Lifers Behind Bars

The first half of a ground-breaking two-part documentary series exploring what it's like to serve a long-term prison sentence in Britain, from the moment of sentencing through to release. Filmed over a year with unprecedented access to jails including HMP Shotts, Scotland's only prison exclusively for long-term offenders, the programme meets the men convicted of murder and serving mandatory life sentences. This episode follows newly-convicted killers from sentencing at court through the system as they're helped to face up to years behind bars. As one officer explains, 'They're gonna be here for a long time. A 17-year sentence isn't a big sentence here.' Inside the general population of the prison, the programme reveals the day-to-day reality for some of the 500 men living there, who, combined, are serving well over 4000 years in custody.