Britain's Notorious Prisons

Britain's Notorious Prisons (2023- )

RunningDocumentary show

Britain's Notorious Prisons reveals the reality of life behind the walls of two of the UK's most infamous prisons, Strangeways and Wormwood Scrubs.

Manchester's Strangeways and London's Wormwood Scrubs have housed some of the country's most dangerous convicts, including serial killers, rapists and paedophiles.

Featuring exclusive first-hand testimony from past inmates and staff, this two-part series for ITV and ITVX uncovers what really goes on behind the famous prison gates, uncovering the drug abuse, violence and some of the biggest events in both prisons' histories. 

The two-part series highlights the past behaviour of some prison officers and the abuse of power, which had a detrimental impact on the running of the prisons and added to the hostile environments that prisoners became accustomed to. 

The programmes investigate a vast array of issues impacting the prisons including the overt racism in the seventies and eighties in Strangeways, extreme prisoner violence in Wormwood Scrubs, and the potential long lasting impact of covid on the prison system.

As we hear from those who lived and breathed the prisons over the decades, the raw, uncut stories need to be seen to be believed, as the shocking truth is explained and interrogated.

Network
Scheduleevery Thursday at 21:00 (60 min)

Last Episode

Wormwood Scrubs
Season 1Episode 260 min

Wormwood Scrubs

Second in a series of two documentaries about Britain's Notorious Prisons.

Past inmates and staff speak exclusively to ITV exposing how London's Wormwood Scrubs became one of the UK's most notorious jails.

The jail has housed some of the country's most famous inmates, from Rolling Stone Keith Richards to pop star Pete Doherty, whose jail term was mired in controversy after a secretly taken photograph of him reportedly taking drugs on the prison's detox wing appeared on the front page of The Sun. 

From drug smuggling to mental health issues, the programme looks into the key issues Wormwood Scrubs faces on a day to day basis. 

Many of London's major criminals have spent time in the Scrubs - including the Krays - whilst the prison has also housed some of the nation's most dangerous serial killers, including the Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe and Donald Neilson the Black Panther.

The jail has also been notorious for its levels of violence. As with other prisons that serve the local courts, a volatile mix of prisoners can be stirred up by an unpredictable daily intake.

Jan 19, 2023

Recent Episodes

EpisodeNameAirdate
S01E02Wormwood ScrubsJan 19, 2023
S01E01StrangewaysJan 12, 2023
View all episodesView all seasons

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