Time

[patch]

Prison THRILLER 'Time': Everything you NEED to know! - BBC

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8E7-kMFxDzM


‘Time’ Episode 2 Recap: Confronting Demons and Deals With the Devil

https://www.esquire.com/uk/culture/amp36682589/time-episode-2-recap-confronting-demons-and-deals-with-the-devil/



Time Episode 2 Recap

https://reelmockery.com/time-episode-2-recap/




'YOU'RE HORRIBLE' Time’s James Nelson Joyce reveals brutal real life backlash for playing evil Johnno

The Liverpudlian described Mark Hebden star Sean Bean as a gentleman and the difficulty of having to rough him up in the programme.
"That was hard, Sean's a gentleman."

He added: "I remember getting on set and we'd be talking about football and then go, I've got to punch his head in, it's weird." 

https://www.thesun.co.uk/tv/15268495/times-james-nelson-joyce-real-life-backlash-johnno/


TIME WITH JIMMY MCGOVERN

We sat down with legendary award-winning TV writer Jimmy McGovern who talked openly about what inspired him to write his latest drama, #Time, and what fuels his creative process. With Tom Sherry producer of the show. 

https://www.merseywaves.co.uk/episode/time-with-jimmy-mcgovern/



Time episode 3 (finale) spoilers: Will Mark have a chance to leave prison?
https://cartermatt.com/441790/time-episode-3-finale-spoilers-will-mark-have-a-chance-to-leave-prison/



BritBox Reveals Summer Slate, Acquires Idris Elba’s ‘Luther,’ Sean Bean’s ‘Time’

BritBox, the joint BBC Studios/ITV streaming service, has unveiled its summer slate, which includes the acquisition of some of the U.K.’s top dramas as well as original fare.

Among the offerings are “Luther,” which kicks off the streamer’s “Mystery Month” in July and stars Idris Elba (“Thor”), and “Time,” the new drama featuring Sean Bean (“Game of Thrones”) as a middle class man who finds himself navigating life in prison.
 

https://variety.com/2021/global/global/britbox-acquires-luther-time-sean-bean-1234995669/

[patch]

In its first seven days episode one of #Time has been viewed a fantastic 8.4 million times, making it the BBC's biggest new drama of 2021 so far. Watch the full series now on
@BBCiPlayer
: https://bbc.in/3vqMR5Z 

https://twitter.com/bbcpress/status/1404719001377382400



Time: Viewers heartbroken after episode two of 'tough watch' BBC drama

The second episode of BBC's gritty new series, Time, aired on Sunday evening and while many viewers had high praise for the drama, it seems audiences were in agreement it was a "tough watch". 

https://www.hellomagazine.com/film/20210614115257/time-bbc-viewers-heartbroken-episode-two-tough-watch/

[patch]

You’ve been getting in contact to praise new @BBCOne
 drama Time, with Stephen Graham and Sean Bean receiving significant praise for their lead roles. We want to know if you’ve already binged the boxset, or you’re watching weekly, and what you think – no spoilers please!

https://twitter.com/bbcPoV/status/1405136784376451072

[patch]

Jimmy McGovern and Stephen David

British writer Jimmy McGovern discusses his BBC drama Time, starring Sean Bean and Stephen Graham; 

https://www.c21media.net/c21podcasts/jimmy-mcgovern-and-stephen-david/


Sheffield judge gives speech about Sean Bean in Time to describe horror of prison to thief

A crown court judge referenced a hard-hitting BBC drama as he sentenced a man for stealing air pumps from his employer and flogging them on eBay for Ł10,000.

Sheffield Crown Court heard Philip Skingle had run into financial difficulties and wanted to make upgrades to his home and turned to stealing from the company he worked for.

Ernest Hill Ltd specialises in making pumps, including those for air rifles, and the 43-year-old stole more than 80 air rifle pumps to sell online.

A large portion of Judge David Dixon’s sentencing remarks was spent describing the horrific impact prison could have on a man’s life, referencing BBC drama ‘Time’.

He told Skingle: “It shows the impact of a man about your age being sent to custody. While of course fictional, Sean Bean plays a man sent to custody for a driving offence.”

