TIME on BBC

[TheGander]

Anyone else watching this? I watched the 1st series and found it well paced and nuanced. But yer gods, series 3- relentless violence and bleakness. Watched episode 1 and won’t be watching any more.

I’ve loved all 3 series and thought the 3rd was the best but it’s about as far from comfort tv as you can get. The end of episode 1 really shocked me but if you did continue with it you’d see how the story unfolds. I agree it’s quite a tough watch though.

I agree that it is a hard watch. It was excellent though.

How can you judge something fairly based upon only 1 episode?

Part 1 set the tone but perhaps if you watched part 2 and 3, you would find areas of hope and a voice for change.

I read that Jimmy McGovern went into several Young Offenders institutions when he was writing series 3, as research, so I do believe that what we saw was not far from the truth.
Frankly, I have always been a huge Jimmy McGovern fan, right back to The Lakes, through to The Street etc...and Time has been so good.
I do get why it's too much for some people, but to my mind, that man is a genius.
Have you seen Series 2 of Time, OP?
It has Jodie Whittiker in it, and although I generally don't go with her, she was superb in that ( Women's prison)

Thanks everyone. I am sure some nuance will be introduced after episode 1. The David Tennant character will probably go on a journey that will challenge his emotionally frozen state. But I just felt so voyeuristic during episode 1 I’m not sure I can go back. My cousin is a prison chaplain so I know it can be horrific at times.

Season 3 is amazing. I actually think they should show it in secondary schools. It’s a good deterrent in terms of the reality of young offender units. Many people who work in them have been interviewed saying how realistic it is.

We stopped watching series 1 after the kettle incident. I don't need that kind of violence and misery in an already violent and miserable world. We watched series 2 but I'm not sure we had realised it was the same "programme"!

Caught a couple of minutes of series 3 (the headbutt) and remembered why we weren't watching it.

I genuinely think Jimmy McGovern needs help sometimes.

I thought series 1 and 2 were good but series 3 was really disappointing. Some very powerful material in there, but without wanting to add a spoiler, Bobby's personal storyline... DH and I burst out laughing at one point that was supposed to be sad because it was such bad plotting. So heavy handed. And then at the end (slight spoiler alert) everything going right for everyone seemed very unlikely .The plotting in this series felt far more forced and contrived than in the first two.

I did exactly the same and turned off after that incident. I’m not generally over sensitive about depictions of violence, but that was too much for me. I was planning on giving the latest series a try, but reading this thread, I’m not sure now.

@HorseandHeron if you're talking about the part I think, yes that did feel very out of the blue and not true to the storyline. On reflection series 3 was perhaps bit more contrived than the others but I found some of the storylines really powerful as well. I have an acquaintance who's been in that situation and it really helped me understand their mindset - the false bravado of the boys and how they always had to save face in front of 'the gang'.

I've got this on my to watch list so thanks for the heads up that S3 will be a hard one. Jimmy McGovern has always been a gritty writer, excellent but can be quite dark.

We’ve watched and enjoyed the previous two series and we love David tennant, but after 2 episodes I couldn’t bear watching and waiting for boys to get beaten up. It was just too emotive for me.

Same here, because no matter how realistic and how good the narrative arc, I just didn’t want to line myself up for another 2 hours of boys being beaten senseless.

I thought all 3 series were excellent and the third was the best.

forgot to watch series 2 after the fantastic series 1

series 3 was brilliant, series 2 a bit of a let down after watching 3.

I absolutely loved series 1, but found series 2 disappointing in comparison. Have seen the first two episodes of series 3 and am really enjoying it. I agree with the poster who said this should be shown in high schools, it could open some eyes for sure!

it certainly would people off prison

I work with 15 year old lads - some of whom are heading down this track. I’d make them watch series 3 if I could