The Old Un Note- Peter Vaughan

Peter Vaughan, best known for starring in the 1970s TV sitcom Porridge, was born 100 years ago this year.

His character ‘Grouty’ – the criminal Mr Big in the fictional prison HMP Slade who was menacing in an Ealing comedy sort of way – became one of the show’s best-known supporting characters, even though he only appeared in a handful of episodes.

Interviewing the great man – who later played Mr Stevens Sr. in Remains of the Day – had its challenges. So Oldie contributor York Membery discovered when he spoke to him at his home in Sussex for a national newspaper several months before his death in December 2016, aged 93.

‘My editor wanted me to quiz him about all things “Grouty” but Porridge was the last thing he wanted to discuss,’ recalls Membery. ‘Having worked as a character actor since the late 1950s, he regarded Porridge as a minor episode in his career. He made only passing reference to it in his memoir.

‘So when it became apparent that the two of us were at cross-purposes, I was politely shown the door.’

But Membery has no hard feelings. ‘Porridge just wouldn’t have been the same without Grouty,’ he observes.