Judge Dixon added that during his prison term, Bean’s character comes across a number of other individuals whose lives are wholly different with access to drugs and younger people “who do not understand life properly”.
 

https://www.examinerlive.co.uk/news/local-news/sheffield-judge-gives-speech-sean-20839475



How a Merseyside special effects expert gave Sean Bean his horrific injuries in BBC drama, Time

Anyone who’s watched Jimmy McGovern’s fantastic BBC drama Time knows that its lead character, played by Sean Bean, takes a brutal beating while he’s in prison.
And it was Merseyside special effects expert Davy Jones who was responsible for giving Sean his horrifically battered face.

Davy, who runs Davy Jones MakeupSFX based in Birkenhead, spent 10 days on set while the drama was being shot last autumn, painstakingly creating and recreating every swelling, cut and bruise.

He worked with the director and producer to come up with an injury timeline, so every stage of the attack aftermath was accurate.

Then he and his team spent up to three hours every morning applying it before Sean wore the prosthetics for daily 10-hour shoots with gruesomely realistic results.

Filming took place at an old prison in Shrewsbury and Davy joined make-up designer Janet Horsfield on set, all Covid masked up, to work on different looks.

“I met the director Lewis Arnold and the producer Simon Maloney, who I’ve worked with a lot before, and they gave us a guideline,” he explains. “So they basically said, ‘he needs to be beaten up here, then we see him again four hours later so it needs to be a bit more, then we see him in his cell and it’s really coming out, then we see it the next day, and that bruising lasts until here …’

“They work out a schedule as the injuries would progress in real life and then we take it from there.”

Davy began the process by making a cast of Sean Bean’s face so that he could then sculpt everything onto that.

“We start with the cast of his face, and once you’ve got that you rough it out in clay and send it to the director to see if they like how it looks,” says Davy, “because sometimes smaller but with more bruising can look worse than something massive with less bruising.

“The main thing is the eyes – you want to make sure that when you’ve got the make-up on you can still see that vulnerability or that fear, so you don’t want a totally closed eye.

“For that reason, we sculpted and made separate swelling moulds on the cast, a top one and a bottom one, for each of Sean’s eyes which we filled with medical grade silicone. We did two stages of swelling, and I did the rest with make-up going from red and scuffed when we first see him to deeper reds and into purples.”

Sean, who plays teacher Mark Cobden, couldn’t have been easier to work with says Davy.

“He was just fantastic. Actors can make or break a job but he was kind with his time and he was genuinely interested in what we were doing. A lot of actors do get scared of prosthetics because they feel you’re taking something away but if you get it right then they absolutely love it because they become that person because of the make-up.

“It’s about making sure it’s comfortable for an actor to wear so that in the end they forget they’ve got it on. And now the products we use are so good that we can say to people ‘don’t be scared to touch your face’ so they don’t feel as restricted with it as they used to.”
 

https://theguideliverpool.com/how-a-merseyside-special-effects-expert-gave-sean-bean-his-horrific-injuries-in-bbc-drama-time/


more pictures here https://seanbeanonline.net/forums/index.php?topic=5711.msg125361#msg125361

[patch]

I TALK TO James Nelson-Joyce
"I was petrified that I was going to hit him. But at the same time, I didn't want to be that actor who would give Sean Bean nothing."

What was it like working with Sean Bean?

I love that man. I've got the biggest man crush on him now. He was wicked. He's just one of these people who's so gentle and vulnerable, but he's a man. We'd be sat around, talking about football and gravy and chips, just normal life things - and then all of a sudden, they say "Go!" and I have to do all this to Sean!


I remember one day I came on set and he went "Oh no. Not you again, James." - and I was just like "Sean, I'm sorry." - and he went "No, it's fine. Come here, let's have a hug." He's cool. He's great.

In terms of the violence, how much training did you get for those scenes?

We had a stunt coordinator on set, but I know how to handle myself a little bit so your footwork, your distance, how to keep someone off range - I know if I throw a jab, it's not going to land because I know where my feet are planted. Little things like that, make life so much easier.


But when it came to doing it with Sean, I was so scared. I was petrified that I was going to hit him. But at the same time, I didn't want to be that actor who would give Sean Bean nothing.


It's a fine balance. But he was great, he just said "James, do whatever you need to do. It's fine." - but I'm not going to!

