Clink is a British television drama series, created by Colin McKeown, which premiered on 5Star on 18 April 2019. The cast include Alicya Eyo, Katherine Rose Morley, Christine Tremarco, and Lu Corfield, and focuses on the lives of the staff and inmates of the fictional women's prison, BPS Bridewell. The series is produced by LA Productions and distributed by the now-defunct Kew Media Group. McKeown serves as executive producer, while the writing team is headed by Sarah Deane.
The series went into development in late 2018, in which McKeown worked closely with the LA Productions team, in particular, Justine Potter and Donna Molloy, Head of Development and Head of Production, respectively. Filming took place from January to March 2019 in Huyton, Merseyside. Commissioned for a ten-episode first series, the show marks the first-ever original drama production commissioned for 5Star.
A second series of Clink will not be commissioned by 5Star via distribution company Kew Media Group, as it went into liquidation in 2020. It currently remains unknown if the series will return or which media service it will be commissioned for.
Premise
Set in the fictional BPS Bridewell women's prison, the series focuses on the emotional heart of a community of women who are thrown together and forced to confront their own realities and, in most cases, accept the consequences of the decisions which have brought them here. From the pregnant, scared Chloe and self-harmer, Laura, to the 'Prison Mother', Joyce, and self-styled queen of the block, Sherri, these girls are many things—drug users, robbers, some are killers, and most of them, survivors. Presiding over the women is new Governor Dominique Darby, herself thrust into a hidden world in tragic circumstances. It's her first governorship, but is she ready to cope with such a demanding job? With pressure mounting from above and below, Dominique will do battle not just with the board who appointed her, but the inmates she's charged with protecting.
Production
Development
In September 2018, it was announced that Channel 5 was moving forward with their plans to develop several scripted drama series. The project was initiated in request from Channel 5 Commissioning Executive Sebastian Cardwell followed by a ten-part series being commissioned for 5Star.
Initially, Canadian company, KEW Media Group launched Clink in Cannes after signing a three-year drama co-production partnership deal with Channel 5 in 2018.
The series was designed to appeal to a younger audience, fitting the target demographic of 5Star rather than broadcasting it on the main channel. The series creator, Colin McKeown, producer at British independent company LA Productions, serves as executive producer of Clink. The company is known for their BBC One drama series' including the long-running, Moving On, as well as their television films Reg and Care. Donna Molloy, Head of Production for LA Productions, serves as producer for the series.
Head of Development, Justine Potter, described that, being aided by charities, the people associated with the Liverpool-based drama were able to speak with former prisoner, ex-prison officers and governors, and managers of the mother-and-baby units prior to production to gather insight for character development within the series.
Writing
The writing team is headed by showrunner and scriptwriter Sarah Deane of LA Productions, while co-writers are predominantly women and include Karen Brown, Vivienne Harvey, Esther Wilson, Rebecca Manley and Helen Black. British author and screenwriter, Tony Schumacher, the only male writer of the series, had written episode three.
It was expected that the series would be compared to every other women's prison drama; however, it was never the intention to copy or imitated them. Deane said that "we want to smash a few stereotypes".
Filming
Pre-production of the series lasted ten months, and it took ten weeks to film the entire series from January to mid-March 2019. The series was produced in-house and filmed exclusively at 33 Signal Squadron Army Barracks in Huyton, Merseyside, using a Territorial Army barracks and nearby medical centre.