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Wormwood Scrubs on ITV - should be compulsory for young tearaways.

What a devastating documentary - not very ITV as though full of awful things and with the best fighty bits repeated far too often - it was actually a really interesting portrait of our local prison.Part two is on Monday. You wouldn't believe the things that go on just up the road.I was talking to some lads in a Youth Offender Institution this week who WANTED to be transferred to an adult nick so they wouldn't get treated like children. This programme should be running on a loop in all YOIs and secure childrens's homes (and in the manager's office in Morrisons where the shoplifters are detained)as a ghastly warning: suicides (attempted and successful) self harm with loads of blood; fights; bullying drugs and madness and I am not going into the details of where prisoners put mobile phones and even blackberries. Yuck! (It's called plugging...I leave you to imagine..)

Sara Nathan ● 5970d12 Comments

I saw the first part...nothing in particular shocked me apart from the fact that on B wing ( i think ), there were only 12 officers to look after 300 prisoners !!Had no idea that it was the largest prison in Europe......although i stand to be corrected......holding 1200 prisoners in total.

Ellie Rose ● 5970d

Even more shocking if the powers that be get their way the officer to prisoner ratio will drop even more...disgraceful...

Alison Cheyney ● 5970d

I think that was true - the numbers - for all the wings apart from segregation.i wanted to know how much time they were banged up, what the eductaion and training provision was and what they actually DO about drug addiction.The whole thing (apart from the opera singers) seemed to be about containments -not surprising given the numbers.I've been to a couple of Pimlico Opera performances there - Sweeney Todd in the chapel in the early 90s and then one - can't recall which but maybe West Side story  - in the gym.But I don't see how with those proportions, it can be possible to do that now.

Sara Nathan ● 5970d

I remember visiting a person in the Scrubs in 1971 and there was 3 warders to 150 prisioners in the exercise yard alarms continually going off dogs barking. It was like bedlam!

Mavis Walker ● 5970d

I  thought it was interesting that the authorities know how the majority of drugs and mobiles get in to the prison (cctv shows they are palmed by visitors). So why oh why oh why are they allowed to have direct contact? Whatever happened to the glass division with telephones? Did I hear someone shout 'human rights'?

David Archer ● 5970d

which also mean no internal searches - quite right really except that's where all the contraband seems to be stored.Wasn't the female officer with the son who had attempted suicide a star? Worthy of her own programme actually.

Sara Nathan ● 5970d

Yeah, prisoners have "Human Rights", which must be respected.Shame their victims often get f all.

Rosco White ● 5969d

second programme not as good - ratehr inchoate. But what hopeless people.At least the dangerous driver looked as if he might get back into society.Off to Weatherby  to look at resettlement on Thursday - hope it's less depressing but fear it won't be.

Sara Nathan ● 5968d

I thought the first programme was very sensational: all those violent events and no way of telling whether they took place over one weekend, one week or 6 months. And no mention of training or educational programmes for the inmates. At least last night you saw a 'bio-hazard team' made up of specially trained prisoners - albeit dealing with a disgusting problem...They were interesting programmes, but very one-sided. By concentrating primarily on the violent recidivists the programme-makers might cause a small amount of alarm amongst local tearaways, but the settled and institutionalised behaviour of some we saw, who seem to have little or no hope of leading a 'normal' life outside jail, could lead to the impression that prison isn't so bad after all...Paul Hamann is an excellent documentary maker: I'd like to have seen more depth in these programmes. I'm sure the prison authorities wouldn't have objected to having the more positive activities shown - I can't imagine they will have been completely happy with what was.

Lorna Dodd ● 5967d

Still it was ITV1 - no longer the home of quality documentaries. And I agree Paul Hamann a star - but even he has to work in context.I agree nothing on training or education or purposeful activity - apart from the opera singers - or indeed on the medical and drug weaning side.I actually thought the portrayal of the old lags was even sadder than of the dangerous driver for example. And that was quite sensitively done. And what about the guy facing immigration charges and banged up for 15 months without any conviction. Outrageous.

Sara Nathan ● 5967d

I heard that there was to be a 3rd show - covering education / rehab - but was decided not to finish it (do not know how much filming was done towards it).

Paul Webster ● 5964d

Not sensational/interesting enough?

Sara Nathan ● 5964d