--- name: "Dick Clement" canonical: "https://film.one/person/dick-clement" fi1m_id: "dick-clement" imdb_id: "nm0166074" tmdb_id: 18910 wikidata_id: "Q711682" roles: ["Writer","Director","Producer"] born: "5 September 1937" reviewed_on_fi1m: 4 average_fi1m_score: 80 average_as: "writer" average_over: 4 updated: "2026-10-01T19:01:02.547115+00:00" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Dick Clement ## Identity Dick Clement - **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/dick-clement - **Type:** Person - **Fi1m ID:** dick-clement - **IMDb ID:** nm0166074 - **TMDB ID:** 18910 - **Wikidata ID:** Q711682 - **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Clement, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q711682, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0166074/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/18910 Writer and director. Born 5 September 1937 in Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, England, UK. ## Details - **Work:** Writer, Director, Producer - **Born:** 5 September 1937, Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, England, UK - **Active:** 1964–2006 - **Frequently works with:** [Ian La Frenais](https://film.one/person/ian-la-frenais.md), [Baz Taylor](https://film.one/person/baz-taylor.md), James Bolam, Rodney Bewes - **Average Fi1m score:** 80, as writer, over 4 titles - **Fi1m score by decade:** 1970s 89 (1), 1980s 84 (1), 1990s 82 (1), 2000s 64 (1) - **Score spread:** 3 at 80+, 1 at 60–79, 0 under 60 - **Genres:** Comedy 4, Drama 2, Adventure 1, Animation 1, Family 1, Music 1 - **Screen time:** 3 hours of reviewed films - **Box office:** $193m across 2 films with figures - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Clement, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q711682, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0166074/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/18910 ## Streaming the US now - **Peacock:** [*The Commitments*](https://film.one/film/the-commitments.md) (82) - **Netflix:** [*Flushed Away*](https://film.one/film/flushed-away.md) (64) For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country. ## Fi1m on Dick Clement > Dick Clement’s comedy gives people practical problems and the wit to negotiate them. His work with Ian La Frenais is funny, though a sharp exchange can sometimes take precedence over a character. Norman Stanley Fletcher wants the last word, even when it will win him almost nothing. In the prison comedy *Porridge* (1974), Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais make that small ambition worth following because Fletcher knows how to adjust his excuse to the person listening. Ronnie Barker makes the calculation visible without making the dialogue feel laboured. We can follow each exchange because we know what Fletcher wants and what the other person is unwilling to concede. The writing respects his intelligence and lets us enjoy it without forgetting that somebody else controls his day. The partnership’s breakthrough, *The Likely Lads* (1964), established their ear for working-class conversation. *Auf Wiedersehen, Pet* (1983) widened the company to an ensemble of migrant workers, and their later film work extended to the heist story of *The Bank Job* (2008). Clement often handles structure while La Frenais handles dialogue, though they write together in the same room. We would be wary of treating the jokes as separate from the planning. *Porridge* works because an excuse is aimed at a particular listener, who may already know perfectly well what Fletcher is doing. For Alan Parker’s *The Commitments* (1991), the pair adapted Roddy Doyle’s novel with Doyle himself. The auditions show how much comedy there is in trying to get something organised: finding musicians gives the exchanges a purpose and allows the humour to keep changing shape. We laughed more than we expected at the business of putting this group together, because the jokes kept coming out of the practical difficulties. The performers get quick exchanges that mostly sound like things people might say to each other. That leaves them room to make the band’s unruly company worth spending time with. The weakness comes when those exchanges are allowed to become the main attraction. In *The Commitments*, some hurry past before the characters have time to develop, and a succession