Going Straight

For the 1917 film starring Harry Carey, see Goin' Straight. For the 2003 reality show, see Going Straight (reality show).

Going Straight
Going Straight main title.
Created by	Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais
Written by	Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais
Directed by	Sydney Lotterby
Starring	Ronnie Barker Richard Beckinsale Patricia Brake Nicholas Lyndhurst
Country of origin	United Kingdom
No. of episodes	6 (List of episodes)
Production
Producer(s)	Sydney Lotterby
Editor(s)	Bill Wright
Running time	30 Mins
Release
Original network	BBC One
Original release	24 February – 7 April 1978
Chronology
Preceded by	Porridge (1974–77)
Followed by	Life Beyond the Box: Norman Stanley Fletcher (2003)

Going Straight is a BBC sitcom which was a direct spin-off from Porridge, starring Ronnie Barker as Norman Stanley Fletcher, newly released from the fictional Slade Prison where the earlier series had been set.

It sees Fletcher trying to become an honest member of society, having vowed to stay away from crime on his release. The title refers to this: 'straight' is a slang term meaning being honest, in contrast to 'bent', i.e. dishonest.

Also re-appearing was Richard Beckinsale as Lennie Godber, who had been Fletcher's naïve young cellmate and was now in a relationship with Fletcher's daughter Ingrid (Patricia Brake). Her brother Raymond was played by a teenage Nicholas Lyndhurst.

Only one series, of six episodes, was made in 1978. It attracted an audience of over 15 million viewers^[1] and won a BAFTA award in March 1979, but hopes of a further series had already been dashed by Beckinsale's premature death earlier the same month.

Episode list

Title	Airdate	Description
"Going Home"	24 February 1978	Fletch, having been paroled, makes his way home from prison. On the train, he bumps into Mr Mackay and an old friend.
"Going to be Alright"	3 March 1978	Fletch visits his probation officer and reveals his wife has left him, and borrows Godber's lorry to drive to Essex to dig up a buried stash of ill-gotten gains.
"Going Sour"	10 March 1978	Fletch is diverted from his own problems when he comes across a young runaway girl (Roberta Tovey) in his local cafe and tries to set her on the straight and narrow, with debatable success.
"Going to Work"	17 March 1978	Fletch is set up with a job by his probation officer as a night porter, but can't face starting his first ever conventional job.
"Going, Going, Gone"	24 March 1978	Fletch, while at work, recognises an old fellow inmate (Nigel Hawthorne) and does his best to prevent a crime from occurring. This episode also includes an appearance from Pete Postlethwaite.
"Going off the Rails"	7 April 1978	Fletch almost falls off the straight and narrow on the day Godber is to marry Ingrid when he assists an old friend with a bank raid, but has a change of heart before it's too late when he walks into a pet shop: the sight of all the animals in cages triggers memories of his many years in prison, and he abandons the job to attend the wedding.

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 BBC Enterprises. The B-side is a track called 'The String Bean Queen'.

References

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

External links

Going Straight at BBC Programmes
Going Straight at the Internet Movie Database
Going Straight at the British Comedy Guide

Porridge

Episodes

Pilot	"Prisoner and Escort"

Series 1	"New Faces, Old Hands" "The Hustler" "A Night In" "A Day Out" "Ways and Means" "Men Without Women"

Series 2	"Just Desserts" "Heartbreak Hotel" "Disturbing the Peace" "No Peace for the Wicked" "Happy Release" "The Harder They Fall"

Specials	"No Way Out" "The Desperate Hours"

Series 3	"A Storm in a Teacup" "Poetic Justice" "Rough Justice" "Pardon Me" "A Test of Character" "Final Stretch"

Spin-offs

Characters

British Academy Television Award for Best Situation Comedy

My Wife Next Door (1973)
Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? (1974)
Porridge (1975)
Fawlty Towers (1976)
Porridge (1977)
Rising Damp (1978)
Going Straight (1979)
Fawlty Towers (1980)
The Royle Family (2000)
Black Books (2001)
The Office (2002)
The Office (2003)
The Office Christmas Special (2004)
Black Books (2005)
The Thick of It (2006)
The Royle Family - The Queen of Sheba (2007)
Peep Show (2008)
The IT Crowd (2009)
The Thick of It (2010)
Rev (2011)
Mrs. Brown's Boys (2012)
Twenty Twelve (2013)
Him & Her: The Wedding (2014)
Detectorists (2015)

Works by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais

Sitcoms	The Likely Lads (1964–66) Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? (1973–74) Porridge (1974–77) Thick as Thieves (1974) Going Straight (1978) Tracey Takes On... (1996–99) Parents of the Band (2008–09)

Other series	Auf Wiedersehen, Pet (1983–2004) Lovejoy (1986–94) Archangel (2005) The Rotters' Club (2005)

Films	The Jokers (1967) Otley (1968) To Catch a Spy (1971) Villain (1971) The Likely Lads (1976) Porridge (1979) The Prisoner of Zenda (1979) Never Say Never Again (1983) Water (1985) The Commitments (1991) Excess Baggage (1997) Still Crazy (1998) Honest (2000) Goal! (2005) Flushed Away (2006) Across the Universe (2007) The Bank Job (2008) Killing Bono (2011) Bunyan and Babe (2016)

Theatre work	Billy (1974)

As script editors	Astronauts (1981–82)

Other film work	Bullshot (1983) Vice Versa (1988)

Clement alone	Anyone for Denis? (director, 1982)

La Frenais alone	Percy's Progress (film, 1971) My Old Man (with others, 1974–75) The Other 'Arf (with others, 1980–84) Spender (with others, 1991–93)

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