The scene in episode two where Sean fights back and bites Johno's ear, what was that like to film?

It was quite physically demanding because although you're wrestling, you're wrestling to not hurt each other. It was also a long to shoot, because if you think, he bites it and then we have to go back to makeup to get everything applied.


I get my ear, Sean gets his eye done and we come back to reshoot it. It was a long day, but Lewis is so cool. He just goes "Yeah, we'll shoot from there, we'll shoot from there, just play. Just play." and he never bombards you with notes.


In the turps scene, for example, we shot that three or four times - and it's not that things get stale - but things can get a repetitive rhythm, so Lewis said "Just try something a little bit different." and I went "Yeah, OK. Cool. No worries." and you always have little things up your sleeve that you're going to try.


When I put the turps in Mark's face and say "What is it? Smell it!" - I thought, on this one I'm just going to spray it in his face and even in his mouth - and that's been kept in! Afterwards, Sean said "Did you mean to spray that in my face?" and I was like "Yeah" and he said "Keep it. I love it." - because you see the shock.


So little things like that, you've got to do on set, to keep it fresh. That's the cool thing about acting. We've got the coolest job in the world.
 

https://www.italktelly.com/post/i-talk-to-james-nelson-joyce

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Harrowing diary of real life murderer inspired gritty Sean Bean drama Time
EXCLUSIVE: For the last three Sunday nights, viewers have been gripped by harrowing prison mini-series Time - and the reason it looks and feels so authentic is because it is based on a real killer's experiences

BBC prison drama Time has been praised for its brutal authenticity.

And the reason is because writer Jimmy McGovern was inspired by a real-life killer’s jail diaries.

The man, who uses the pseudonym Jailhouse Moose, got a life sentence for murdering his girlfriend in a drunken rage and now writes a blog.

He and McGovern met at an arts event in prison in 2019.

The inmate, originally from Ireland, said: “We talked Brookside, Cracker, Bloody Sunday, Hillsborough and Mary Queen of Scots. After a photo, Jimmy and I shook hands and I took the cheeky step of handing over a bundle of my own writing. And that was that.”

https://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/harrowing-diary-real-life-murderer-24355227?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

[patch]

Time  Episode 3   Today  21:00  BBC ONE

Mark suffers a tragic personal loss and is given the chance to leave prison for a day. Eric is forced to take greater risks to protect his family, but where will he draw the line?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p09fs2x8

Summary
Mark receives word that his father has passed away, and he is given the chance to leave prison for a day to attend the funeral. However, at the last moment, contraband belonging to Daniel is discovered in their cell, and his temporary release is cancelled. He later gets given the chance to take part in a crime and punishment conference, an opportunity Jackson seeks to exploit. Eric is forced to take greater risks to protect his family - but finally has to face the consequences of his actions. Last in the series.

 Review
By David Butcher
Jimmy McGovern’s devastating drama ends tonight: that’s it. In three episodes it has packed a hell of a lot in – and packed a lot of hell in. But also, we’ve seen the glimmers of kindness within HMP Craigmore. One sad scene in this finale involving the gentle prison chaplain (Siobhan Finneran) may leave you in pieces.

Finneran is as good as everyone else in the smaller roles – notably Brian McCardie as the prison’s drug-dealing overlord: McCardie can say and do very little yet still be quite terrifying. It’s a gift.

His character has prison officer Eric (Stephen Graham) in his clutches and, ominously, Mark (Sean Bean) still owes him a favour. Bean is extraordinary at portraying a man who has become a walking apology, his faced etched with shame and disappointment. Around his performance and with understated dialogue, McGovern builds a moving story about the haunting power of guilt.
 

https://www.radiotimes.com/tv-programme/nsfb4m/time-season-1/?episode=nsfb4p#episodes

The finale of @BBCOne ’s #Time airs at 9PM TONIGHT!
To celebrate, here’s an INCREDIBLE Q&A with stars of the show
@StephenGraham73 @HannahWalters74  @jonatharden
 & #JamesNelsonJoyce
Director @LewisAEA  editor @SachaSzwarc & exec
 @TomSherryProd
Enjoy http://actonthis.tv/time 

https://twitter.com/ActOnThisTV/status/1406529251411644418


Doing Time - With The Cast & Crew Of 'Time'...
An EXCLUSIVE Q&A With Stephen Graham, Hannah Walters, Lewis Arnold & MORE!
https://www.actonthis.tv/time




How BBC prison drama Time starring Sean Bean 'helped make the Government's case for a planned crackdown in jails'

Gritty prison drama Time has helped to make the Government's case for a planned crackdown in jails, justice officials believe.

