Time season 3 review: The most urgent series yet of Jimmy McGovern’s BBC prison drama

Those who have watched the first two series of Time know just how brutal and gut-wrenching the BBC drama can be. But, if this third series is your first stint inside Jimmy McGovern’s acclaimed prison series, brace for impact.

Set inside a young offender institute, Marie-Louise O’Dell (Siobhan Finneran) is the sole returning character. Having already appeared in the first two series, now we get to learn far more about her; namely that her religious faith gets called into question.

For prison officer Bobby Bailey (David Tennant), it’s the faith he once had in his own institution that has been lost. Here, Tennant delivers one of his more pared-back performances, and follows on from series one lead actors Sean Bean and Stephen Graham, and series two’s Jodie Whittaker, Tamara Lawrance and Bella Ramsey.

All Bobby can really bring himself to do when he’s not at work is drink while staring vacantly at the TV as his relationship with wife Erica (Boiling Point's Vinette Robinson) comes under intense strain; a reflection of the huge personal and emotional demands of working in a system that has reached breaking point.

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The starkest example of that comes at the end of episode one with the death of Ushindi – formerly Christopher – at the hands of another inmate during a reconciliation meeting, no less.

Newcomer Chukwubuikem Molokwu delivers an award-worthy performance that’s as technically impressive as it is affecting; even learning to speak with a stammer for the role.

Yet, Ushindi's death isn’t an anomaly. Extreme violence is woven into the everyday fabric of life inside Alderwick; fights routinely break out, and DIY blades aren’t hard to come by.

This young offender institute is a tinderbox. The daily soundscape consists of cries of rage and desperation; fists slammed against doors, or someone’s face. Staff shortages can mean the inmates spend long stretches inside their rooms, with no outlet for the roiling emotions within.

How then, ask McGovern and co-writer Samuel Bailey, can these young men possibly reflect on what they’ve done? Let alone undergo the type of rehabilitation that will allow them to reassimilate back into society and be able to hold down jobs, maintain relationships and to not hurt other people or themselves.

Time doesn’t make excuses for the inmates or soften what they’ve done. In that sense, its message is almost the antithesis of Netflix’s hit drama Adolescence.

Instead, it confronts the combination of factors that can lead someone to make a wrong turn – and then keep on making wrong turns until it’s all they know. Suddenly, they’re looking at life in prison before their own lives have even really begun.

Approaching characters with empathy and curiosity, rather than judgement, is a McGovern trademark. Another trademark is extracting a glimmer of hope when it feels like there is none – an antidote in a world of inflammatory and overly-simplistic headlines.

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Much like the first two series of Time, this is another moving, tense and riveting watch – although it’s not entirely without fault. In the final episode there’s one unforeseen moment that feels unnecessarily cruel and designed to provoke a reaction rather than further the themes of the show. Some of the dialogue between Bobby and Erica, and from Marie-Louise in the closing moments, is also at odds with the more grounded style elsewhere.

Regardless, Time once again cements its place as one of the most important shows on British television, thanks to its commitment to shining a light on the vast and complex problems facing the prison system and wider society. These problems won’t be solved overnight, but change has to start somewhere. As McGovern and Bailey – whose debut, award-winning play, Shook, also tackled life inside a YOI – ask: Is this really the best we can do?"

This might just be the drama's most urgent instalment yet.

Time season 3 is available to stream in full on BBC iPlayer. Episode 3 will air on 18 October at 9pm.

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