The Ultimate Ronnie Barker Collection

Ronnie Barker's remarkable versatility as a performer can be traced back to his time in repertory theatre, where he was able to play a wide range of roles and develop his talent for accents, voices and verbal dexterity.

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THE ULTIMATE RONNIE BARKER COLLECTION - 12 Disc BBC Box set

Seven of One

'Seven Of One' is best remembered as the series that gave Ronnie Barker two of his greatest television successes: 'Porridge' and 'Open All Hours'. But don't be fooled into thinking the remaining five are in some way substandard. 'My Old Man' cast Ronnie as 'Sam Cobbett', a cantankerous pensioner struggling to fit in with the modern world ( it later became an I.T.V. series starring the wonderful Clive Dunn ), 'Another Man's Meat' featured a sublime teaming of Ronnie, Prunella Scales, Sam Kelly and Joan Sims in this slight but amusing tale of an overweight man whose attempts to diet are taken to extremes, 'Spanner's Eleven' was a Roy Clarke script about a struggling football team, 'Another Fine Mess' a sublime evocation of the Laurel & Hardy movies ( almost as good as the real thing, in fact ) and, my favourite, 'I'll Fly You For A Quid' was about a gambling-mad Welsh family. A must for all Ronnie Barker fans.

Source: IMDb http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0261491/

Porridge

Fletcher's doing five years for breaking and entering. He's quick witted and never short of a trick or two to make his life that little bit easier. Lennie Godber's his cellmate who Fletch often teases but also protects in a father-like way. The other two main characters are prison officers; MacKay's a militarily strict type, keen to adhere to the rules, while Mr Barrowclough is almost a complete opposite and easily manipulated by Fletcher.

Source: IMDb http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071036/plotsummary

Going Straight

By the time the show was written Ian La Frenais, Dick Clement and Ronnie Barker had the mind of Fletcher down to a tee. This in itself made the series superb - with some of the finest writing and acting to adorn our TV screens. But there is a more important point to 'Going Straight.' Although 'Porridge' tried to relate the daily grind of prison life it was, by it's very nature, a comedy programme. Fletcher's spirit, intelligence, humour and status inside 'Slade' almost made you want to commit a felony and go and join him. However, once outside he became a 'nobody.' The writers cleverly showed that outside a prison Fletcher was on life's bottom rung - on course for a life of menial work, low status and even lower pay. Fletcher finds himself very frustrated at the lack of opportunities for ex-cons, especially at his age, and this comes through in the series quite strongly. In 'Porridge' it was often referred to that the system can't be beaten. 'Going Straight' showed that even after having served time for crimes the system still controls your destiny.

Source: IMDb http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077016/

Open All Hours

Arkwright is a tight-fisted shop owner in Doncaster, who will stop at nothing to keep his profits high and his overheads low, even if this means harassing his nephew Granville. Arkwright's only weakness is his love - Nurse Gladys Emanuel.

Source: IMDb http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074036/plotsummary

The Magnificent Evans

Plantagenet Evans is living in sin with his secretary Rachel, whose relatives keep pestering her to get married. Evans is a photographer and is a terribly rude man who is very insulting to his customers. His assistant is a stupid old fool called WIllie who Evans treats exactly the way Arkwright treated Granville.

Source: IMDb http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086753/

Clarence 

Removal man Clarence Sale, who is shockingly short sighted, is doing his work at a very posh house where he meets maid Jane Travers. They get on well and Clarence proposes marriage. She decides they need to live with each other so they move to the country and live in Jane's dead Aunt's house. They sleep in separate beds of course, except Ronnie destroys the floorboards in his room, so they end up having to share a bed. They each do various jobs. Clarence is cheeky with his hands. In the last episode Clarence and Jane get married.

This was Ronnie's last sitcom, written by the legend himself, before he decided to retire.

Source: IMDb http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094437/usercomments

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See the list of episodes and other details under Additional information.

Additional information

Episodes

Seven of One

Porridge - Series 1

Porridge - Series 2

Porridge - Series 3

Porridge - The Christmas Specials

Going Straight

Open All Hours - Series 1

Open All Hours - Series 2

Open All Hours - Series 3

Open All Hours - Series 4

The Magnificent Evans

Clarence

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