Accused: Series 2 Episode 4 - Tina's Story

This was a very insightful episode, displaying the failings of the prison system and its environment that leads to some horrible situations.

Focusing on the perspective of prison guard Tina Dakin, played by Anna Maxwell Martin, I felt that it clearly showed the failures including the prison being short staffed, lack of contact between prisons over information on prisoners and the dealing of relatives in current situations, and it made me believe how easily it was for the tragic events that happened to take place. The story also had a strand of narrative from the previous episode, where the inmate that Tina brings in at the start is Stephen Cartwright. Although you may think that this would detract from Tina's story, I thought it actually added to it for her and the audience because we could clearly see problems that led to his death and how Tina's lies in the face of a grieving parent could easily happen.

I think Maxwell Martin did an excellent job, especially during the rape scene, which I found was done in a very sophisticated way as it showed Tina being attacked by an inmate, but there was no cut away and instead a full scene where it appeared to be quick and Tina left but you could see in Tina's face that it would have felt like a never ending nightmare. This event probably arranged by her colleague Frank after she planned to reveal his negligence that led to Stephen's death, made me feel that her action at the end of the episode, which resulted in her being in court for aiding an offender, was understandable and justified.

I also thought John Bishop gave another good performance as Stephen's grieving father Peter, who was appalled by the treatment of his son and the prison guards' lack of knowledge of his mental state and background. I think this helped to reinforce the disgust I felt that this sort of situation could be allowed to happen.

This is was powerful and well made episode, just like the rest of the series. Well done to Jimmy McGovern, the other writers and the cast for a great series.