Time series 3: Ending of brutal prison drama saw several main characters make huge life-changing decisions
Well, that was a tough watch...
Time series 3 was short and the opposite of sweet – it was brutal, gut-wrenching, and an uncomfortable watch, but the ending offered a glimmer of hope.
If you feel like you’ve been punched in the belly a dozen times by Tommy Fury, then that’s Jimmy McGovern for you. A realist to his core, you don’t watch his dramas if you want a fairy tale. Anyone who has watched The Lakes, Accused, or Unforgivable will know that.
His recurring themes include sexual abuse, poverty, murder, and religion. Of course, his prison drama Time centres on crime and punishment…
Series 3, like the first series in 2021, was a painful look at the prison system, and its failures. Here’s the ending of Time series 3 unpacked, including the trajectory of main characters Marie-Louise, Bailey, and Peter, who all got some sort of closure.
***Warning: spoilers from the ending of Time series 3 ahead***
What happened in the ending of Time series 3 on BBC One?
Siobhan Finneran’s prison chaplain Marie-Louise was the only recurring character in all three series of Time, and series 3 saw her arrive at Young Offender Institution Alderwick. And it needed her.
Although she had “lost her faith”, she was still a most compassionate, kind, and forgiving chaplain. She was a shoulder for the young offenders to cry on, and always saw the best in them – despite their crimes, however heinous.
Marie-Louise was a constant pillar of hope to the boys and, occasionally, the staff. As a viewer, she was the person we could depend on to do good; a shelter in the storm.
In the Time series 3 ending, she got the happy ending she fully deserved. In episode 1, we learnt that she’s fallen in love with a Catholic priest and embarked on a sexual relationship with him. However, after intervention from the Bishop, priest Michael moved away – leaving Marie-Louise heartbroken and lacking in faith.
In the closing minutes of the Time series 3 finale, David Wilmot’s Michael was back. And the pair agreed to do “God’s work together” on their own terms.
Marie-Louise said yes to working and living with Michael in Toxteth, running a safe house for asylum seekers. It was a hopeful way to end a devastatingly hopeless series. Jimmy McGovern’s message was clear. There are still good people doing good things, and there is always reason to have hope.
What happened to Bailey?
Time series 2 introduced veteran officer Bailey (David Tennant), who was a man in the midst of his own crisis. Exhausted by the relentlessness of his job as a prison officer, his personal life was falling apart too. Wife Erica was leaving him for Warren Brown, and that hurt like hell.
Work was a distraction, somewhere he knew he belonged. But when Bailey discovered that a fellow officer had caused a major incident which resulted in a boy’s death, he was torn over what to do.
CM Fred Jennings (Daniel Ryan in a rare unpleasant role) had organised a “reconciliation meeting” between Christopher ‘Ushindo’ Madubuko and Patsy Flynn because the boys were on “keep aparts”. This meant that they were from rival areas and weren’t allowed to be in the same room. However, this also meant that Ushindo was not able to meet his mum in the normal visitors room. Instead, he had to meet her in a separate room with a screen dividing them. Not great, when they had only just been reunited after years apart.
Fred agreed to the meeting between Patsy and Ushindo, even though Patsy was a violent thug who could not be reasoned with. Tragically, Patsy stabbed Ushindo in the neck, causing him to bleed to death.
Bobby Bailey felt strongly that the meeting should never have taken place, and that Jennings was to blame for Ushindo’s death. But would he speak up?
Time series 3 ending explained: Inquest into Ushindo’s death
At first, Bailey promised Jennings not to speak out against him, even though it weighed on his conscience. But then he fell for Jo Joyner’s character Nicola…
Nicola was another beacon of hope in the series. She knew Bailey had to do the right thing. As mum of a young offender herself, she believed it was crucial that Ushindo’s mum found out the truth about her son’s death. When Bailey had initially agreed to keep quiet for a promotion, Nicola was disgusted with him and ended their relationship.
Realising he didn’t want to live without her, Bailey eventually did the right thing at the inquest. He told the truth about Jennings’ serious lapse of judgement, how it led to Ushindo’s death, and even how the governor had bribed him to keep quiet.
At the end of Time series 3, Bailey could hold his head high knowing he’d spoken the truth. Tragically, Nicola had died in a (truly shocking) car accident, but the memory of her goodness stayed with Bailey and gave him hope. We like to think Bobby Bailey kept his job at the prison, and made it a better place.
Peter got a happy ending
Time series 3 focused on several young offenders, including two teenagers, Peter (Ollie McNulty) and James (Louis McCartney). Both of them struggled through the terrifying first weeks and months of their incarceration.
James had killed his disabled brother, and ultimately went to an adults’ prison at the end of the series. Meanwhile, Peter faced a difficult decision. He had been involved in the death of an innocent man who was stabbed to death, but it was his cousin Toby who had committed the crime.
Should he tell the truth, and implicate his cousin? Or take the fall with the four friends who were jailed for the crime. Like Bailey, Peter decided to do the right thing – tell the truth. And a judge subsequently found him not guilty.
Peter got a happy ending with his girlfriend and baby. There was hope that he would lead a good life, and avoid a life of crime.
Time series 3 review
Time series 3 was every bit as masterful as series 1 and 2. But there were no rose-tinted spectacles here. Make no mistake, prison is cruel, brutal, and will eat you up and spit you out. And that’s just the other inmates. Never mind the abuse of power some prison officers like Freddie Jennings got off on. When he punched James (Louis McCartney) in the stomach, the boy was reduced to tears. Yes, he’d killed his own brother, but he was still a boy himself.
A boy like Ishindo with a stutter was doomed in a hostile environment where dog must eat dog to survive. Due to staff shortages, the young boys were kept locked up for days on end. Should criminals be treated like animals, or is there always room for humanity?
Jimmy McGovern is making a statement here, and we heard him loud and clear. But hope was the thread weaved into the series, despite the scenes of utter despair.
The crux of the series? That people can be good AND flawed. Talking about the series, Daniel Ryan said: “Time is a story about humanity. It’s set in a Young Offender Institution and it shows our failures to look after our young people who are making terrible mistakes. It shows our failures as people trying to set them on the right path. If there is no path, where do they go?”
He added: “Jimmy McGovern doesn’t mess about, he doesn’t run away from the harsh realities, and he’s always got something to say and something for us to reexamine as an audience. I think that’s ultimately what Jimmy has shown through all three series. He’s a master of writing about human nature, forgiveness and hope.”
Is there a series 4 of Time?
Sadly, a series 4 of Time is unlikely.
Creator Jimmy McGovern has said he’s not planning another series of the anthology. Speaking to Radio Times, he said: “I think [series 3] will be the last Time. I have said that many a time before, though, because these are also stories I feel bound to tell.”
The first series of Time aired in 2021, with Sean Bean and Stephen Graham in the leading roles. Series two followed in 2023 and starred Jodie Whittaker, and Bella Ramsey.
Talking about Time, Jimmy McGovern told us: “This must change. But because this is about young people, this must change urgently. 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 concluded: “Things have changed over the years inside Young Offender Institutions. There are fewer young people getting banged up these days, which is a good thing because prison does no good for anybody.”
Read more: Brookside’s biggest cast stars now from Sue Johnston and Anna Friel to Amanda Burton
