Prison
CHANNEL 4, 9.00PM
From the outset of Paddy Wivell’s excellent three-part documentary, we’re left in no doubt about the lengths to which prisoners at HMP Durham will go to smuggle contraband (“I’ve seen someone take a nine-inch blade out of their backside”). The same is particularly true of drugs – the focus of this opener (later episodes address violence and mental health) – and the increasing prevalence of the psychoactive drug Spice, the side-effects of which are made grimly clear as overdose follows overdose. With prison staff outmanoeuvred and the majority of new prisoners convicted of drug-related offences, their frustration is as understandable as their diligence is impressive. Wivell’s access is extraordinary – he was given his own set of keys – and the rewards come in the confidences granted to him by both staff and inmates. The former, particularly the estimable senior officer John Matthews, are frank about the failings in the prison system. The latter are often charismatic and even funny, until their true colours are revealed, either through appalling violence or revelations about the circumstances that have led them to be there. Humour, grit, honour and venality – all human life is here. Gabriel Tate