of funny encounters occasionally leaves us wishing somebody would stop talking. *Porridge* has its own repetition, particularly in Fletcher’s battles with the warders, but the immediate wants remain clear enough to keep us involved. Richard Beckinsale helps make the company worth returning to. Start with *Porridge* for the care taken over an excuse, then try *The Commitments* for the less orderly business of recruiting a band. ## Biography Dick Clement is an English screenwriter, director and producer. Born on 5 September 1937 in Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, he was educated at Bishop's Stortford College. He is best known for his long-term writing partnership with Ian La Frenais. Together they created several acclaimed British television series, including *The Likely Lads* (1964–66), *Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?* (1973–74), *Porridge* (1974–77) and *Auf Wiedersehen, Pet* (1983–2004). Their film credits include *The Commitments* (1991), *Still Crazy* (1998), *Goal!* (2005), *Flushed Away* (2006), *Across the Universe* (2007) and *The Bank Job* (2008). Clement has also directed some of their adaptations. Clement and La Frenais have lived in the United States since the 1980s. Clement was appointed OBE in the 2007 Queen's Birthday Honours. *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.* ## On Fi1m (4) - *Flushed Away* (2006), Fi1m 64, Story, Screenplay — [page](https://film.one/film/flushed-away.md) - *The Commitments* (1991), Fi1m 82, Screenplay, Co-Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/the-commitments.md) - *Auf Wiedersehen, Pet* (1983), Fi1m 84, Writer — [page](https://film.one/tv/auf-wiedersehen-pet.md) - *Porridge* (1974), Fi1m 89, Creator, Writer — [page](https://film.one/tv/porridge.md) ## Complete filmography (49) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *My Generation* (2017), Producer, Writer - *Porridge* (2016), Writer - *Spies of Warsaw* (2013), series, Writer, Co-Executive Producer, Creator - *Killing Bono* (2011), Screenplay - *The Bank Job* (2008), Screenplay - *Across the Universe* (2007), Screenplay - *Flushed Away* (2006), Screenplay, Story — Fi1m 64, [page](https://film.one/film/flushed-away.md) - *Goal!* (2005), Screenplay - *Drama Connections* (2005), series, Actor - *Archangel* (2005), series, Writer - *The Rotters' Club* (2005), series, Adaptation, Writer, Creator - *The Best of Ronnie Barker* (2005), series, Writer - *Honest* (2000), Writer, Executive Producer - *Still Crazy* (1998), Writer, Executive Producer - *Tracey Takes On...* (1996), series, Writer, Producer - *The Commitments* (1991), Screenplay, Co-Producer — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/film/the-commitments.md) - *Freddie and Max* (1990), series, Writer - *Laat maar zitten* (1988), series, Creator - *Vice Versa* (1988), Writer, Producer - *Lovejoy* (1986), series, Writer - *Water* (1985), Director, Writer - *Auf Wiedersehen, Pet* (1983), series, Writer — Fi1m 84, [page](https://film.one/tv/auf-wiedersehen-pet.md) - *Bullshot* (1983), Director - *Sunset Limousine* (1983), Writer - *Anyone for Denis* (1982), Director - *Anyone for Denis?* (1982), series, Director - *The New Adventures of Lucky Jim* (1982), series, Writer - *Astronauts* (1981), series, Script Editor - *The Prisoner of Zenda* (1979), Screenplay - *Porridge* (1979), Writer, Director - *To Russia... with Elton* (1979), Director, Producer, Writer - *Going Straight* (1978), series, Writer, Creator - *Porridge: The Desperate Hours* (1976), Writer - *The Likely Lads* (1976), Writer - *Porridge: No Way Out* (1975), Writer - *On the Rocks* (1975), series, Creator - *Porridge* (1974), series, Writer, Creator — Fi1m 89, [page](https://film.one/tv/porridge.md) - *Thick as Thieves* (1974), series, Writer - *Seven of One* (1973), series, Writer - *Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?* (1973), series, Writer, Director - *Catch Me a Spy* (1971), Writer, Director - *Villain* (1971), Screenplay - *The Rooster* (1971), Script - *A Severed Head* (1971), Director - *Otley* (1969), Director, Screenplay - *Hannibal Brooks* (1969), Screenplay - *The Jokers* (1967), Screenplay - *The Likely Lads* (1964), series, Producer, Director, Writer, Creator - *Comedy Playhouse* (1961), series, Director, Writer --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/dick-clement