Mr Mackay

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Mr. Mackay was a character in the popular BBC sitcom Porridge, played by Fulton Mackay.

Mackay is a neurotic and tough prison warden whose constant obsession in life is to catch out Fletcher. The rivalry between Fletch and Mackay was a thing of comedy legend. Fletch's sly tactics in misdeeds ranging from fixing boxing matches, stealing pills from the prison doctor and eggs from the prison farmyard right through to finding new and imaginative ways to stick two fingers up at Mackay and get away with it, were specially designed to get up Mackay's nose. In return, Mackay's frenzied attempts to catch Fletch out, when fruitful, gave Mackay a level of smugness and satisfaction which was only accentuated by Fletch's hostility and skulking.

Mackay's temper is agitated by the constant suspicion he has of Fletch, and his despair at the leniency of his other polar opposite in the series - his optimistic, mild-mannered, kind-hearted prison officer colleague Mr Barrowclough.

Mackay's homeland of Scotland serves as a constant source of entertainment for Fletcher who is constantly on the lookout for an opportunity to antagonise Mackay. In one episode Mackay questions Fletch on whether he felt he was working class. Fletch responds 'I did, until I visited Glasgow. Now I think I'm middle class.'

Mackay's approach to prison officership is perfectly encapsulated (and brilliantly portrayed) in a ranting lecture he delivers to Fletcher and some of the other prisoners on his unexpected return from a period of absence on a training course in the episode, 'No Peace for the Wicked.' Strutting back and forth in front of them, he takes great delight in yelling that "There's going to be a new regime here, based not on lenience and laxity but on discipline, hard work and blind, unquestioning obedience. Feet will not touch the floor. Lives will be made a misery. I'm not one of your mealy-mouthed liberals. I harbour grudges!"

On another occasion he remonstrates with Barrowclough. Mackay: "They're criminals, man!" Barrowclough: "Ah yes but they're also human beings." Mackay: "All right. But criminal human beings!