Reboot struggled to find an audience

The reboot of Porridge has been axed after just one series.

BBC chiefs have confirmed that there are no plans for a second run of the new version, in which Kevin Bishop played the grandson of Ronnie Barker’s original old lag, Norman Stanley Fletcher.

But although the six new episodes were written by the show’s originators, Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, it failed to capture viewers in the same way as the original.

A pilot which aired as part of the BBC’s  2016 Landmark Comedy season  attracted 4.4million viewers, but that fell to 2.8million when the full series launched in October. By the end, it was attracting 2.4 million, notably down on the 3.2million the 9.30pm Friday night slot on BBC One usually averages.

The BBC said in a statement today: 'We are very proud of the show and delighted that we had the chance to connect comedy writing giants Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais back with a mainstream audience on BBC One.

'Whilst we currently don't have any plans for a second helping of Porridge there are lots of exciting new comedies coming soon to BBC One for audiences to sink their teeth into including Home from Home, Warren and Mister Winner.'

Before the series aired, Bishop admitted he thought that a remake of Porridge, his favourite sitcom, was ‘a bad idea at first’, acknowledging that he had ‘big shoes to fill…  It's something that people hold very close to their hearts.’

The original, which co-starred Richard Beckinsale, Fulton Mackay and Brian Wilde ran for 19 episodes over three series between 1974 and1979.

• Kevin Bishop speaks about the Porridge reboot.

Published: 22 Feb 2018