Waiting for the Out examines philosophy and family inside prison

Waiting for the Out is a six-part drama on BBC One and iPlayer, adapted by Dennis Kelly from Andy West’s memoir A Life Inside, that explores the teaching of philosophy in prison.

The series centres on Dan, played by Josh Finan, a philosophy professor who suffers crippling OCD and is haunted by imagined encounters with his long-estranged father, played by Gerard Kearns. Flashbacks show a family seaside trip in which the father behaves aggressively — singing "My Way", bullying a waiter and stealing display jewellery — setting out the troubled legacy Dan confronts.

Inmates are portrayed as well written and strongly performed. Alex Ferns plays Keith, described as well read and abrasive, a figure who is Dan’s intellectual equal with jailhouse instincts; at one point Keith calls Slavoj Žižek "the Billy Connolly of philosophy." Dan’s life outside the prison is fraught — he burns through relationships — while his relationship with his brother Lee (Stephen Wight), a recovering addict and former prisoner, provides a calmer counterpoint.

The drama avoids patronising clichés, treating philosophy as both a refuge and a means of self-examination. The review concludes it is a moving study of vulnerability and acceptance, in which the prisoners and Dan gradually open up; Waiting for the Out aired on BBC One and is on iPlayer now.

Key Topics

Culture, Andy West, Dennis Kelly, Josh Finan, Gerard Kearns, Prison Education