Fulton Mackay made a prison warder funny by refusing to be charmed. We rate the exactness of his opposition to Ronnie Barker in Porridge, and the quieter assurance of his work in Local Hero.
Fi1m perspective
In Porridge (1974), watch Fulton Mackay listen to Fletcher: the more courteously Ronnie Barker speaks, the more alert Mr Mackay becomes. There is no helpful softening to let us know that the prison officer appreciates the joke. Mackay gives Barker someone worth trying to outwit, keeping the exchanges funny when an easier opponent would make Fletcher insufferable. We laughed hardest at that elaborate politeness because Mackay receives it as an attempt to get past him, which it is. His refusal to join in makes the comedy work.
Before Porridge made the prison officer his defining part, he had built a reputation in television character roles. His brusque, clipped speech suits men who expect to be obeyed, making their irritation when someone questions them all the more useful. Brian Wilde's Mr Barrowclough shows why the casting in Porridge is so effective: he seems grateful when Fletcher supplies a plausible explanation. Mackay will grant no such favour. The warders' repeated battles can grow predictable, but the distinction between the two men keeps the exchanges from feeling interchangeable.
Lindsay Anderson's Britannia Hospital (1982) casts him as Chief Superintendent Johns, another official in a career that repeatedly called for one. There is a real limitation here: stern and uniformed roles could make his next appearance rather too easy to anticipate. Bill Forsyth's Local Hero (1983) is the useful change, with Mackay playing Ben Knox, the beach owner, in a quieter, understated performance.
We rate Local Hero highly for its gentle pace and its willingness to let the locals want money. Its fondness for eccentricity sometimes softens the questions it raises, and we would not claim Mackay alone as the reason to see it. Start with Porridge for Barker's difficult opponent; follow it with Local Hero for a less combative evening.
Biography
Fulton Mackay was a Scottish actor and playwright. Born William Fulton Beith Mackay on 12 August 1922 in Paisley, Renfrewshire, he died on 6 June 1987 in London. He trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and began his professional career in the 1940s, appearing with the Citizens' Theatre in Glasgow and later with companies including the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Mackay is best known for his role as the prison officer Mr Mackay in the BBC sitcom Porridge (1974–1977), which he reprised in the 1979 film. His other screen credits include Local Hero (1983) as Ben Knox, Britannia Hospital (1982), appearances in The Avengers (1961) and Doctor Who (1963), and Fraggle Rock (1983). He was awarded the OBE in 1984 and wrote plays under the pseudonym Aeneas MacBride. He was married to the actress Sheila Manahan.
