Distributor:
Roadshow Certificate: PG
| 174
minutes |
1978 Available to buy Writers:
Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais Extras: No
ANYONE
IN IT WE KNOW?
Ronnie
Barker, Richard Beckinsale, Patricia Brake, Nicholas Lyndhurst
WHAT’S
IT ABOUT THEN?
After
three years, eight months and
four days of residing at her
majesty’s pleasure at HMP
Slade Norman Stanley Fletcher is
out on parole, determined to go
straight (well mostly) and
hoping to get to know his family
again Fletch is none too pleased
to discover his old cellmate
Lenny Godber (Beckinsale) is
engaged to his daughter Ingrid
and that life on the outside is
not as rosy as he envisioned.
SO
IS IT ANY GOOD?
Coming
off the back of one of the greatest TV sitcoms ever Going Straight
continues the story of Norman Stanley Fletcher from Porridge, that
series over the course of 3 series,2 specials and a movie had some of
the sharpest dialogue and funniest situations yet seen, now obviously
not wanting to give the show up even though the writers were ready to
move on the BBC persuaded Clement and La Frenais (and Barker) that life
on the outside was worth pursuing and whilst Going Straight is not quite
in the same league as Porridge it is still head and shoulders above most
other sitcoms. The opening episode is easily the stand out as Fletcher
ends up sharing a train carriage with the hated McKay (Fulton MacKay)
and Fletcher’s realisation that the money he had buried away was
irretrievable is pure joy in the second episode. More your typical
sitcom set up this time out Going Straight features an early performance
from Nicholas Lyndhurst that has Rodney Trotter written all over him and
Richard Beckinsale is also very good as laid back Godber now a long
distance lorry driver and determined to make sure that Fletch stays on
the straight and narrow. More than just for Porridge completists Going
Straight is a beautifully entertaining series in its own right.