The ground-breaking drama depicts the stark reality of a prisoner's struggle to cope in a jail riddled with gangs and violence.

 Sean Bean stars as school teacher Mark Cobden, a drink-drive killer thrown into a world of prison corruption and relentless violence.

The drama has been hailed for its portrayal of prison life. Its final episode airs on BBC1 tonight.

Now Government officials believe the portrayal will bolster their plans for a tougher regime in jails.

The crackdown will see offenders spend more time in their cells, after male inmates said they felt safer under tougher Covid-19 curbs.

Prisoners revealed they preferred to spend more time locked up, resulting in violent incidents falling by 34 per cent in the past year.

The Government also plans to end 'unstructured associations' – letting prisoners mingle in communal areas for much of the day – in men's prisons after the fall in violence.

Offenders will still be allowed out of their cells to work, or for education and exercise.

A Ministry of Justice source said: 'For the past year we've been able to see the effects of tighter lockdowns on male prisoners. While we're not planning to introduce 23-hour lockdowns, we won't be going back to the old system – it will be somewhere in between.

'Male prisoners feel safer not associating with other dangerous offenders – understandably. Though it's just a drama, the Time series shows what life can be like.'

The measures will be imposed in all 'closed estate' Category A, B and C prisons. Open prisons will not be subject to the measures.

Women's prisons and young offenders' facilities will revert to pre-Covid measures after officials noticed a greater impact on the mental health of offenders.

A White Paper with the lockdown details and measures to reform prisons is expected later this year.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9704689/How-BBC-prison-drama-Time-helped-make-Governments-case-planned-crackdown-jails.html

[patch]

BBC Time viewers left sobbing at poignant scene on Father's Day

Time viewers were left sobbing tonight after a poignant scene aired on the BBC drama.
Tonight's final episode saw prisoner Mark Cobden, played by Sean Bean, denied from going to his father's funeral after contraband items were found in his cell.

https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/tv/bbc-time-viewers-left-sobbing-20862287


Time viewers call for season 2 following "utterly magnificent" finale

Time spoilers follow.

https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/a36779401/time-season-2-finale-review-reactions/



PEOPLE CALL FOR STEPHEN GRAHAM AND SEAN BEAN TO WIN AWARDS AFTER TIME FINALE

Time could be "their best work yet"
"A prisoner consumed by guilt, an officer with an impossible choice. What does it take to survive? A tense story of punishment and principles, starring Sean Bean and Stephen Graham," reads the description for BBC's Time 

https://www.joe.co.uk/entertainment/people-call-for-stephen-graham-and-sean-bean-to-win-awards-after-time-finale-277123





Time Episode 3 Finale Recap

https://reelmockery.com/time-episode-3-finale-recap/




'Time' Episode 3 Recap: Retribution and Atonement
https://www.esquire.com/uk/culture/tv/a36741229/time-episode-3-recap-retribution-and-atonement/

[patch]

HILARIOUS Time bloopers with Sean Bean and Stephen Graham 💀 BBC

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZdX40OUYC0

[patch]

What does it take to survive?

A story of guilt and forgiveness, punishment and penitence. The hard-hitting series #TimeBBC, starring
 Sean Bean and @StephenGraham73 , starts Sunday 11
 July on #BBCFirst.

https://twitter.com/BBCStudiosANZ/status/1409735153438523394

[patch]

Original Television Soundtrack for the BBC One drama series Time (2021). The music is composed by Sarah Warne.
Release Date: July 2, 2021
The soundtrack album is now available for listening/purchasing on Amazon and Apple Music stores, see links on this page.

https://soundtracktracklist.com/release/bbc-time-season-1-soundtrack/


Time (Original Television Soundtrack)

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0988CFW3Y?dchild=1&keywords=television&qid=1625201758&refinements=p_n_feature_browse-bin:625150011&rnid=625149011&s=dmusic&sr=1-6&linkCode=sl1&tag=soundtracktracklist-20&linkId=5b75ecbaad60527585303d7c3daf1e73&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_tl


Silva Screen Records presents the soundtrack album for the BBC miniseries Time. The album contains the music composed by Sarah Warne.

