After making history as the official first female Doctor Who for three seasons, Jodie Whittaker now stars in the BBC’s 3-part women’s prison drama “TIME” on BritBox.
“TIME” began as an award-winning, ratings blockbuster series set in a men’s prison and distinguished by Sean Bean’s tour de force lead performance.
“The wonderful thing about this ‘TIME,’” Whittaker, 41, said in a Zoom interview from London, “is that it’s got the same creative team behind it. So everyone knows the quality. But as far as a standalone, it’s a completely individual piece. You don’t need to have seen one to have seen the other.
“But also it is fascinating to see how different in the UK the prison system is for male prisoners and female prisoners. They’re completely different because the systems are different. And also the storylines.”
This “TIME” rather than showcasing one prisoner intertwines the storylines of three: Whittaker’s Orla O’Riordan, a single mother, Abi (Tamara Lawrance), who is in for life and Kelsey (Bella Ramsey), pregnant, a heroin addict and repeat offender.
“This is a wonderful ensemble of characters,” Whittaker enthused, “whether it be the prison officers or the other inmates. Or the families of those people outside of prison.
“Orla is a single mom who finds herself in a situation that she’s completely unprepared for. And not just unprepared through naivete but badly advised as well. She is going to prison for something that really shouldn’t be something that put someone in prison.
“Also, she has not informed anyone that she was even going to court. So as this journey immediately starts, it’s like a horrific nightmare. You are unable to reach anyone. Unable to tell anyone and your entire controlled future is ripped from you in a moment.
“And the unraveling and the challenges that she faces in this new reality make her such a fascinating character to play.”
Whittaker, classically trained, graduated in 2005 from London’s Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Not for her the need to summon feelings of her own two children to play tortured Orla.
“The thing I can do is respond to the characterization and all the amazing scenes with the three children. Regardless of my own personal situation, responding to those three actors was just mind blowing.
“There were improvisations that those kids did that were phenomenal and absolutely heartbreaking. To me the most exciting things happen in the scene when I’m just listening, taking things in, because the way they say it, it can just totally change everything in a moment.
“I think,” she concluded, “the whole reason why my character’s journey really works is because of the casting of those kids.”
All 3 episodes of “TIME” stream on BritBox March 27.