Having explored life in high security men’s and women’s prisons, for its third series, the BBC’s Time is turning its lens on a young offender institution. And with British prisons in an ever-deepening crisis, writer Jimmy McGovern’s relentless and unflinching drama feels more relevant than ever. But when fiction flies so close to reality, does it lose some of its impact? Or do the stakes need to be heightened in order to shock the viewing public?
Bobby Bailey (David Tennant) is a guard at HMYOI Alderwick, a secure facility for troubled teenagers, somewhere near Liverpool. His home life, however, is in crisis. He is trying to overcome a drinking problem, and his wife has just left him for another man. In the prison, things are even tougher. New arrivals James (Louis McCartney) and Peter (Ollie McNulty) bring fresh challenges, while a long-standing resident, Christopher (Chukwubuikem Molokwu) is facing identity issues after reconnecting with his birth mother. And then there’s Siobhan Finneran’s Marie-Louise, the itinerant chaplain who ties McGovern’s three series together. But her faith – already sorely tested – takes another battering after a random, tragic act of violence demonstrates the hopeless nihilism of the prison community and the shaky moral framework of the system.
