Time

Mark Cobden, English teacher, year of birth 1964. He killed a man while driving drunk. As punishment, he has been sentenced to spend four years of his life in an underfunded British prison among inmates who don’t have to go far for a punch or a kettle of boiling water and sugar (many of whom would obviously need psychiatric care rather than time behind bars, but there is no capacity for that). From the moment he enters the prison, we follow his efforts to settle into an environment that he is absolutely not cut out for and to come to terms with his guilt, which is never in doubt. In parallel to this, the drama of a guard being blackmailed by one of the prisoners unfolds. There have already been so many stories set in prison that I didn't expect much from Time. However, it is an outstanding psychological study of how prison can fundamentally transform an individual (for better or worse) and, paradoxically, how difficult it can be for both prisoners and guards to behave morally in an environment where one should be getting rehabilitated. The two main characters, convincingly played by Sean Bean and Stephen Graham, repeatedly face difficult tests of character with no ideal solution. Whatever they do, either they or the people they care for will most likely find their lives in danger. Through gritty, suspenseful and moving situations that reportedly reflect the reality of the British prison system (the indirect criticism of which is an undercurrent of the narrative) quite authentically, the show’s creators depict the more general themes of guilt, punishment and forgiveness, and ponder over something that perhaps all of us have considered – what does it mean to live a good life? There are no clichés or – with the exception of one parallel montage with an improbably precise synchronisation of events – no artificially created drama. Rather, there is simply a credibly depicted prison atmosphere and several believable characters with their own demons and ethical dilemmas. (05.12.2021)

Every single character, conflict, dialogue, indictment of the system and theme here has been seen, heard and read elsewhere, and more than once. This doesn’t mean that this limited series doesn’t have anything to offer, quite the contrary, it presents it all in an urgently suggestive "it could happen to you" guise that makes the peculiarity of the world behind bars felt first-hand. And even though it's been done hundreds of times, it's so perfectly acted (and not just by the central duo) and delivered that the "I've seen it countless times" argument doesn't hold up as a complaint. (28.01.2022)