Ronnie Barker is, without a shadow of a doubt, one of the greatest comedians this country has ever produced. His performances and writing had so many layers that he would outshine everything else on telly at the time.

Even now, over 30 years on, that fact is still 100% true.

You sit and watch this episodes now and see an absolute genius at work. That said though, it's not just the Ronnie Barker show. The casting for Porridge is nearly perfect in every single way. Each actor seems to really inhabit their character. Richard Beckinsale is absolutely superb as Barker's cell mate. The relationship between them manages to both be one of friendship and a father/son level and is incredibly funny.

Every single episode is included here, including the Christmas specials and they just seem to get better and better with each viewing as you notice new jokes. That's also because of the strength of the writing. There aren't just the jokes are the forefront. There also seems to be something going on in the background or around the main characters themselves.

The only down point to this set is that because of the age of the material, some of the episodes suffer very slightly in their picture quality. The sound is very good considering it's age. So all in all a good release on that front as well.

While there aren't that many special features, the ones that are there are very funny and very clever. I would have liked to see a tribute to the late Richard Beckinsale or something along those lines but that's a minor complaint.

An essential purchase in my eyes.