes throughout the 6 episodes states that he is 45 years old. However, the pilot of ‘Porridge’ (‘Prison & Escort’) is set on New Year’s Eve 1974 / New Year Day 1975 (according to Fletch’s diary in the episode “Going Home” he was arrested in September 1974, is in prison for 3 years & 8 months, and a calendar seen in the episode “Going To Be Alright” states it is 1978 when Fletch gets out of prison). In the first episode of Series 1 of ‘Porridge’ (“New Faces, Old Hands”) dialogue spoken by Mr MacKay states that Fletch was born on February 2nd 1932, and is currently 42 years old (meaning it must be January 1st 1975 for Fletch to be 42yo). If he is in prison for 3 years & 8 months, it must be August 1978 when he gets out, meaning that Fletch would have had four birthdays in prison (February 1975, 1976, 1977 and 1978), making Fletch 46 years old at the beginning of ‘Going Straight’ and 6 months away from his 47th birthday.

References
  1. Information published on DVD back cover
  2. "The Full Lyrics to the Theme Tune from Going Straight". Retrieved 25 January 2009.
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