TIME - SUNDAY BBC 9pm - no spoilers

[Blondeshavemorefun]

A three parter drama series about a man going to prison - not sure if he is guilty

But what happens inside with the two top dogs and a nice prison guard

Staring Sean bean

Bloody hell I've just watched episode 2 and shocked
I mean I know I said after episode one it was hard watching but bloody hell it's even worse now.
I was scared and worried at those two scenes
And frankly I'm worried for episode 3 now!

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/telly_addicts/4266184-time-spoiler-thread
this is the spoiler thread, not been posted on for a while

Sorry, I didn't find the spoiler thread before posting but I did take care not to say anything to spoil it. I had intended to watch it week by week but succumbed to bingeing.

Blondes doesn’t binge 😂

Yes each episode is getting more tense

Here we go

I shall type as i watch but do as one post at the end

@Babysharkdoodoodood

I did a teaching placement in a Cat A prison. Thankfully very short. I was shitting myself most of the time, especially as the men were so big!

Teaching basic kitchen skills (with knives involved) was NOT fun. Art was much better.

Much respect to those who do work in prisons.

I was a prison Education Officer for six years. This was in the early 80’s. The drug problem was far less of a menace then. The problem of ‘hooch’ made in fire buckets with sugar and dried fruit from the kitchen was more of a threat as men could go crazy on it.

The education department was very civilised, as it was a privilege the men were consistently courteous and well behaved and grateful to be in a peaceful environment. Having said that, the portrayal in ‘Time’ of life in the wings is very much what I experienced,

We had plenty of knives and saws in the department, you quickly became punctilious about checking them.

Funny the reference to the men being ‘big’. Yes, obviously many were, but overall the inmates were on the small side, I am 5’7” and was taller than most.

One thing I did learn was never to even consider getting a tattoo, I saw enough to last me a lifetime

Typing while watching

So a year has gone by

Glad the son told his dad to stop

A screw in prison is bad. Hope he doesn't get caught

Madness how phone calls go

Mum was a bit drippy not knowing what was happening with her husband / why wasn't she at hospital with him

Shame about his dad 😢

Least he can go to dads funeral

Noooooo stupid dick. He told me he got rid of it

Deny deny - he's just dropped his self in it

Sad he couldn't go but lovely Thr Chaplin did a service for him

1.5yrs in

Wonder why bearded man , he won't say about Bobby Doyle

Wondering if a gay thing ?

Oh

I was right

He said he loved him. But obv wasn't replicated so killed him ?

Trusted to go alone ????

Hope he doesn't try and escape. He's halfway through sentence

Silly man to say going alone. He will pull his favour in

Oh. Here we go - drugs run

Good to see flashbacks of what happened to Mark

Good for him not doing it !!!

Hope he doesn't get beaten too bad - 3 balls missing 😢😢🙀🙀

Oh god is he dead

Oh no. Eric is going to get caught 😢😢

Yah. He isn't dead. 2yrs !!

But scarred for life

So he's done half his time of 4yrs

Bless Eric. What you will do to protect your family

4yrs. Out in 2. Hope he doesn't get beaten up

This was a very powerful drama and well written and acted

I thought it was excellent. Wasn't sure after episode 1 that I could manage the whole thing.
Jimmy McGovern interview on bbc4 at the moment. (No idea if it is old)

DH and I watched all 3 episodes yesterday but it was OK thought it was a bit weak, was hoping for better because really like SG and SB. thought it was going to be really good, and it was okay but only just.

Eg I thought Des was stronger, better produced.

Am I allowed to be petty. Filming / continuity spotting.

In episode 1, all they were offered was a roll. A cheese or chicken roll. It was rounded on the top. And wrapped in clingfilm. And in future mark only took a roll. But the first one, in his cell he ate a sandwich. Not a roll.

@Oblomov21
well spotted

sarnie or roll

I suppose they could do a whole other series about the experience of a former prison officer being a prisoner.