Composer Sarah Warne talks about the compositional process: “The music for Time explores the slow and painful road to redemption, the harrowing isolation of incarceration, and Mark and Eric’s united torment as they both strive to do what is right. Visceral yet sensitive performances from the score’s core ensemble, combined with off-kilter prepared piano and detuned ethereal textures, are designed to dig deep into the powerful questions at the centre of the drama.” 

https://www.filmmusicsite.com/en/news.cgi?go=detail&id=12411

Time
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkVxikw-8zE

t's 'TIME'...The Grand Reveal
It’s ‘TIME’ to show you what we’ve been working on…. 🙌
Site manager Lauren has been busy over the past couple of days and we can now reveal what she has prepared! For those who have seen the recent BBC One drama, Time, starring Sean bean and Stephen Graham, you will definitely recognise our newest feature…presenting, Sean Bean’s cell! Recreated and fully dressed just as it was for filming…you can now get the full on-set experience when you visit us! 🎥 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CQ1RiB8IqFA/

[patch]

5 Reasons To Watch TIME - BBC
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zmd9m3KG300

[patch]

Time Season 1 Release Date Australia

The Time Season 1 Release Date Australia has is July 11 2021. The show will be available to watch on BINGE with new episodes released weekly. If you don’t have BINGE yet that’s okay because if you click here or on the button below you can get a 14 day free trial of it right now! That’s more than enough time to watch a decent amount of Time Season 1 🙂 

https://residententertainment.com.au/time-season-1-release-date-australia/

[patch]

PLS RT :  This is YOUR chance to own an amazing piece
 of Concept Art from #TimeBBC, signed by lead actors
@StephenGraham73  & #SeanBean very kindly arranged by
@LewisAEA  including these ace photos of the guys signing for me.
 Bid now @ https://ebay.co.uk/itm/224524137386 to support
@CwC_UK

  
https://twitter.com/13challenge/status/1412827845982933003

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/224524137386

[patch]

"Essential viewing" - new in our online #script library are the complete scripts for #Time by Jimmy McGovern.
With many thanks to Jimmy and @bbcstudios
https://bbc.in/3dXKNwl
Watch the complete drama now @BBCiPlayer
#SeanBean @StephenGraham73
 

https://twitter.com/bbcwritersroom/status/1413094001566228480



Time
by Jimmy McGovern

Scripts
http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/scripts/time-ep1-final.pdf

http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/scripts/time-ep2-final.pdf

http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/scripts/time-ep3-final.pdf

 Copyright & Content Warning
Please note that all scripts are fully protected by copyright. All scripts are available only for private, personal use and not for any other form of wider distribution. Any enquiries concerning the rights for professional or amateur stage production, broadcasting, readings etc should be made to the BBC.
Scripts reflect the time at which they were written and may include language, content or characters which you find offensive.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/scripts/tv-drama/time



'Time': Sean Bean Goes to Prison in First Trailer for BritBox Drama (Exclusive)

Debuting in August, the three-part series is a stunning showcase of the two beloved British actors’ talents and earned high praise when it first debuted on BBC One. In addition to Bean and Graham, the cast also includes Downton Abbey and Happy Valley star Siobhan Finneran.   

https://www.etonline.com/time-sean-bean-goes-to-prison-in-first-trailer-for-britbox-drama-exclusive-168455?fbclid=IwAR0POZaY55AxeXKj9BMD9Nelswupfgsi1XWTUB9Q-dYKEsR4pnx4T27jYvA

[patch]

Men do not feel represented by the British BBC

In an attempt to attract male viewers, the station presented a prison drama, Time, with two male leads, Stephen Graham and Sean Bean. Other shows with male leads include The Responder, starring Martin Freeman as a police officer working the night shift in Liverpool, and This Is Going To Hurt, starring Ben Whishaw as a junior doctor.
 

