Tennant plays prison officer Bailey with Finneran as prison chaplain Marie-Louise

David Tennant and Siobhan Finneran are set to lead the cast in the third series of Jimmy McGovern’s drama Time; filming takes place in Belfast with support from Northern Ireland Screen.

The 3 x 60’ run is set in a young offenders’ institution, with Tennant as prison officer Bailey and Siobhan Finneran reprising her role as Marie-Louise, a prison chaplain. Time is made by BBC Studios Fiction in co-production with BritBox.

The series is written by McGovern and Samuel Bailey, directed by Paul Whittington and produced by Amanda Black.

The executive producers are Josh Cole, Andrew Morrissey and Michael Parke for BBC Studios Fiction, Lucy Richer for the BBC, Jon Farrar and Jess O’Riordan for BritBox, and writer McGovern. BBC Studios is handling global sales.

Series Three sees prison chaplain Marie-Louise comes to the YOI having lost her faith. When tragedy strikes within the prison, Marie-Louise clashes with veteran officer Bailey, a man in the midst of his own crisis. Bailey knows more about the circumstances that led to this major incident – but will he come clean before the guilt gets too much?

Meanwhile, two teenage young offenders, Peter and James, struggle through the terrifying first weeks and months of their incarceration…

Exec producer Morrissey said: “It is a privilege to be making a third series of Time with such a fantastic team. We are excited to introduce the audience to a whole new part of the prison system. Once we started the research, we knew there were stories that demanded to be told.”

McGovern added: “Siobhan Finneran is back! And we’ve got a wonderful leading man in David Tennant. And a brilliant director in Paul Whittington. I think it’s going to be wonderful.”