‘I know I wouldn’t survive’

While we’re used to memorable turns from David Tennant and Siobhan Finneran, it is the performances of Time’s cast of men in their early 20s, each playing an inmate of Alderwick, that are hardest to forget. Amazingly, for most of them it is their first job, although Louis McCartney is the exception, Tony-nominated for his performance as Henry Creel in the stage play Stranger Things: the First Shadow.

“I’m sitting there, telling the others, ‘I’m an old boy, let me tell you a thing or two about acting university...’” he laughs. “My character James is just this giant coping mechanism: he has this obsessive want to keep things moving forward, to not stop talking about something new and never have silence, because then he’d be sitting in grief and regret and that would just kill him. Although they’re legally adults, in their brains and inner workings and emotions, these are just kids. I know I wouldn’t survive.”

For Chukwubuikem Molokwu, the big challenge in playing Christopher was his stammer – something the character has in common with its creator, Jimmy McGovern. “I worked really hard with a voice coach and watched a lot of YouTube videos, which gave me a real insight,” he says. “For example, if I can hear someone approaching, I wouldn’t think much of it. But if I have a stammer, I’d be on my tiptoes, thinking: ‘What are they going to ask me?’ I have to prepare myself to answer, I don’t want to take up too much of their time.”

This is not about bad kids, it’s about opportunities

The experience of filming in a real prison was a real help to Ollie McNulty, who plays Peter. “You could just sit in those tiny cells, waiting for the cameras to reset or whatever, and think as your character. You’re putting a front on, but at the same time you’re looking at pictures of Peter’s baby and his girlfriend, imagining the life they’ve had and might have in the future – I really felt his longing to get out of that horrible place.”

An eye-opening experience, then? Less so for fellow newcomer Victor Zhao, who spent time in prison for a motorbike offence when he was 18. “I’ve been in places and situations my character Jietang has been in – growing up in Liverpool as a Chinese Scouser was not easy. I was dumb and reckless as a kid, but my experiences have made me the man I am today: a wiser person who knows you have to treat people the way you want to be treated, not just do whatever you want.”

I was reckless as a kid, but it’s made me the man I am today

The drama encapsulates all of this complexity, pain and growth with stark clarity and sometimes painful empathy. It’s this, thinks Molokwu, that makes it so potent. “I saw Christopher was in a prison drama and immediately thought: ‘What has he done?’ Then I started reading more into the character and realised it’s not about ‘bad kids’, it’s about opportunities. You question whether these YOIs are punishment houses rather than rehabilitating anyone. I hope Time makes people think again about these places and the people inside them.”