Time is back today, with David Tennant joining the cast for the third series of Jimmy McGovern’s acclaimed BBC prison drama. Three years after the second series, the new story moves inside a Young Offender Institution and follows both the teenagers serving sentences there and the staff responsible for looking after them. Tennant stars as veteran prison officer Bobby Bailey, with Siobhan Finneran returning once again as prison chaplain Marie-Louise O’Dell.

As with the previous two series, viewers do not need to have watched Time before to follow the new episodes. Each instalment tells its own story with a new group of characters, although Finneran’s Marie-Louise continues to provide a connection between all three.

What Time Is Time Series 3 on Tonight?

The first episode of Time Series 3 airs tonight, Sunday 11 October, at 9pm on BBC One. Viewers who do not want to wait for the weekly BBC One broadcasts can also watch the entire series from today. All three hour-long episodes are available on BBC iPlayer from 6am on Sunday 11 October, meaning the full story can already be streamed. The BBC One schedule is slightly unusual, with Episode 2 following tomorrow night before viewers have a week-long wait for the finale.

Episode 1: Sunday 11 October, 9pm
Episode 2: Monday 12 October, 9pm
Episode 3: Sunday 18 October, 9pm

What Is Time Series 3 About?

The new series follows Marie-Louise as she begins working at a Young Offender Institution while dealing with a crisis of faith. After a tragedy inside the prison, she comes into conflict with Bobby Bailey, a long-serving officer who knows more about what happened than he is willing to admit.

Alongside their story, the series follows teenage offenders James and Peter during their first months in prison. James is struggling to face his parents following an act of violence, while Peter is caught between telling the truth about an innocent man’s death and remaining loyal to his family. Louis McCartney and Ollie McNulty play James and Peter, with Daniel Ryan, Jo Joyner, Vinette Robinson and Chukwubuikem Molokwu also joining the cast.

For CultureCues, we are so happy to have Time back after three years, and David Tennant joining the cast has made us even more excited for this series. Jimmy McGovern gave us two brilliant series already, and we love that Siobhan Finneran is back as Marie-Louise to keep that connection between each story. Moving into a Young Offender Institution also brings something new to the drama, and having all three episodes sitting on iPlayer already means there is a very good chance we’ll be watching the whole thing today. Consider us sentenced to the sofa again.

Time Series 3 begins tonight, Sunday 11 October, at 9pm on BBC One, with all three episodes available now on BBC iPlayer.

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