Stephen Graham and Sean Bean team up for BBC One prison drama

Stephen Graham and Sean Bean will reunite with screenwriter Jimmy McGovern for his latest project, a gritty prison drama for BBC One.

Time, a three-part series, is described as “a visceral and high-stakes portrayal of life in the modern British penal system”.

Bean takes on the role of Mark Hebden, a teacher, husband and father, who killed an innocent man in an accident.

Consumed by guilt, he accepts and even welcomes his four-year sentence.

Graham plays Eric Reid, a caring and honest prison officer who faces a choice between his principles and his love for his family after an inmate identifies his weakness.

Time will be directed by Lewis Arnold and executive produced by Tom Sherry and Michael Parke.

Game Of Thrones star Bean and Line Of Duty actor Graham previously appeared together in McGovern’s anthology series Accused, in which Bean played a cross-dressing English teacher.

McGovern said: “The BBC have given me a brilliant young director and two of the greatest actors on the planet. I am overjoyed.”

Bean said: “Getting to be involved in a Jimmy McGovern drama again is a real privilege and it will be great to be reunited with Stephen.

“Mark Hebden is another of Jimmy’s complex and superbly written characters and I am looking forward to bringing him to life on screen.”

Graham said: “It is an absolute honour to be working with Jimmy again, I’m feeling blessed.

“I’m excited to be working with Lewis as I have heard so many incredible things about him as a director, I can’t wait to get stuck in. Of course, I am made up to be back on set with Sean.”

Controller of BBC Drama Piers Wenger, who commissioned the show, said: “Jimmy has a unique style of creating thought-provoking dramas which tell raw and emotional stories, and Time is exactly that.

“With Sean and Stephen in lead roles, Jimmy and Lewis behind the camera, Time is a shining example of British drama talent at its best.”

Time begins filming in Liverpool this autumn.