No holds BARRED

TAMARA LAWRANCE, JODIE WHITTAKER and BELLA RAMSEY on taking the lead in a new series of the prison-set anthology drama

- SEAN MARLAND

TIME

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Sean Bean and Stephen Graham garnered much acclaim from critics and viewers for their unflinching portrayals of an inmate and prison officer in 2021’s BAFTA-winning BBC1 drama Time, set against the dangerous backdrop of fictional HMP Craigmore.

Now, writer Jimmy McGovern (The Street, Cracker) is further exploring the harsh realities of life behind bars in a second series, which will see the action move to a women’s prison and feature three brand-new lead characters, played by Tamara Lawrance (No Offence), Bella Ramsey (The Last of Us) and Jodie Whittaker (Doctor Who).

The only original cast member to return is Siobhan Finneran (Happy Valley), who reprises her role of prison chaplain MarieLouise O’Dell (see panel, right).

‘The first series of Time was so impactful and of such high quality, and the fact that this is being told not as season two, but as a unique stand-alone piece covering different storylines and characters has been amazing,’ shares Jodie.

‘I think what the first series did, and hopefully what this one is doing, is giving a face to the statistics or the problems. You can say there’s wrong or right, or there’s a baddie and a goody, but we all live in a grey area.’

UNLIKELY ALLIES

Set in the fictional Carlingford prison, the three-parter sees Jodie star as struggling single mum-of-three Orla O’Riordan, who ends up behind bars after tampering with her electricity meter in an attempt to keep her family warm.