Sheffield's Sean Bean to star in new Jimmy McGovern prison drama Time

The city’s Hollywood star will join Stephen Graham for the Jimmy McGovern penned three-part drama Time which has been described as a "story of guilt and forgiveness, punishment and penitence and the impact that prison has on all those who pass through it."

The new BBC One show will reunite the pair who previously appeared alongside each other in an episode of McGovern’s anthology series The Accused back in 2012.

The drama will follow life in the modern British penal system as seen from the perspective of two very different men – a teacher who killed an innocent man in an accident (Bean) and a caring and honest prison officer (Graham).

It is described as “visceral”, “emotional”, and “thrilling” by the BBC, which further calls it a “story of guilt and forgiveness, punishment and penitence and the impact that prison has on all those who pass through it”.

The star 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.”

The series will be directed by Lewis Arnold, whose previous credits include episodes of Humans and Broadchurch, and filming is expected to begin in Liverpool this autumn.

Bean, 61, was born in Handsworth and is a lifelong Sheffield United fan and has enjoyed a string of acclaimed TV and film roles during a lengthy career.