I have just watched the trailer for Jimmy McGovern’s latest BBC Drama, ‘Time’, and for me it was a surreal experience. Those who know me are aware of the fact that Jimmy McGovern (aside from winning BAFTA and EMMY awards over a stellar career) is a close personal friend of mine. Well, when I say close personal friend … well perhaps I had better explain. Really it’s all David Kendall’s fault!
David is a tireless and relentlessly enthusiastic type of character who organises guest appearances in UK prisons through the UK Arts Council and whatever means he can. During 3 of my years spent in Erlestoke prison, David helped us to co-ordinate Art & Literature festivals under the banner ‘Penned Up’. We were visited by notables including Tony Adams MBE, Terry Waite MBE, Lord John Bird (of ‘The Big Issue’), Levi Roots and myriad other authors, artists, producers and writers.
Thanks to David’s efforts I had the opportunity to embrace my inner Michael Parkinson. In 2017 I interviewed Michael Darlow who had produced the 1969 documentary featuring Johnny Cash in a concert in San Quentin prison. In 2018 I interviewed Shaun Attwood whose book ‘Hard Time’ detailed his experience of the Arizona judicial system having been convicted of drug importation. But in March 2019 I had the privilege of interviewing Jimmy McGovern. We talked Brookside, Cracker, Bloody Sunday, Hillsborough and Mary Queen of Scots. Jimmy answered everybody’s questions openly and sincerely. We were treated to behind the scenes information detailing standoffs with legal teams about what could be broadcast. After posing for a photograph Jimmy and I shook hands (remember that? Before Covid when you could shake hands?) and I took the cheeky step of handing over a bundle of my own writing. And that was that.
As I had done for the previous years I wrote the articles and edited the prison magazines that would be printed and distributed around the prison (back issues of the magazines can be downloaded by clicking the link at the end of this blog). That done I probably went back to doing all that I could to ensure I would progress in my sentence. Until July 2019 when during a phone conversation Jim (who manages the blog for me – the legend that he is) told me that Jimmy McGovern had emailed the jailhousemoose@gmail.com account. He was interested in writing something about prison and was asking a couple of questions about prison life.
Jimmy and I corresponded over the next few months and he developed the outline for ‘Time’ which was pitched to the BBC. I’m not quite sure how that meeting went, but I expect the BBC were on the fence until Jimmy mentioned Jailhouse Moose at which point the deal was closed.
The BBC commissioned a 3 part drama and filming was due to start in April 2020. Jimmy told me that he was thrilled with the two lead actors he had secured, the director excited him and the ensemble talent looked really promising – then came the lockdown and everything ground to a halt. But Jimmy stayed in touch, kept me updated and when the lockdown was finally lifted Sean Bean and Stephen Graham were still on board with the project – Jimmy had feared the USA would open up first and they would be lured to La-La land. But they stayed and now it’s real. Time starts on BBC1 @ 9PM on Sunday 6th June.
I know the storyline ahead of time (pun not intended) but other than that I don’t quite know what to expect. However, given Jimmy’s voracious appetite for detail and clarifications I fully expect it to be authentic. Jimmy wrote one apologetic letter detailing one decision to veer from established prison rules & norms for dramatic purposes – no spoilers, but his choice was through necessity and far from a major deviation from reality.
I’ve had more than a decade in prison and I have watched the various TV Dramas and Movies. I’ve seen the soap opera characters in prison pastiches along with the Bent Coppers of Line of Duty. Few interpretations bear any real resemblance to the experiences of those of us behind bars. I am confident that this ‘Time’ it will be different.
Prison can be brutal. It can be frightening and isolating. I have been crammed into a wing with 300 men yet felt incredibly lonely. But with help and support, prison can be a cathartic and healing experience – and that has been my prison journey. I love the quote by Abraham Lincoln, who said “The reason I am a success today is because I had a friend who believed in me, and I didn’t have the heart to disappoint them.”
Any of the successes I have achieved to date and any future success will be thanks to people like Jimmy and David who created the opportunity to become even tangentially involved in a BBC drama. But before that, thanks must go to Elizabeth, Caroline and the whole gang in Erlestoke’s education department who helped me believe in myself – they gave me the confidence to put myself out there and to hand an envelope of my writing to Jimmy McGovern.
Every saint has a past. Every sinner has a future.
LINK TO ‘PENNED UP’ MAGAZINE: https://wp.me/p9VcFl-7u
