Time – Series 1

BBC One

Time is a visceral portrayal of life in the modern British penal system. Received to critical acclaim, it won the BAFTA for Best Mini-Series and Best Actor (Sean Bean) in 2022. It is a story of guilt and redemption, punishment and penitence, and the impact of our criminal justice system on all who pass through it. 

When teacher Mark Cobden (Sean Bean) is newly imprisoned for killing an innocent man in a drink-driving accident, he is consumed by guilt for his crime. He finds himself out of his depth, desperately navigating the volatile and dangerous nature of prison life when he meets Eric McNally (Stephen Graham), an excellent prison officer doing his best to protect those in his charge. But Eric’s work is a daily challenge in an understaffed and explosive environment, and when one of the most dangerous inmates identifies his weakness, Eric faces an impossible choice between his principles and his family.

Time is told from the perspectives of both officer and inmate, two men trapped by their pasts, grappling for both survival and the strength to overcome their mistakes. 

Writer

Jimmy McGovern

Director

Lewis Arnold

Producer

Simon Maloney

Executive Producers

Tom Sherry

Michael Parke

Jimmy McGovern

Lewis Arnold

Sean Bean

Stephen Graham

Associate Producer

Andrew Morrissey

Cast

Sean Bean

Stephen Graham

Siobhan Finneran

Sue Johnston

Hannah Walters

David Calder

Nadine Marshall

Michael Socha

Aneurin Barnard

Jack McMullen

James Nelson-Joyce