Orange Is The New Black is donning the orange jumpsuit for the 3rd time on Netflix to imprison our attention so we thought we'd take a look through the bars at some of our favourite prison shows.
Porridge (1974-1977)
Arguably one of the best British sitcoms of all time, Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais’ Porridge starred Ronnie Barker and Richard Beckinsale as inmates at fictional prison HMP Slade.
The run-ins between Fletcher and Mr Mackay’s neurotic prison warder made for comedy gold. The script was impeccable and legendary comedian Barker really endeared Fletcher – the shrewd lag whose primary goal at Slade was to get one over on Mackay – to the hearts of the nation.
The show ran from 1974 to 1977 and was followed by a spin-off, Going Straight, and a 1979 film adaptation.
Here's wonderful moment from it's very first episode.
Prisoner: Cell Block H (1979-1986)
The Australian soap was a huge hit Down Under when it aired from 1979 to 1986, and equally popular when it was shown on ITV in the mid-to-late 80s. Originally commissioned as a 16-part series, almost 700 episodes were eventually broadcast.
The series focused on the lives of the inmates at Wentworth Detention Centre including and Judy Bryant (Betty Bobbitt) and Bea Smith (Val Lehman) and has become a cult/camp classic.
Oz (1997-2003)
There are prison shows and then there is Oz. Tom Fontana's unholy tale of life in the Oswald State Correctional Facility was the first drama series produced for HBO and remains one of its best. This was the prison drama at its most stripped down: bloody and brutal, and featuring astonishing performances from the likes of Dean Winters (cocky Ryan O'Reilly), Christopher Meloni (smouldering Chris Keller) and J K Simmons (terrifying neo-Nazi Vernon Schillinger). British actors Eamonn Walker (Muslim leader Kareem Said) and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (violent hat-wearer Simon Adebisi) also gave eye-catching turns
The first drama series ever produced for HBO, Oz is one of the most visceral and daring TV shows of all time. Utterly relentless, brutal and compelling, Oz tacked issues of race, religion, sexuality and the violence of the US prison system by way of some remarkeable characters and plot lines. Future Oscar winner JK Simmons is utterly terrifying as neo-Nazi Vernon Schillinger and his introduction to the show below pretty much captures his cuddliness*.
(* warning contains violence)
Prison Break (2005-2009)
The plot of Prison Break was as nutty as a squirrels poop. Michael Scofield (Wentworth Miller) attempts to free his wrongly accused brother Lincoln Burrows (a glowering Dominic Purcell) from jail. Despite being a gifted structural engineer, Michael decides that the only way to help is get himself sent to the same jail as Lincoln, a jail that not coincidentally he helped to design, having previously taken the precaution of tattooing all the details of his escape plan on his body. Ludicrous, unbelievable and about as realistic as a chocolate prison but Prison Break is enjoyable nonsense.
