Some of television’s most edgy and riveting programs take place in prison, depicting the harsh realities the inmates face while behind bars. For decades, the small screen has brilliantly told compelling stories set within the walls of such facilities, both shocking and upsetting audiences with their gritty and heartrending tales. It is often not easy to stomach the atrocities that occur everyday in prisons and the shows that bring such horrors to life deserve immense praise and appreciation. Some wonderful actors have headlined prison-themed programs, captivating viewers across the world with their raw performances.
The Netflix juggernaut Orange is the New Black went on to become the streaming giant’s biggest draw when it made its premiere in 2013, introducing fans to the unique personalities of Litchfield Penitentiary in the dynamite series. Revered stars Benicio del Toro and Paul Dano were exceptional in their roles as real-life criminals Richard Matt and David Sweat in Showtime’s Escape at Dannemora, which featured their harrowing escape from a New York correctional facility. These are some of the best TV shows and miniseries set in prison.
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8 Buried
Channel 4
The 2003 eight-part series Buried chronicles the lives of the guards and prisoners of Her Majesty’s Prison Mandrake Hill in England, centering on first time offender Lee Kingley as he attempts to navigate his new reality behind bars after being given a 10-year sentence. Featuring The Walking Dead’s Lennie James as Kingley, the riveting program highlights the daily struggles for survival at the HMP Mandrake while also depicting the prison’s psychologists and officers as they interact with one another and the inmates. The producers of Buried set out to present an authentic look at prison life in the UK, in hopes of accurately portraying “the strict hierarchy that exists among prisoners, and the unspoken co-operation that allows six officers to govern hundreds of inmates."
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7 Time
BBC
Sean Bean and Stephen Graham portray two men on opposing sides of prison bars in the 2021 BBC drama Time, following the newly incarcerated Mark Cobden (Bean) as he not only struggles with profound guilt over the crime he committed but also the dangerous and volatile new world he finds himself stuck in. Cobden meets the honorable prison guard Eric McNally, who does his best to look after the new inmate while attempting to protect those in his charge; the kind-hearted officer finds himself in a profound moral dilemma when a ruthless and deadly prisoner threatens both his personal and professional life. Time garnered immense praise from both critics and audiences alike, with Bean and Graham’s performances being raved about as the British TV series’ exceptional, realistic depiction of the heavy subject matter.
6 Wentworth
FremantleMedia Australia
Set in Australia’s Wentworth Correctional Centre, the drama series Wentworth serves as a 21st century re-imagining of the ‘80s soap opera Prisoner, focusing on new transplant Bea Smith as she awaits her impending trial for the attempted murder of her husband; Bea is quickly forced to fight for survival and maneuver the intimating hierarchy of Wentworth. The show’s producer Jo Porter wanted to revamp the Australian classic and explore “the politics of women in a world with few men, and how the experience both challenges and changes them, sometimes for the better" while also providing a backstory of Bea’s early days in the prison. Wentworth was a massive success, running for 8 seasons and earning widespread acclaim during its tenure; the series has won seven Logie Awards and four ASTRA Awards.
5 Escape at Dannemora
Showtime
Touting a dynamite cast of performers including Benicio del Toro, Patricia Arquette, and Paul Dano, the 2018 Showtime limited TV series Escape at Dannemora is based on the true story of the 2015 Clinton Correctional Facility escape in which two convicted murderers broke out of a New York prison with the assistance of a female prison employee. Ben Stiller directed the riveting program, chronicling the efforts and actions of criminals Richard Matt (del Toro) and David Sweat (Dano) as they become romantically entangled with Joyce “Tilly” Mitchell (Arquette) and devise a dangerous plan to flee the facility.
While critics and audiences couldn’t get enough of Escape at Dannemora, the show’s subject Joyce Mitchell had a less-than-glowing review, having said from behind bars that Stiller was “a liar just like the rest of the world. He doesn’t care about the truth. All he cares about is making millions off me. He’s an idiot.”
4 The Night Of
HBO
The Emmy Award-winning crime drama miniseries The Night Of tells the harrowing story of a Pakistani-American student who becomes arrested for murder after a wild, drug-filled night in Manhattan that resulted in the murder of a mysterious woman he met in the city. Riz Ahmed portrays Nasir “Naz” Khan, a college student who is sent to Rikers Island for the crime where he must await prosecution; Naz is defended by the determined lawyer John Stone (an incredible John Turturro) and must find a way to survive his precarious new home while proving his innocence.
The Night Of went on to earn two Golden Globe nominations and win five Emmy Awards, with Detroit News proclaiming in their review, “A gripping collision of race, religion, justice, incarceration and violence wrapped into a modern-day murder mystery, The Night Of may be the best limited series HBO has pulled off since the first season of True Detective.”
3 Prison Break
20th Television
The fan-favorite Fox serial drama Prison Break follows Michael Scofield (Wentworth Miller) and Lincoln Burrows (Dominic Purcell), two brothers who devise an elaborate and dangerous plan to break out of prison after Burrows is framed for murder and scheduled to be executed. Scofield is a savvy structural engineer who tattoos the layout of the prison on his body and gets himself sent to the same facility after committing an armed robbery, on a crusade to save his brother. The intricate tattoo containing the blueprint for the prison took a whopping five hours to be applied on Miller. Prison Break ran for four successful seasons and received numerous accolades, and subsequently released a final episode and television movie before being revived in 2017 for a fifth season.
2 Orange is the New Black
Netflix
The smash-hit Netflix original dramedy series Orange is the New Black focuses on the usually law-abiding New Yorker Piper Chapman, a woman who is sent to a minimum-security federal prison after being convicted of a crime she committed a decade prior with her former girlfriend. There she meets a slew of colorful and quirky personalities who she must learn to get along with, in addition to navigating life behind bars.
Based on the memoir by Piper Kerman, the popular program was co-created by Jenji Kohan, who viewed the main lead as a “Trojan horse” for the adaptation and wanted to depict characters whose demographics are not often represented on the small screen. Orange is the New Black was heralded throughout its seven season run and amassed numerous accolades including Emmy and Screen Actors Guild Awards, along with a Peabody.
1 Oz
Warner Bros. Television Distribution
Set in the fictional Oswald State Correctional Facility and within the experimental wing known as Emerald City, the thrilling drama series Oz delves into the lives of the odd prison’s officers and inmates, showcasing their everyday interactions and experiences as the prisoners attempt to be rehabilitated. The nickname “Oz” is in direct reference to the cinema classic The Wizard of Oz and was actually the first one-hour drama show to be produced through HBO.
The edgy program took advantage of its premium cable platform and was able to feature gritty and intense elements not accepted for traditional television at the time, such as drug use, violence, profanity, and sexual assault. Oz touted an impressive ensemble cast including Ernie Hudson, J.K. Simmons, Rita Moreno, and Edie Falco, and was a critical and commercial hit for HBO, helping the network establish a reputation of both acclaim and infamy. The Montreal Gazette called the series “a spellbinder viewers will find themselves completely engrossed in the power politics and elaborate rituals of penitentiary life.”