https://news-logics.com/men-do-not-feel-represented-by-the-british-bbc/



Winning bid:Ł101.99
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/224524137386

https://seanbeanonline.net/forums/index.php?topic=5703.msg125414#msg125414

[patch]

A real short bonus episode of the pod today. The director of the Brilliant Time briefly talks about it and what it’s like working with Sean Bean and Stephen Graham. It’s only about 13 minutes long so give it a go #Time #podcasting #notasequelIknow   

https://twitter.com/HelloDaveCurtis/status/1415221608978042886

UNEQUAL SEQUEL - BONUS - LEWIS ARNOLD Ok so this small extra extra episode has absolutely nothing to do with sequels, but we enjoyed chatting to Lewis Arnold so much that we felt that this stuff was to good to keep to ourselves. This episode is pretty much Lewis describing some experiences directing the BBC smash Time and what it was like working with Sean Bean and Stephen Graham.

https://anchor.fm/unequal-sequel/episodes/Lewis-Arnold---Extra-e14dtmf

[patch]

Sometimes in writing, as in life, it's the little things that can help. Check out our new blog on how small moments can help with your protagonist's journey, focusing on the brilliant #Time from
@BBC
 https://scriptwrightlondon.com/blog
#blog #writing #screenplay #bbc #seanbean #advice 

https://twitter.com/ScriptWrightLDN/status/1417803073708244994

It's the little things that matter
So often when we look at writing we want to concentrate on the big things. On the great narrative sweeps, the themes that we’re wrestling with, the epic journeys that our protagonists are going on.

This can make it difficult to concentrate on other characters. Sometimes, when focusing on others, the protagonist’s story can suddenly fall off a cliff and we have to drag it back up again and put it back on its feet, losing all emotional momentum.

What can help are small details. They can help keep our ‘main’ story going but still let other characters’ narratives have space to be told.
This idea crossed my mind when I was watchingthe BBC prison drama ‘Time’. For those who haven’t seen it, please do. It is an excellently crafted and researched piece of writing, which is brilliantly acted to boot. I have worked at a charity that helps communicate with people in prison and the founder said it was the most accurate depiction of prison life she’d ever seen on screen.

There is one moment in ‘Time’ that I think captures the power of simple moments. It happens about half an hour into episode two. Sean Bean’s Mark Cobden is being bullied by the small-time thug Johnno, part of which includes having his food stolen. He is starving. He is, however, too proud to mention it to anyone.

At the same time, Daniel, his new cellmate, is to have a talk with his victim’s parents as an attempt to gain some closure on his crime. He asks Mark to come with him, for emotional support. This is a moment that we have been building up to for Daniel. It is a crucial point in his story and it’s importantnot to overshadow it. However, the writer of ‘Time’, Jimmy McGovern, wants to make sure that the suffering of Mark doesn’t get forgotten by the audience – tension for his character needs to be maintained; the longer we’re aware of him starving, the longer it feels he’s been starving for.

This is achieved in a brilliantly simple way. As Daniel and Mark sit at the table, the other side of which are the grieving parents, Mark looks down. On the table is a plate. A plate full of biscuits. He stares at it for a second longer than normal, and then looks away, clearly sitting on the urge not to grab several. This moment is tiny, but it is an excellent piece of character continuity that doesn’t break the flow of the scene
The impact of the moment is heightened by the performance of Bean, but it is clearly a deliberately made one. The shot of the biscuits is a cut away. We have been deliberately shown them and then Mark’s reaction, before we move on.

What I take away from this moment is that when writing for your main character one doesn’t need massive moments to keep their journey going. There doesn’t need to be great speeches or deeds, especially if there is an important secondary character we want to focus on. We can keep the protagonist’s story bubbling along on the back hob through serving tiny portions of it. Nothing big, nothing flashy, nothing that takes away from the chosen moment. But it is still there, they’re still living their story, and that keeps it alive and real for the audience watching it.  And, in the end, that is the most important thing.

https://www.scriptwrightlondon.com/blog

[patch]

Sean Bean on the making of Time, new British prison drama by Jimmy McGovern, and the gallows humour that helped cast deal with grim scenes

Forget lockdown. For Sean Bean, it’s more a case of locked up in an unsparing prison drama that confronts a British penal system failing both its inmates and the society it is supposed to protect.
Three-part series Time is a sometimes brutal – and, according to old hands, brutally authentic – look at existence behind bars. And such authenticity will be no surprise to anyone familiar with the works of its writer, Jimmy McGovern, whose “previous” includes such creations as Cracker, Broken and Accused.
Bean, a familiar face from any number of blockbuster films and television shows you might have heard of – GoldenEye, Sharpe, The Martian, Game of Thrones among them – is also a bellowing, sword-slinging salesman in a current TV advertisement that makes tea-drinking look terrifying. It plays up to his regular hard-man image and seems like perfect practice for playing a convict.

