Time: What the Must Watch reviewers think

Friday 18 June 2021, 10:55

Every week, the Must Watch podcasters review the biggest TV and streaming shows.

This week Scott Bryan and Hayley Campbell share their thoughts on Time on BBC One and BBC iplayer.

Sean Bean stars as a prisoner consumed by guilt and Stephen Graham is an officer with an impossible choice in Jimmy McGovern's latest drama.

BBC/Matt Squire/James Stack

Hayley says: "I think it's excellent"

“It's written by Jimmy McGovern who wrote Cracker and The Lakes, so you know going in that it's not going to be cheery. It's probably going to be the kind of thing that I like: it's going to be a miserable, grim and a difficult watch. But it's also likely it will be good, and there will be a social point to it, as there is with most of the things McGovern writes. All of this is right.

“In this one he is trying to make the point that prison is full of angry, frustrated, and frightened men, whether they are locked up or just working there. There's one inmate who gives the number of prisoners and the number of staff there and it's basically the same. The system is set up so that the people who start off soft and sweet like Sean Bean's character need to harden up to survive.

“It really isn't a fun watch. There is some stuff in here that will stick in your mind, and you'll probably flinch when you think about it later. But I would never ever say you shouldn't watch something just because it's difficult. It's difficult for the reason that it shows us something that feels true and horrible. I think it's excellent. The performances by Sean Bean and Stephen Graham, who are actors who both excel in parts that are difficult, are brilliant. I don't think there has been a more difficult role in recent memory than Stephen Graham is in the Virtues. He doesn't pick easy things. He is really good at things that are nuanced and grim. He is excellent in this. So is Sean Bean. I really liked it.”

BBC/Matt Squire

Scott says: "I just couldn't get enough of it"

“On Must Watch we always joke that Stephen Graham has never been in anything bad … and here is no exception. Jimmy McGovern has always been one of our great television writers because he has always written such complex, relatable characters. Yet here he ensures that you don’t empathise with these characters too much as, being set in a prison, many of the characters here have done horrific crimes.

“He uses these characters as a way to highlight the myriad of problems within the prison system: from a mental health crisis to a lack of rehabilitation, but it never feels too laboured either. You don’t feel like you are being lectured to.

“You end up having a greater understanding about how parts of British societies work and function, and where there are some failings. There are so many thought provoking scenes that will stay with you long after you’ve finished watching. I've already watched all the episodes. I just couldn't get enough of it. It really is powerful TV. A Must Watch.”