Both Seasons of BBC Anthology Series 'Time' are Well Worth Your Time

For a show that won critical acclaim in the UK, Jimmy McGovern’s (Broken) BBC prison drama Time flew largely under the radar in the US when it dropped on BritBox in 2021. Luckily, a second season of the anthology series is giving the stunning show a new lease on life. In honor of Time Season 2 premiering on BritBox, we're exploring why both seasons are worth more than a moment of your time.

Season 1 stars Sean Bean (World on Fire) as Mark Cobden, a former English teacher serving time for killing a pedestrian while driving drunk, and Stephen Graham (Bodies) as Eric McNally, a morally grey prison guard. Season 1 ends with Mark finishing his sentence and Eric, who is caught smuggling drugs into prison, beginning his own time behind bars. Their stories are almost cyclical, creating a narratively satisfying conclusion.

Enter Season 2, which swaps the men’s prison for a women’s prison, and introduces three new protagonists. Don’t expect to see any of the characters or plotlines from Season 1 make a return (with one exception, Siobhan Finneran (Happy Valley), who plays a prison chaplain). Season 2 stars Jodie Whittaker (Doctor Who), Tamara Lawrence (The Long Song), and Bella Ramsey (The Last of Us), as three women who enter prison on the same day, all living at the intersection of motherhood, loss, and incarceration.