Critic Reviews

The performances of Bean and Graham are, even though we have come to expect brilliance from them both, astonishing. So, too, are those from everyone in smaller roles, none of which is underwritten or sketchy, and who thicken the drama into something more profoundly moving and enraging at every turn. Time well spent.

While the writing in Time is strong, the performances by Bean and Graham are what will connect with viewers.

Superlative acting (from the entire cast as well as the two leads), heartbreaking storytelling and a fearless depiction of a system that looks to serve no-one but those people who, as Mark's cellmate suggests, are making money from it.

Stephen Graham is right when he calls the series “difficult to watch,” but it’s also a must-see, both as a lesson on the British prison system, and a masterclass in acting.

We learned far more about Bean’s character than Graham’s. McGovern didn’t reveal his hand – we know that Eric will be forced to compromise himself in an attempt to save his son from harm, but we don’t know how Mark will be drawn into that. It’s not going to end well, is it? But at least we get to watch two actors at the very top of their game.

It is also compelling television, though, with a premium cast and written like a punch to the face. In a good way.

With three characters to attend to, it does feel as if the writers’ attention is being stretched too thinly as they try to cover slightly too much ground, from how you deal with an unexpected period in a cell without sanitary towels to the intergenerational effects of abuse and neglect. But, like the first series, it brings attention to a terrible problem and demands a search for answers.

McGovern has crafted another eye-opening foray into the reality of prison and its ramifications in the outside world.

Screenwriter McGovern’s drama might be too conventional, too predictable, for real excellence. But this portrait of women on the edge, battling systems outside of their control, is tight, tense, and compassionate. Time, ultimately, is on their side.

Once again McGovern, alongside Black, has delivered a brilliant piece of television that wholly deserves your time.