But in the end, although I realise in a sort of detatched way, that McGovern is really good at tugging at the heart strings, I thought it was a bit of a cop out.

ie the main character was a middle class educated man, who through drink, had killed someone. He had education and past life experience to fall back on.

What the programme didn't begin to look at is where all these "tough" men, let alone the complete psycopaths come from. They were the ones who made the prison complete hell. (Although I am sure in real life prison officers can make a prisoners life hell).

Who are these violent men? What is the solution to them as a menance both inside and outside prison.

Would love a time 2 @stumbledin and based on Eric

He would prob get burnt with sugar water 😢😢🙀🙀

I really enjoyed it. Hadn't intended to watch as didn't fancy it, but a couple of people recommended it so I saw it on Iplayer and was glad I did. It was bleak and shocking, but powerful, and I liked the way the cyclist's widow was struggling with forgiveness.
I had a feeling Mark's path would cross with that of the prison officer at the end - I actually thought they'd end up cellmates.
Can someone remind me the connection between Mark and the inmate who had wanted him to stop off at that house to get something sewn into his coat lining on the way back from the conference? The inmate said Mark owed him - what was that for?

i think he owed him for giving advice about hitting the sarnie stealer

If anyone has any doubts about how realistic this was, I can say that those doubts are rubbish!

One of my good friends is a female prison officer, and my DPs friend has not long been released after a 4 year stretch, and they both said it's literally an actual depiction of what it is like on the inside

Absolutely loved it, but you can never go wrong with any of Jimmy McG's scripts!

I think it was more than giving advice. My impression was this man (sorry cant remember the characters name was the kingpin) and basically he gave Mark his protection ie if anyone attacked him they would then have to face violence from his followers.

But as I said up thread I thought it was a bit of a cop out for it to focus on a middle class character, rather than some of the inmates who were part of a more violent life, or having to get by on dodgy deals etc..

But what I also disliked is the idea that the wife of the man who had been killed by a drunk driver was being pressurised into feeling somehow she should learn to fogive him. Why? He should live with his crime for the rest of his life. He got into a car when drunk. He should just shut up and stop pestering her.

Again this idea that middle class crime if forgiveable, or they are entitled to go back to their life. Such a strange focus for McGovern. More in line with some Hampstead liberal saying its not fair my live have been ruined because I made this tiny mistake.

Thanks, all.
My friend's father was a prison officer, and he said it was realistic.
I think it was a deliberately selected to be middle class crime committed by a middle aged professional to connect to the audience and make us feel it could be any one of us or a close friend or relative in Mark's situation.
Sean Bean has aged!

I think she wanted to forgive him though as she held lots of bitterness from it (understandably) and she wants to let go of it
Just my take
It was a shocking programme

*Would love a time 2@stumbledinand based on Eric

He would prob get burnt with sugar water*

He has to do his time with the child sex offenders, being in a category despised by the other prisoners and at risk from them. His son looked horrified when his mum (Eric's wife) told him why his new friends weren't really friends. He said something to the effect of, "You'll get caught. You'll get five years. They put the screws with the nonces. Five years with the nonces". That would make for a hard hitting drama alright.

I know there must be hierarachies and lots of deals and such between prisoners but would it be common for there to be such a powerful kingpin to be either unknown to the prison staff or tolerated as keeping some sort of order?

You could see that the prison boss absolutely understood why SG's character did what he did for his son.
How did the authorities know it was SG bringing in the drugs ?
I missed that bit.
The scary part is, when in prison you can't just keep your head down and not get involved in anything.

There has to be a better way.

Is there any where in the world where the criminal justice system works for the victims and perpetrators of crime ?
Where there is rehabilitation and recidivism is minimised.

LadyEloise I'm not sure how they knew it was him, but I reckon it's something to do with him refusing to bring in weapons as well as drugs. The kingpin realised there was a limit to what he would do and sacrificed him.

It was because when the boss rang the prison his son was in they told him his son was doing really well and being treated really well. So that basically made her think
And put two and two together