Which is where Bean subverts convention as Mark Cobden, a meek and mild teacher jailed for four years, whose life experiences thus far prove useless in coping with the career criminals and psychopaths suddenly surrounding him. Singled out for verbal and physical abuse, Cobden is intimidated and adrift. Did the character and his incarceration remain with Bean post-filming?

“Not really – I think I woke up in the middle of the night screaming about being in the hotel,” he jokes. “And a window blew out in a storm; I think I’d have been better off in the cell, because it was a bit more comfortable than the place where we were staying!

“I was OK; it was a lot of fun, actually: a load of fellas together every day and we had quite a laugh really, gallows humour, because the subject matter was so shocking and depressing and hard to stomach sometimes; we tried to keep our spirits up. We had a great bunch of lads, some great supporting actors.”

As the details of Cobden’s offence emerge he earns the respect of prison officer Eric McNally (Stephen Graham); and although their stories are largely tangential it is clear that neither belongs in a so-called correctional system to which prisoners, some with severe mental-health problems, return repeatedly.
“I didn’t find it that depressing – even though I was supposed to be depressed and scared – because we knew we could just get in the car and leave any time,” says Bean.

“And you’re so focused on what you’re doing that you don’t really have much time to think about it. We stayed in the cells with a radio and things, so I felt quite at home, but yes – you could always open the door and go out, not like the guys inside for real.”

If Time looks like it was shot in a genuinely grim Victorian penitentiary, it was: the now disused Her Majesty’s Prison Shrewsbury, whose history is peppered with executions and suicides. All of which chimes with McGovern’s trademark determination to confront life’s ugly truths.
“Jimmy’s writing is just extraordinary, he’s brilliant,” says Bean. “He knows what people are; he puts ordinary people into extraordinary situations and that’s what’s so fascinating for me. I just love his enthusiasm and the way he writes the characters. I’m blown away by his work.
“He’s a fascinating character. He comes on set now and again and he’s very well respected, of course. He’s a very ordinary guy in a sense, but an extraordinary writer.”

Along the path McGovern lays out for him, does Cobden achieve any sort of redemption?
“I think he does,” says Bean. “He’s trying; he’s open to the idea of changing his attitude. He wants to live a good life and there’s so much to be said for that. He doesn’t want to have secrets. [When convicted] his marriage was falling apart, his young lad didn’t really know what was going on and he was hardly a father figure to him.
“He believes there’s an opportunity for atonement,” he adds. “He feels as though he has a lot to offer and he knows he’s on the right track. It’s something he’s been searching for all his life.”

Time is available from August 6 on demand from BBC First, via Now TV and myTV Super.

https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3143595/sean-bean-making-time-new-british-prison-drama-jimmy

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Sean Bean And Stephen Graham Discuss Their Roles In The BBC First Drama, Time

A powerful depiction of prison life is brought to viewers’ eyes in the BBC First drama, Time. Starring Emmy and BAFTA winner Sean Bean, and four-time BAFTA nominee Stephen Graham, the drama, which premieres this August, revolves around two men on the opposite ends in prison.

Bean stars as former teacher, Mark Cobden who has been sentenced to four years for the death of an innocent man. Graham on the other hand portrays Eric McNally, a dedicated prison officer who does his best to protect those in his charge.

But this prison drama is far removed from the narratives we have seen in the past. Time expands the narrative of both prisoner and guard and the circumstances that ultimately puts the human conflict faced by both men as the show’s primary narratives.

Set within the confines of prison, the three-part series boasts an ensemble cast, headlined by Bean and Graham. The BBC First drama is authored by Emmy and three-time BAFTA-winning writer Jimmy McGovern and directed by Lewis Arnold.

