The jury is still out on whether remaking Dad's Army is a good idea, but with Bill Nighy well cast as Sgt Wilson I'm willing to give it the benefit of the doubt.
For reasons I cannot entirely explain I am far less enthusiastic about the proposal this weekend to remake Porridge. Surprisingly only 16 episodes were made of what Ronnie Barker considered was his finest piece of work. Ian La Frenais and Dick Clement, the writers of Porridge, also wrote my other favourite, the underrated (Whatever Happened to) The Likely Lads.
Apparently they will be writing the new Porridge, which will involve Norman Stanley Fletcher's grandson being caged in a 'modern' prison for (groan) cyber crime.
It's got potential embarrassment stamped all over it. Maybe the only way I could be convinced is if they find a convincing replacement for genial Harry 'Mr' Grout. Grouty was a wonderful character, obviously based on Mr Bridger the cultured crime boss ('while we are on the subject Governor, I notice that some of that young mob in E block don't stand for for the national anthem') who organised the heist in Rome from his prison cell in the iconic film The Italian Job.
The casting of John Le Mesurier as Sgt Wilson was inspired, and Bill Nighy is a pretty good effort at following up. Even more inspired was getting Noel Coward to play Mr Bridger in the Italian Job. So who on earth could the BBC get to play a modern day Mr Grout? Stephen Fry is surely the nearest modern equivalent to Noel Coward, and probably the only way I could give an updated Porridge a go.
In the meantime the Times this weekend reminded me of why I enjoyed Porridge so much -
Asked about an inmate convicted of poisoning, Godber says,
"Is that why they call him arsenic Riggs?"
Fletcher: "No, that's because he once sat on a razor blade."
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