Time - new series starring Sean Bean

Excellent. Jimmy McGovern has knowledge of prisons and violence so I have no reason to believe it is anything other than realistic. Maybe it will give the 'prison is like a holiday camp' nonsense which we sometimes get. I could almost smell it; the testosterone, sweat, feet, cabbage, toilets...I really like Stephen Grahame too, he was the undercover cop in the last series of Line of Duty

Haven’t watched it yet, but it sounds a bit different to the cosy ‘Call The Midwife’.

Definitely is Calendargirl

I don’t think I moved during the entire time it was on. I thought it was brilliantly acted and the feeling of tension, fear and claustrophobia was palpable.

Great writing once again by Jimmy McGoven and the casting of local actors with the exception of Sean Bean who played Mark so convincingly.
I stayed up and watched the other two episodes on iPlayer as I couldn't wait until next week just an excellent mini series.

Stephen Graham's wife plays his wife in the drama.

I watched it but didn't like the violence. I'm not saying I only like cosy TV like Call the Midwife, but this was too much for me.

I thought it was brilliant excellent acting.

I enjoyed it too. We are away just now, and don't have catch up TV (I need to conserve my phone data, so can't watch it on there either), so I will have to wait until next week to see the next episode. I'm guessing that the chap with the long hair (I know him from somewhere, too) is going to help Mark somehow - for better or worse - and that the storylines will merge together.

Jimmy McGovern is so good at these multi-layered dramas. He poses difficult questions about what would be the 'right' thing to do in situations where whatever you did someone would get hurt.

Ooh it was horrible, wasn't it?Felt so sorry for the Sean Bean character. I wonder if that is a real depiction of life in prison. If it is I don't know how anyone can stand it.

Brilliant, really enjoyed it. I like Sean Bean as well.

It was a brilliant drama but very disturbing, in my opinion you can't go wrong with a Sean Bean/Jimmy McGovern production, especially when the other actors are also so good.

I suspect the Sean Bean character will "turn" before the end.

One interesting fact - years ago Sue Johnston played Sean Bean's love interest in a play but this time is playing his mother, she did point out that it shows how ageing male actors are more accepted than their female counterparts.

I binge watched it all on iPlayer I will give it a couple of weeks and watch it again.

15 year real age gap, young mother, not unusual as a lover.

It is a true representation of the prison system. Sadly I have reason to know this.

I have a young close relative (adopted) in prison who is subjected to violence, extortion, drug pedlars etc. This person should not be in prison as they are autistic, brain-damaged by in utero drug use, drug addicted and mentally ill. They did commit a crime, but, had the proper services been available during their upbringing then the situation could have been avoided. It is also an inappropriate placement for a person who is mentally ill and vulnerable.

Consequently I found the programme agonising viewing - but did not switch off as it confirmed all that I had been told - all things that hardly bear credence.

The prison knows exactly what is going on and does zilch. I cannot help but conclude that prison officers are complicit in the drug trade in prisons - they have to be or the drugs simply would not get in.

merlotgran

Urmstongran

Where do I know the chaplain from? Probably another good drama! She’s a good actress.

I'd swiftly become the most religious person in the prison if it got me an hour in a place of safety giving the chaplain a hand.

Me too merlotgran such a good point! ‘Hallelujah!’ Indeed. I’d be permanently scared. I’d rather do my time in solitary than share a cell with anyone. So many nutters in prison. Proper tough guys I’d be afraid to even make eye contact with, others with mental health issues and paranoia. Not much good pressing the panic button either as everyone is so busy no one arrives for ages.

I think I’d pretend to be mute because of the shock of my sentence. Not talk to anyone for 2-3 years (out early for good behaviour). Then no one could think I was a ‘grass’. Just keep my eyes to the floor and ‘exist’ low key for my prison sentence.
Maybe get a job in the library (do they still exist in prisons?). Shades of ‘Shawshank Redemption’ right there!!

I hope that this stops some of the 'holiday camp' nonsense that is always trotted out when there is talk of prisons.

I agree that it would be terrifying from the journey in the prison van to the day you are released. The lack of privacy, the regulation of everything you do, from what you have to eat to when you go to bed, missing your family, not being able to do the things you normally enjoy - all of that is the punishment of a jail sentence. There should be no violence, fear and incitement to commit more crime as additional extras.

And yet, seriously, strange to say Doodledog it can’t be that bad (for some) as reoffending is a serious issue?

I personally don’t think ‘rehabilitation’ works.

Maybe prisons need to be even worse? Like ‘Bangkok Hilton’s?’ ... ‘you trash it & you live in it sunshine’. Forget phone cards or visiting rights. Enter one of those places of correction and you’d seriously never want to go back.

I’m off to watch Part 2 on BBC iPlayer now!

I’m not a criminologist, but I can’t help thinking that if prison life is like that in the Sean Bean drama then people (like him?) who go in as basically decent people who have made mistakes will come out damaged and hardened. Add that to the fact that it can be very difficult to go back to ‘straight’ living, as there is a lot of prejudice against ex-cons, then it’s not surprising that people reoffend.

In any case, whether they are about rehabilitation or punishment, prisons should not be places where violent criminals rule.

In an ideal world I’d agree with you totally Doodledog but are taxpayers going to be prepared to throw an awful lot of money at this broken system? It needs an overhaul and robust management. And many more staff. And the bottom line? Sadly, most inmates are not Sean Bean types. So the mentally challenged (can’t read or write), the mentally ill, the bad boys with paranoia from broken homes? They can rot. Out of sight, out of mind. ‘Just get them off the streets and keep us safe’.

Very sad. But true I fear.

My friend went to prison for fraud and embezzlement. The first I knew of it was when I received a letter from Holloway prison asking if I’d visit.
The only thing she came out with was an education of how she got caught and what to do to prevent this.
She never changed, the fraud and embezzlement only became bigger.

Watched it on iplayer. I wept.

It made grim watching, not the usual cosy Sunday night drama.

I know some of you will have watched all three episodes, not me. I expect more will come out about Sean’s death by dangerous driving, and also why Stephen Graham’s son is in prison.

Makes you realise most of us have absolutely no idea what goes on in other areas of life.

You are right Calendargirl - most people have no idea what goes on in other spheres. My knowledge of the prison system has expanded vastly - and none of it is good.

The fact that people reoffend regularly is not an indication that prison is too soft; but evidence that many people who land up in prison are so damaged mentally and emotionally by their upbringing or by genetics that being in prison feels safer than being on the outside, as they lack the skills to manage normal life.

In the case of my relative I am dreading him being released as I am sure that the gangs will beat him to pulp once they know he is out. It really is another world out there, that preys on the vulnerable.

Thankfully, yes. When most of us on here think we’re having a bad day it doesn’t come near to what some are having.