Richard Beckinsale

Watch Richard Beckinsale's Lennie Godber listening to Fletcher in Porridge (1974): he needs the advice, but he is still a person rather than an excuse for Ronnie Barker's next joke. Beckinsale gives the uncertainty enough time to be funny, without suggesting that Godber has nothing going on in his head. We rate him highly for that distinction, which keeps a familiar comic partnership from becoming an exercise in one man's cleverness. Barker can be knowing and occasionally concerned because Beckinsale gives him someone whose troubles seem worth attending to.

His first major television role was Geoffrey Scrimgeour in The Lovers (1970), establishing the awkward young everyman who would recur through his work. He went on to appear simultaneously in Porridge and Rising Damp (1974). In the latter, his good-natured medical student lodger, Alan Moore, played opposite Leonard Rossiter. Such parts could have left him supplying innocence while somebody else supplied the comedy. His relaxed timing made that innocence funny, and in Porridge it also gave the more experienced man a reason to be kind.

We were moved by the affection in Porridge, because Godber's uncertainty draws a little care out of Fletcher without either actor pausing to ask for our approval. Beckinsale does not need to announce that the younger man is vulnerable; his willingness to listen has already told us. That matters when the warders' contests with Fletcher become predictable, as they sometimes do. The companionship gives us a reason to stay even when we can see where a joke is going.

There is a limit to what these roles tell us about him: the gentle, inexperienced young man recurs often. The sequel Going Straight (1978) brought him back as Godber, again opposite Barker. We cannot judge the parts he might have played, but we can recognise how much care went into making these performances look relaxed. Start with Porridge and pay attention when Barker is doing the talking.