What would you do if you found yourself being blackmailed by a powerful prison inmate? What if you were also the prison officer, supposedly in charge of keeping things in order? That’s the situation Stephen Graham’s character, Eric McNally, finds himself facing in the BBC’s outstanding series, Time, and, in our humble opinion, it’s Stephen’s best crime drama yet.
Eric’s nemesis - of sorts - is Pete (played by Kadiff Kirwan), who learns a secret about Stephen’s personal life. You see, Eric’s son is also an inmate at a prison elsewhere and sadly for him, Pete and his ‘friends’ are prepared to use Eric’s son’s safety against his dad for their own benefit. And let’s just say morals get severely compromised.
With two series of Time available to stream on the BBC tonight and another on the way, here’s everything you need to know about the crime drama before you tune in, including the plot, cast and how to watch it.
What is Time about?
Created and co-written by the brilliant Jimmy McGovern (Accused, Unforgivable), the series follows the lives of inmates and staff in the British prison system. The drama sheds light on the systematic failings, largely due to under-resourcing, while also delving into what life is like as a prisoner.
In series 1, we meet teacher Mark Cobden (Sean Bean), a first-time prisoner, who’s consumed by guilt after killing a cyclist while drink-driving. A mild and unassuming man, he struggles to adapt to the violent and unpredictable life behind bars. In a parallel storyline, we also meet Prison Officer Eric McNally (Stephen Graham), whose principles are tested when an inmate discovers his family member is in prison and begins blackmailing him.
The second series, which aired two years after the first in 2023, covers themes of motherhood, addiction and mental health, and follows three different women as they arrive at the fictional Carlingford Prison on the same day. The women are Orla (Jodie Whittaker), a single mother who’s been given a surprisingly hefty sentence for a minor crime, teenage heroin addict Kelsey (Bella Ramsey), and Abi (Tamara Lawrance), a lifer who’s put behind bars for murdering her baby son, Daniel.
Excitingly, a third series is also in the works, which will consist of three new episodes be set in a Young Offenders Institution, where disillusioned Prison Chaplain Marie-Louise (Siobhan Finneran) has lost her faith in the system. Things take a turn for the worse when tragedy strikes within the prison and Marie-Louise clashes with veteran officer Bailey, a man in the midst of his own crisis.
Who’s in the cast of Time?
The cast of Time includes:
- Sean Bean (This City is Ours)
- Stephen Graham (A Patch of Fog)
- James Nelson-Joyce (This City is Ours)
- Siobhan Finneran (The Loch)
- Nabil Elouahabi (Trigger Point)
- Natalie Gavin (Hector)
- Hannah Walters (Boiling Point)
- Nadine Marshall (Protection)
- Jack McMullen (This City is Ours)
- Sue Johnston (Fackham Hall)
- David Calder (The Hatton Garden Job)
- Jodie Whittaker (Toxic Town)
- Tamara Lawrance (Get Millie Black)
- Bella Ramsey (The Last of Us)
- Julie Graham (This City is Ours)
- Karen Henthorn (The Teacher)
- Faye McKeever (The Moorside)
- Sophie Willan (Ludwig)
Is there a trailer for Time?
Yes, you can watch the trailer for Time below.
Is Time any good?
Yes – it’s brilliant, in fact. It’s an emotionally powerful watch, which raises important questions about the prison system and the failures within it. The show was nominated for several awards, winning the BAFTA for Best Mini-Series in 2022, with Stephen Graham also nominated for Best Supporting Actor (personally, we think he should have won!).
How can I watch Time?
Time series 1 and 2 are available to watch now on BBC iPlayer.
What other Stephen Graham dramas can I watch now?
For a slightly darker series with roots in real life, we’d recommend White House Farm. Across six episodes, the series dramatises the story of the murders of five family members at an Essex farmhouse in 1985. With Stephen Graham and Mark Addy playing members of the investigating team, you can expect performances that are almost as powerful as the story. White House Farm is available to watch on ITVX. If you’re a fan of psychological thrillers, we’d suggest A Patch of Fog. Stephen is superb as mentally unstable loner Robert Green, who develops an infatuation with a TV personality who he catches shoplifting. A Patch of Fog is available to watch on Disney+.