For viewers, the star-studded drama serves as a test of human emotions. Bean is unflinching in his performance as a man who has to cope being in prison. Despite being put into a harsh environment, he accepts his sentence as penance.

Eric’s storyline provides a juxtaposition to the BBC First drama. When a dangerous convict threatens to hurt someone he loves, Eric is faced with an impossible choice that could pose serious ramifications for him. Unflinching but ultimately hopeful, Time is a raw study of punishment and penitence.

In this exclusive interview with the stars of the BBC First drama, we check in with Sean Bean and Steven Graham to uncover what it was like making Time.

What was the process like for you to prepare for a story like this?
Sean Bean: I made it a point to not really to prepare too much for this role, honestly. My intent was that I wanted it all to be new. I wanted it to come as a shock to me I wanted to the surroundings and the environment. The other inmates had to be new, shocking, and scary to me. So, I didn’t really want to look inside a prison or to find out too much about prison and prison life because that’s what my character, Mark goes through.

It’s all a shock to him in the first place, that he actually killed someone through drunk driving, got arrested and sentenced to four years. That serves as quite a shock. So I wanted everything from the journey from the police station to the entrance into the prison to be something shocking and alien to me, in order for it to be more authentic.

Stephen Graham:  Our wonderful director, Lewis, sent these documentaries, which was a series on prisons that aired on Channel Four, I believe. They were so profound and insightful, and they helped cover this whole gambit of stuff that happens in prisons. It’s about mental health, the bullying aspects, drug addiction, and the life of both guards and inmates. It ran parallel to our story, and what Jimmy wrote, which was so honest and true. I also spent a day with a guard at the prison. We just walked around and observed the aspects of the job that they go through.

Does Time paint an honest picture about the prison system?
Stephen: I think what’s beautiful about Jimmy as a writer is that he is political, but he’s not overtly political. He doesn’t ram his thoughts down your throat. What’s presented is up to our interpretation as audiences and our own judgement. You know there are many barbaric things about our system still I feel personally, especially when it relates to mental health.

In this story, there’s a lot of men in that prison that shouldn’t be there to be honest. They should be in those psychiatric places or in a rehabilitation facility, or in a less hostile environment, but they can’t because there’s not enough beds and not enough professionals there to help understand their problems. I think what we did, created conversations in people’s homes and made a big impact. As an actor, that’s a joy to be apart off.

It’s a peek behind the iron bars so to speak…
Sean: Yeah, because it’s all hidden away. I mean once you hear about prisoners and prisons now and again it crops up but then it’s all pushed aside, there’s another kind of news topic that filters and takes its place. But as Steven said, there’s so many problems these people face when they’re put away for a long time.

Some of them are drug addicts and the majority have mental problems resulting in them self-harming themselves and committing suicide. So, I mean, those three four things should tell you something about the standard prisons are in. As Steven said, that’s been brought up by social commentators, journalists and even politicians. It draws attention to the problem about the need to overhaul the system, but it’s mostly lip service, because not really much gets done.

Some of these inmates should be in mental facilities, which costs money, but, you know, they’re throwing everybody together. In the show, my character gets thrown into a cell with a self-harmer who is obviously deranged. He shouldn’t be in that cell, but it’s just the luck of the draw.  So I mean there’s got to be some more thought and care put into this system and how they train these guys working within the system.

With only three-episodes, do you feel the story has been told for both characters. Will there be a follow up season?
Stephen: It’s a one-off.
Sean: Yeah, it’s a standalone. You know, it’s kind of like Fawlty Towers, you know they made like 12 episodes, and we did like three (laughs). But really, you don’t want to spoil this wonderful story, by dragging it out longer than we should.

Stephen: I feel like we live in a world now where everybody wants, second, third, fourth series. Sometimes it works but sometimes it also dilutes the impact of what it is.

The BBC First drama, Time Premieres Friday, 6 August on StarHub channel 502 and BBC Player

https://www.augustman.com/sg/culture/film-tv/sean-bean-and-stephen-graham-discuss-their-roles-in-the-bbc-first-drama-time/?fbclid=IwAR1-UeeDbs92RyzxoA9A699tGJUPnqO9PV6RjX4O36WQ32OHT7T6fqk8TGU