Synopsis
Time (2021) is a three-part BBC One prison drama you can watch online on iFILM, written by Jimmy McGovern. Sean Bean plays Mark Cobden, a man sentenced to four years for causing death by drink driving, arriving in prison with a guilt he makes no effort to hide. Stephen Graham plays Eric McNally, a prison officer who has kept his integrity intact for two decades — until an inmate with nothing to lose finds out about his son.
The two men are strangers for most of the run time, but their stories mirror each other with uncomfortable precision: both are trapped, both are being asked to betray what they believe in, and neither has a clean way out. McGovern gives no speeches about the prison system. He just shows two people running out of room.
The performances are the whole point. Graham carries Eric's internal collapse completely silently; Bean's Mark is a man who has stopped resisting his punishment and the scenes where that shifts are quietly devastating. Bella Ramsey and Jodi Whittaker round out a cast that BAFTA recognised with multiple nominations. Stream Time (2021) online on iFILM.
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