Six lifers. One room. Zero guards. What could possibly go wrong?
TV play set in an experimental self-rehabilitations unit at a British Prison, where six lifers participate in group therapy.
Acting
Eric Porter's volcanic restraint versus Kenneth Cranham's ticking-bomb volatility.
Writing
David Powis's script: theatrical tightness, zero fat, every silence weaponized.
Direction
Gorrie traps you in that room—no escape, no relief, masterful.
Director
John Gorrie
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Part of BBC's 'Playhouse' strand, this exemplifies 1980s British television's obsession with institutional collapse—Thatcher-era anxiety made flesh.
The 'sin bin' concept was loosely based on Grendon Underwood, the UK's first therapeutic prison, opened 1962—making this essentially state-funded fanfiction.
GB
