THE BEST LITTLE PRISON IN BRITAIN?

ITV, 8.00pm; Wales, 10.45pm

Just when you thought the docusoap genre had exhausted every possibility, here comes a six-part series set in a prison, narrated by Stephen Fry and determined to present its assembled inhabitants as countercultural rebels, lovable rogues or blundering clowns. Not every documentary about life in prison needs to channel Scum, but The Best Little Prison in Britain? lurches rather too far in the opposite direction. It is, however, worth watching for curiosity value, depicting as it does the Isle of Man’s only prison, Jurby, which houses 150 inmates and boasts a progressive regime that has helped establish the island’s remarkably low rates of reoffending, along perhaps with the punitive Manx justice system that imprisons offenders for crimes as trivial as stealing an empty pram.

The individuals are sporadically engaging: the liberal instincts of governor Bob McColm are counterbalanced by Jurby’s own Mr Mackay proxy, Margo Cain, although trying to paint a man imprisoned for ABH as a “character” involved in a romance with a fellow inmate (herself put inside for knife crime) may stick in the craw. Jurby is clearly a fascinating place, but is this the best way to tell its story? Gabriel Tate

Man behind bars: Margo Cain (front) leads security at Jurby

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