Time series 3: The devastating true story behind the Jimmy McGovern prison drama
It's a gut-wrenching watch, not least because it's based on facts
Time returns with a long-awaited series 3 this month, and the three-parter tackles big-hitting issues including murder, crime, punishment, and forgiveness – some of which are inspired by a true story.
Jimmy McGovern fans will know the writer isn’t afraid of the heavy subjects. Far from it, in fact. Time is an unflinching portrayal of the UK prison system. One which Liverpool-born Jimmy believes needs to be changed.
In Unforgivable, the writer focused on paedophilia and sexual abuse. In Hillborough, he wrote about the 1989 football disaster, while Sunday centred on events on January 30, 1972, in Derry. That day, British Army paratroopers shot 26 unarmed civil rights protesters and bystanders during a march against internment without trial, killing 14 people.
In Time, Jimmy shines a light on the criminal justice system, exploring flaws, harsh conditions, and rehabilitation. Series 3 is set in a Young Offender Institution, where teenagers are imprisoned in often inhumane surroundings.
But what part of Time series 3 is based on a true story? Here’s everything you need to know (avoiding spoilers).
Is Time series 3 based on a true story?
David Tennant and Siobhan Finneran lead the cast of Time series 3, a “powerful new story” from Jimmy McGovern. In the three-parter, which follows on from series 1 in 2021, and series 2 in 2023, we meet prison chaplain Marie-Louise again.
She goes to a Young Offender Institution having lost her faith. When tragedy strikes in the prison, Marie-Louise clashes with veteran officer Bailey, a man in the midst of his own crisis. Bailey knows more about the circumstances that led to this major incident. But will he come clean before the guilt gets too much?
The major incident involves a young man called Christopher, played by newcomer Chukwubuikem Molokwu. The character is tormented because of his stammer. But his real turmoil comes from his childhood, in which he feels abandoned by his parents. When he is reunited with his mother, he later asks to be called his African name of Ushindi.
And Christopher’s story in Time series 3 is inspired by an emotional true story.
‘Mother and son cannot speak each other’s language’
In Time series 3, Chukwubuikem Molokwu’s character Christopher (later Ushindi) was abandoned at the age of around four by his mother. He didn’t have a role model, because there wasn’t a father figure, and eventually got involved in the wrong stuff.
Jimmy McGovern explained: “We’d done pretty good stories about a male prison and pretty good stories about a female prison. But we went into our first Young Offender Institution and honestly, we didn’t have a single story idea at all. In the course of talking to people, somebody told a story about a young prisoner whose mother comes to visit him.
“The backstory was that it was the first time he’d ever had a visit from his mother; he wasn’t born in this country. She comes and she cannot speak English and he cannot speak her language. That story was just told to us in passing. And from that story, everything developed. That story established every other story, it was such a wonderful moment to find that.”
Viewers will see that this story features in Time series 3, with Christopher (later Ushindi) and his mum.
Time series 3 true story: Jimmy McGovern visited Young Offender Institutions as research
Creator Jimmy McGovern spent months researching the third and final series of Time, and met many young offenders. He explained: “These are young people, full of energy, who can’t get out their cells. But all of them have got things to offer – train them, teach them.”
He revealed an “overwhelming moment” with one boy. He said: “I went into a cell – they don’t call them cells now, they call them rooms. There was a young boy there on the bed and he seemed so sad. He killed somebody and he’d only recently been sentenced. Obviously he was getting life.
“He was such a young man who could probably do 15 to 20 years, possibly even more. When he should be looking upon life as a young man… It was overwhelming. That particular moment really sticks out.”
Jimmy believes that “prison does no good for anybody”. He also criticised the need to keep certain men apart due to their postcodes. He told us: “So you’ve got all these young men banged up, confined to these cells for many hours of the day. And on top of all that, you’ve got the keep apart system. If there’s the possibility of violence between two groups of young men, you kept them apart. They started using postcodes. So when people from one postcode were out in the fresh air for their one hour a day, nobody else was allowed anywhere near them.
“I believe it suits a lot of prison officers very well. But there are officers who don’t support the keep apart system. They believe it is doing harm. In my opinion, what’s going on in Young Offender Institutions today is an absolute disgrace. And why it’s been allowed to continue for so long is beyond me.”
Is Siobhan Finneran’s character Marie-Louise O’Dell based on a real person?
Although Marie-Louise O’Dell isn’t based on any real person, there are prison chaplain’s working in prisons such as Alderwick. And Siobhan Finneran spoke to one of them for the role. She explained: “For the first series, the production team put me in touch with a lady who worked as a chaplain in a prison. I found her incredible to talk to. She talked about the highs and lows of it, about working with people from different religions, all of that. But the one thing I took hold of and kept hold of is she said that ‘you will never not be needed in the job’.
“That’s something that has stayed with me throughout filming all three series. That this is somebody in that position who is needed every day at work. As much as you’re having to deal with really difficult situations, to know that you’re going in to serve a purpose is a very good reason to get up out of bed every morning, isn’t it?”
Read more: Top must-see dramas from writer Jimmy McGovern from Time to The Lakes
