Stephen Graham and Sean Bean to star in hard-hitting BBC prison drama

Two of Britain's greatest acting talents teaming up

The first image from a new BBC prison drama starring Stephen Graham and Sean Bean has been released. The two powerhouse actors will team up for Time, written by acclaimed TV writer Jimmy McGovern. Stephen Graham will play a prison officer whose life becomes intertwined with an inmate put away for manslaughter, played by Sean Bean. Here is the first image, showing both Graham's and Bean's characters. The official synopsis reads:

A visceral, emotional and high-stakes portrayal of life in a British prison; Mark Cobden (Sean Bean) is consumed by guilt after accidentally killing an innocent man. Accepting his four year sentence and separated from his family, he meets Eric McNally (Stephen Graham), a caring prison officer doing his best to protect those in his charge. However when one of the most dangerous inmates identifies his weakness, Eric faces an impossible choice; between his principles and his family.

A story of guilt and forgiveness, punishment and penitence, both Eric and Mark are trapped by their pasts and unsure of their futures. Will they find the strength to move forward?

Joining Graham and Bean in the cast are Siobhan Finneran (Happy Valley, The Other One),  Sue Johnston (The Royle Family, Downton Abbey), Hannah Walters (This is England, Pirates of the Caribbean), David Calder (The World Is Not Enough, The Hatton Garden Job) Nadine Marshall (Small Axe, Sitting in Limbo), Michael Socha (This is England, Being Human) and Aneurin Barnard (Dunkirk, Thirteen). Jimmy McGovern is one the most acclaimed writers in British television, and the man who gave us The Lakes, Cracker, and The Street. “The BBC have given me a brilliant young director and two of the greatest actors on the planet. I am overjoyed," commented McGovern. “Getting to be involved in a Jimmy McGovern drama again is a real privilege and it will be great to be reunited with Stephen," added Sean Bean. "Mark Hebden is another of Jimmy’s complex and superbly written characters and I am looking forward to bringing him to life on screen.” “It is an absolute honour to be working with Jimmy again, I’m feeling blessed," said Stephen Graham. "I can’t wait to get stuck in. Of course, I am made up to be back on set with Sean.” It is not the first time the trio of McGovern, Bean, and Graham have worked together - they previously collaborated on a memorable episode of McGovern's anthology series Accused, where Bean played a crossdresser.